v IT m \ Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2014 https://archive.org/details/curiousquestionsOOkill OF WHAT DOORS DID MICHAEL ANGELO SAY: "THEY ARE WORTHY TO BE THE GATES OF PARADISE ? " Curious Questions. Vol. I., page no. CURIOUS QUESTIONS HISTORY, LITERATURE, ART, AND SOCIAL LIFE DESIGNED AS a IHanual ot General Information* BY S. H. KILLIKELLY. VOL I. PHILADELPHIA: KEYSTONE PUBLISHING CO. 1890. Copyright, 1886, By S. H. KILLIKELLY TO HER WHO IS THE JOY OF MY LIFE, Ml fflatjjer, THIS VOLUME IS LOVINGLY INSCRIBED. PREFACE. The title of this book has been chosen in accord- ance with Webster's definition of the term curious; viz., " eager for knowledge," " given to research," " ex- citing attention or inquiry." " It is a pity a gentleman so very curious after things that were elegant and beautiful should not have been as curious as to their origin, their uses, and their nat- ural history." — Woodward. "Wednesday Afternoons with my Literature Class," would perhaps have been a better title, and one requir- ing no preface ; but since these questions have formed the most interesting feature of our class, and are the only part of the course here represented, we call our book "Curious Questions." I say " our book ; " for in association, at least, it is the joint property of many successive classes of young friends, who, having laid aside the text-books of school, were ready and eager to enter the broader fields of polite literature. It has been my part only to lead the way. They have been apt gleaners, and this is a portion of what we have gathered. vi PREFACE. We trust that owners of property in these boundless fields will not hold us guilty of trespass, if, in our eagerness after the things sought, we have overstepped forbidden ground. We claim nothing original ; and it was not my inten- tion, until within the past year, to put this result of our labor in print. I do so now with the hope that it may inspire the formation of similar classes, and incite the young to more careful reading and deeper research, as the best means of obtaining general information. It gives me great pleasure to append a note of favor- able comment from Henry Coppee, LL.D., ex-presi- dent, and now Professor of English Literature, Lehigh University. SARAH H. KILLIKELLY. At the request of Miss Killikelly, I have reviewed these questions and notes, and desire to express my pleasure and satisfaction at the able manner in which she has accomplished her task. She explains with clearness many things in history, literature and art, of which the young pupil is ignorant, and which it costs pains and study to find out. She makes each question a nucleus around which to gather much valuable infor- mation. I heartily recommend the volume to teachers for use in classes, and also as a basis for supplementary lec- tures, and the solution of similar problems. The Lehigh University. HENRY COPPEE. vii LIST OF AUTHORITIES. The following authorities have been used in compil- ing this book, and may be consulted by those wishing fuller information : " The Reader's Handbook," and " Dictionary of Phrase and Fable," Dr. Brewer; "Hand- book of Universal Literature," Botta ; the works of Augustus J. C. Hare ; " Manual of Mythology," Mur- ray ; " Book of Days," Chambers ; " History of Art," Liibke ; " History of Ancient Art," Winckelmann ; "Life of Michael Angelo," Grimm; "The World's Worship in Stone," " Life of H. W. Longfellow," Un- derwood ; " The Queen of the Adriatic," Adams ; "Poets and Poetry of Europe," Longfellow; Charlotte Yonge's Histories ; " Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," Gibbon ; " Literature of the South of Europe," Sismondi ; " The Young Folks' Encyclopaedia," Cham- plin ; " Mummies and Moslems," Warner ; " Ten Great Religions," Clarke ; " Choice Literature," Spofford ; English and American Encyclopaedias, and numerous works of history and travel. viii TABLE OF QUESTIONS. TO THE READER. As the articles in this book are not essays, but merely answers to questions, it is very desirable that the following direction be observed: — Before reading any article, turn to this Table, and read carefully the question that corresponds in number with the article. 1. What queen was crowned, with all due ceremony, after her death ? Page i. 2. Who was the real prisoner of Chillon ? Page 3. 3. What picture is called the " first picture of the world " ? Page 6. 4. Why do members of the English Parliament sit with their hats on ? and why does the Lord Chancellor of England sit upon a woolsack ? Page 7. 5. In what war were half a million of women engaged as soldiers ? Page 7. 6. Who are the "three friends" mentioned in Whittier's " Tent on the Beach " ? Page 9. 7. In honor of what painting did a king rise, and, re- moving his throne-chair, exclaim, " Make room for the immortal Raphael " ? Page 14. 8. What gave rise to the custom of casting a shoe after a bride ? Page 15. ix X CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 9. Of what nation is it recorded that they went into battle with wooden swords, that they might not kill their enemies ? Page 16. 10. What ancient document, discovered in 18 10, if authentic, is the most important legal document in the world ? Page 1 7. 11. Who found Pliny's doves? Page 18. 12. What is amber, and where is it found ? Page 19. 13. What queen was compelled to drink out of a cup made from her father's skull ? Page 20. 14. What poet wrote as his own epitaph, " Here lies one whose name was writ in water" ? Page 21. 15. What is the Lion of Lucerne? Page 21. 16. Did Tom Thumb kill Haydon ? Page 23. 17. Who was the Great Mogul ? Page 24. 18. Why was the " Passion Play " at Oberammergau made an exception when miracle-plays were suppressed ? and what were the miracle-plays ? Page 25. 19. What reason have we for supposing that any true likeness of Christ exists ? Page 26. 20. How is the annual inundation of the Nile accounted for? Page 28. 21. What noted warrior led his troops into battle after his death ? Page 30. 22. Who was the original "Rebecca," in Sir Walter Scott's " Ivanhoe " ? Page 34. 23. What is the Bayeux Tapestry? Page 35. 24. Who said, "Trifles make perfection, and perfection is no trifle " ? Page 37. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. xi 25. What was the last battle fought upon the soil of Great Britain ? Page 37. 26. What does Tennyson refer to in " Enid," when he says, " Were she the prize of bodily force, him- self beyond the rest pushing could move the chair of Idris " ? Page 38. 27. What is the legend connected with the Strasbourg clock? Page 38. 28. Who invented " Greek fire " ? Page 40. 29. What man of note was carried about and exhibited in an iron cage ? Page 41. 30. What is the " Eikon Basilike " ? Page 42. 31. What is the story of the famous picture called " The Rope of Ocnus " ? Page 44. 32. What is the origin of lifting the hat ? Page 44. 33. Who was the last of the Incas ? Page 45. 34. Who was the veiled prophet of Khorassan ? Page 47. 35. What are the six famous diamonds of the world ? Page 48. 36. What is meant by a "Roland for an Oliver"? Page 51. 37. Who were the Buccaneers ? Page 53. 38. What is the mystery about the " Letters of Ju- nius " ? Page 55. 39. What is the Mona Lisa ? Page 56. 40. What is the origin of a "feather in his cap"? Page 57. 41. Who was the only Englishman that ever became a pope ? Page 57. xii CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 42. What is the legend connected with the tomb of the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa ? Page 58. 43. What and where is the Golden Temple of Umrit- seer ? Page 59. 44. What instance have we of thirteen being a lucky number ? Page 60. 45. What emperor sat upon his throne for three hun- dred and fifty years ? Page 61. 46. How has Victor Hugo estimated certain great lit- erary men ? Page 62. 47. What picture is called the " second great picture of the world " ? Page 65. 48. In what church in Europe is the Roman-Catholic and Protestant service held at the same time ? Page 66. 49. What beautiful instance of devotion is recorded of the women of Weinsberg ? Page 67. 50. What are Ruskin's "Seven Lamps of Architec- ture " ? Page 68. 51. What was the blind man's answer, when asked which was the greater art, painting or sculpture ? Page 69. 52. Of whom is it recorded, " He never said a foolish thing, and never did a wise one " ? Page 70. 53. What battle is called the "Battle of Nations"? Page 71. 54. What was the object aimed at and accomplished by Cervantes, in his "Don Quixote" ? Page 72. 55. What is the most costly picture in the world ? Page 74. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. xiii 56. Who was the " Mentone man " ? Page 75. 57- Who are called the " Spies of the Czar " ? Page 75. 58. Upon what old custom did* Whittier found his beau- tiful poem of " Telling the Bees " ? Page 77. 59. What Huguenot was exempted from the massacre of St. Bartholomew by Catherine de' Medici ? Page 77. 60. What is the origin of the term " Brother Jona- than " ? Page 79. 61. What modern king and queen of England were elected ? Page 80. 62. What is the plot of the opera "Lucrezia Borgia"? Page 81. 63. Who built the Great Wall of China ? Page 83. 64. What man lost his life for writing a punning epi- gram ? Page 84. 65. What man stood upon a pillar for more than thirty years ? Page 84. 66. Who were the seven sleepers of Ephesus ? Page 85. 67. What is the history of the two marble columns standing in St. Mark's Square, Venice? Page 86. 68. What is the origin of the term " pin-money " ? Page 87. 69. Who founded the Society of Jesuits ? Page 88. 70. Of whom was it written, "There is a tomb in Arqua, reared in air, wherein repose the bones of Laura's lover " ? Page 89. 71. What are the Elgin Marbles ? Page 91. xiv CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 72. How does the motion of the earth differ from all artificial motion ? Page 91. 73. What woman assumed to be the Holy Ghost ? Page 92. 74. What poem is called "The Iliad of France"? Page 93. 75. What work of art, executed in Europe, has had a special building erected for it in America ? Page 94. 76. What do the wax figures in Westminster Abbey represent ? Page 96. 77. What are Pasquinades ? Page 96. 78. Who was the " Old Man of the Mountain " ? Page 97. 79. What is the Taj Mahal ? Page 98. 80. What does the Harleian Collection, purchased by the British Museum, contain ? Page 99. 81. Why is a chronic grumbler called a Momus ? Page 100. 82. What was the Carroccio ? Page 101. 83. What is the origin of the saying, " Robbing Peter to pay Paul " ? Page 102. 84. Who were the Mamelukes ? Page 103. 85. What is the supposed secret of the Fenian oath? Page 103. 86. What is said to be the most curious book in the world ? Page 105. 87. What painting is called "the third picture of the world " ? Page 106. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. XV 88. What is the Key of Death ? Page 107. 89. How long did the city of Pompeii remain under- ground ? Page 107. 90. Who was the original of "Jeanie Deans," in Sir Walter Scott's "Heart of Mid - Lothian " ? Page 109. 91. Of what doors did Michael Angelo say, " They are worthy to be the Gates of Paradise " ? Page 110. 92. What is the origin of " There's many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip " ? Page 112. 93. Who first assumed the title of " Czar of Russia" ? Page 112. 94. Who wrote the Koran ? Page 1 14. 95. What is a Tope ? Page 115. 96. Who was the Mary who " had a little lamb " ? \J Page 116. 97. Who were the Maroons? Page 117. 98. Who was the " Pennsylvania Pilgrim " of Whit- tier's poem ? Page 118. 99. To commemorate what event was the Cathedral of Moscow erected ? Page 1 19. 100. Who interpreted the Sphinx riddle? Page 120. 101. What great general requested that his heart might be buried in one place, and his body in another ? Page 121. 102. What is the plot of the opera "Lohengrin"? Page 123. xvi CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 103. To what work of Raphael's did Michael Angelo vow that he would put a stop ? and how did he fulfil his vow ? Page 125. 104. What verse in the Bible is called the " Neck- Verse," and why ? Page 1 26. 105. To commemorate what event were the Marian Games instituted? Page 126. 106. Who is the hero of " The Lusiad " ? Page 128. 107. What is the Kremlin? Page 130. xo8. Who said, " If the nose of Cleopatra had been shorter, the whole face of the world would have been different " ? Page 131. 109. What queen married, successively, her two broth- ers, both younger than herself ? Page 132. no. What serious result followed the revocation of the Edict of Nantes ? Page 1 34. in. What is the origin of "The curtain is the pic- ture " ? Page 135. 112. Who said, "There is no royal road to learning" ? Page 136. 113. Who gave to the world the first description of China, and suffered persecution for so doing? Page 136. 114. What is the plot of the drama " Sakuntala " ? Page 138. 115. When did the "Bee" become the insignia of the Napoleonic dynasty ? Page 1 39. 116. In what trial did Chassanee, the celebrated French jurist, win his first laurels ? Page 140. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. xvii 117. Why was the last King of France called the " King of the French " ? Page 142. 118. Who wrote "The Battle of the Books," and why? Page 143. 119. What has Ruskin said of Tintoretto's famous pic- tures ? Page 143. 120. Where were stones manufactured and used in large quantities ? Page 145. 121. What two generals were buried secretly, and what was done with those who took part in their interment ? Page 145. 122. Whose is the greatest name in German literature? Page 146. 123. What and where is the Burgh Mousa ? Page 147. 124. What kind of a tub did Diogenes live in ? Page 148. 125. Who were the Hohenstaufens ? Page 150. 126. What is the legend of the Golden Cave? Page 151. 127. What are the Arundelian Marbles? Page 151. 128. Who were the " Clerks of the Revels " ? Page 153. 129. What king was the first, second, third, and fourth of his name at the same time ? Page 153. 130. Of whom was it said, " He sat in his easy-chair, and was for twenty years the oracle of the lit- erary world" ? Page 155. 131. Where did Michael Angelo get his model for "La Pieta"? Page 156. 132. What is the history of the " Sunday Stone " in the British Museum ? Page 157. xviii CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 133. What great conqueror was overcome, and cruelly put to death, by a woman ? Page 157. 134. In Longfellow's sonnet, " Three Friends of Mine," who were the three friends ? Page 1 59. 135. What is called the eighth wonder of the world ? Page 159. 136. What are the Towers of Silence? Page 161. 137. Who were the Guelphs and Ghibellines ? Page 161. 138. What is the distinction between the terms classic and romantic in literature ? Page 162. 139. What is the Bambino ? Page 163. 140. What is the difference between a joust and a tour- nament ? Page 164. 141. Who were the Janizaries ? Page 165. 142. Upon what historical facts are the Iliad and Odys- sey founded ? Page 167. 143. What miracle is said to have put a stop to the re- building of the Temple of Jerusalem ? Page 168. 144. Why is Pennsylvania called the Keystone State ? Page 169. 145. Who was Zenobia? Page 170. 146. What is to be understood by Sanskrit literature ? Page 172. 147. What are Choragic monuments? Page 172. 148. Who were the seven wise men of Greece, and what were their mottoes ? Page 173. 149. What man, by his death, put an end to the gladia- torial combats in Rome? Page 174. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. xix 150. What is the plot of the opera " La Traviata " ? Page 176. 151. What are considered to be Michael Angelo's mas- terpieces ? Page 178. 152. What is the modern invention of converting light into sound? Page 179. 153. When did the kings and nobles of Ireland hold their last assembly in Tara's Hall ? Page 180. 154. What are Utopian schemes? Page 181. 155. What work of antique art in the British Museum has a special guardian ? Page 182. 156. Who invented the method of chronology now in use; viz., B.C. and A.D. ? Page 186. 157. Who were the Amazons, and what kingdoms did they found ? Page 187. 158. What is the legend of the Island of Seven Cities ? Page 188. 159. What are Kit-Cat pictures? Page 188. 160. What great man's surname has become an epithet for a knave, and his Christian name a synonyme for the Devil ? Page 189. 161. What queen died of a broken heart because forci- bly refused admission to the king's coronation ? Page 190. 162. Who are the heroes of the Nibelungenlied, the German Iliad? Page 191. 163. Who built the Vatican ? Page 193. 164. What are the relics exhibited every seven years at Aix-la-Chapelle ? Page 194. 165. Who was the real Mother Goose" ? Page 195. XX CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 166. What province in Turkey has never been con- quered, and why? Page 196. 167. Who was " Hypatia," the heroine of Kingsley's novel ? Page 196. 168. What is an oratorio ? Page 197. 169. Who was it that said, "Give me a lever long . enough, and a prop strong enough, and I can move the world" ? Page 199. 170. Who was the first, and who was the last, king of Jerusalem ? Page 200. 171. What sacred books in other religions correspond to the Christian Bible? Page 201. 172. What zxz genre pictures ? Page 202. 173. How is alchemy said to have ended in tragedy in England, and in comedy in Germany ? Page 203, 174. What emperor was flayed alive, his skin stuffed, and the effigy hung up in a foreign temple ? Page 208. 175. Who wrote Telemaque, and what was done to the author ? Page 208. 176. What painter and sculptor and architect have beei> named the trio of modern Greeks ? Page 209. 177. What city is called the "City of the Violated Treaty " ? Page 211. 178. What is the oldest dynasty now reigning in Eu- rope ? Page 211. 179. Who left half told the story of Cambuscan bold, and who finished the tale ? Page 212. 180. What is the Laocoon ? Page 214. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. xxi i8z. What is the origin of "windfall," as expressing good luck ? Page 216. 182. Who were the Maccabees? Page 217. 183. Why are the " Buonarroti Papers " withheld from the public ? Page 220. 184. What monument was unconsciously erected by a pagan to the memory of a Christian martyr? Page 221. 185. When did the crescent become the ensign of the Mohammedans, and what does it signify? Page 221. 186. Who were the Lollards ? Page 222. 187. What is the plot of the opera "II Trovatore"? Page 223. 188. What were the basilicas ? Page 224. 189. Who received the bequest left "to the bravest man in England " ? Page 225. 190. What false prophet has arisen in our own country, and within our own century ? Page 226. 191. What is the epic poem of Spain? Page 229. 192. What is the largest statue in the world ? Page 231. 193. Who are the tutelary deities of London ? Page 232. 194. Who were the Mound-Builders ? Page 233. 195. Who were the characters referred to in Tenny- son's " Dream of Fair Women " ? Page 236. 196. What is the history of the Egyptian obelisk in Central Park, New York ? Page 240. 197. What bone in the body is said to be the nucleus of the resurrection body ? Page 242. XXll CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 198. Whose dying words were, "I have loved justice, and hated iniquity ; therefore I die an exile " ? Page 243. 199. Who was the original Bluebeard ? Page 245. 200. What is the highest architectural point in the world ? Page 247. 201. When were eleven days dropped out of the Eng- lish calendar, to make the year agree with that of Continental countries? Page 250. 202. Who was the witch of Endor ? Page 252. 203. In Whittier's " Snow-Bound," who is the charac- ter introduced as "Another guest that winter night " ? Page 253. 204. Who was Lady Hester Stanhope ? Page 256. 205. What is a clepsydra? Page 258. 206. Of what statue did Pope Clement XIV. say, " He would speak did not the rule of his order for- bid " ? Page 261. 207. What king could not speak the language of the nation over which he ruled ? Page 261. 208. Who is the author of " To err is human, to forgive divine " ? Page 263. 209. When was heraldry introduced into England ? Page 265. 210. What is chloroform ? Page 266. 211. In what terrible manner was the last Kaliph put to death ? Page 267. 212. Who is the heroine of Spenser's " Faerie Queene " ? Page 268. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. xxiii 213. What is reckoned to be the oldest statue in the world ? Page 271. 214. How many lives were sacrificed during the " Reign of Terror " in France ? Page 272. 215. Who was the author of " God save the King " ? Page 274. 216. Whom does Byron call the " Last of Romans " ? Page 274. 217. What is the oldest art? Page 277. 218. What is the festival of "Scouring the White Horse " ? Page 279. 219. What great general ordered that after his death his skin should be made into drumheads, that he might still lead his troops against his ene- mies ? Page 280. 220. To whose funeral did Lord Tennyson send a wreath inscribed " To the World's Greatest Poet"? Page 281. 221. What is meant by the "Vocal Memnon" ? Page 283. 222. What is the Tenebrae ? Page 284. 223. When was the week made to consist of ten days, that Sunday might not be observed ? Page 285. 224. Who are the real characters introduced by Dante in his " Inferno " ? Page 287. 225. When did the custom of "The Golden Rose" originate ? Page 292. 226. Where is the Rock of Refuge ? Page 292. 227. What led to the foundation of the city of Venice ? Page 293. xxiv CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 228. Give some American literary pseudonymes. Page 294. 229. How were Madonnas first painted ? Page 295. 230. When were thimbles invented ? Page 296. 231. Who were the Moors? Page 297. 232. What is the legend of the Wandering Jew ? Page 298. 233. Why did Michael Angelo paint Sibyls alternately with Prophets on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel ? Page 301. 234. What wonder in the age of Shakspeare is called the " Great Bed of Ware " ? Page 302. 235. In what way is the wealth of Crcesus accounted for ? Page 303. 236. From what poem were the songs of the gondoliers of Venice taken for over two hundred years ? Page 304. 237. Of what artist did Guido say, "The fellow mixes blood with his colors " ? Page 305. 238. Why is an endless task said to be like " Penelope's Web " ? Page 307. 239. Who called England "Perfidious Albion"? Page 308. 240. What is the most important of all inventions ? Page 310. 241. Why was the amphitheatre at Rome called the Colosseum? Page 312. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. XXV 242. Who destroyed the brazen serpent set up by- Moses in the wilderness ? Page 313. 243. When were surnames or fixed family names adopted? Page 314. 244. What are the Eugubine Tables? Page 316. 245. Why are the Ellora Caves important? Page 317. 246. How did King Nabis extort money from his sub- jects ? Page 318. 247. Why is the Peace of Cambray called the " Ladies' Peace" ? Page 318. 248. What authors have been made famous by one work ? Page 319. 249. What gave rise to the Roman School of Art ? Page 320. 250. What and where is the Sacro Catino ? Page 320. 251. Who was the last of the astrologers ? Page 321. 252. What are the Fasti Capitolini ? Page 322. 253. What is considered the loveliest face in antique sculpture ? Page 323. 254. When was Sunday proclaimed a legal day of rest ? Page 324. 255. What town in the Old World was captured by the United States ? Page 325. 256. Who are the heroes of the great Hindoo epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata? Page 326. 257. In what cathedral are the columns said to be the largest single stones which the hand of man has cut, rounded, and polished ? Page 327. XX vi CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 258. How are aerolites, or meteoric stones, accounted for? Page 328. 259. Where do the bones of Columbus now rest ? Page 329. 260. Why did Virgil on his death-bed wish to burn the ^Eneid ? Page 332. 261. What discovery was the result of a wild frolic of English sailors in Egypt? Page 335. 262. Where is the river of natural ink, and how is it accounted for ? Page 337. 263. What was the cause of the Franco-Prussian war, and how did it benefit Germany ? Page 339. 264. What book is said to have gone through more edi- tions, and to have been translated into more languages, than any book except our Bible ? Page 340. 265. What became of the Black Rood of Scotland? • Page 341. 266. What king came to the throne of France bearing five coffins in his train ? Page 344. 267. What people are our antipodes in manners and customs ? Page 344. 268. Who are the real characters in Longfellow's " Wayside Inn " ? Page 345. 269. What is the subject of the work of art called "The Farnese Bull " ? Page 349. 270. What is a Pragmatic Sanction ? Page 351. 271. What ancestry do the Afghans claim ? Page 351. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. xxvii 272. Did Michael Angelo paint the "Three Fates"? Page 352. 273. What does Southey mean when he says, " I have not reared the Oriflamme of death " ? Page 353. 274. Which is the oldest family ? Page 354. 275. What is the origin of the ring in the marriage ceremony ? Page 356. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. i. A QUEEN CROWNED AFTER DEATH. Inez de Castro, queen of Pedro I. of Portugal, was the near relative of the King of Portugal, and also of the King of Castile ; but, notwithstanding her royal descent, she consented to a clandestine marriage with Don Pedro, whom, for political reasons, his father the king had already contracted in marriage to a Spanish princess. She was married to Don Pedro on the 1st of January, 1347. Three years afterwards she was murdered by assas- sins, instigated to the act by her father-in-law, the King of Portugal. When Don Pedro heard of her assassina- tion, he was beside himself with grief and rage. He desolated with the sword those portions of his father's realm in which the assassins dwelt. Two of the criminals fell into his hands, and were exposed to the most exquisite torture for three days and nights, after which their hearts were torn out while the victims were yet living. When he came to the throne, shortly after, he had the body of Inez taken from the grave, placed upon a magnificent throne, arrayed in robes of royalty, and crowned " Queen of 2 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. Portugal." The court was then summoned, and com- pelled to do her homage as if she were a living queen. One fleshless hand held the sceptre ; and the other, the orb of royalty. The night after the coronation, there was a grand funeral cortege extending for many miles, each person carrying a torch. They escorted the crowned queen, as she lay in her rich robes in a chariot drawn by black mules, to the royal abbey of Alcobaca for interment. Her monument is still to be seen there, with Don Pedro's at the foot of it. It is said that Don Pedro lived for many years, a cold, gloomy, yet merciful ruler, winning the title of " Pedro the Just." From the son of this princess, Don Juan, descends the present reigning house of Portugal. An attempt made by Philip II. of Spain to secure the throne of Portugal by trying to prove the marriage of Inez illegal, shows clearly the political reason for the posthumous coronation of Inez de Castro, beloved wife of Pedro I. of Portugal. In this curious story may be discerned the essential difference of characteristics, as between Spain and Portugal. Since they form but a single territory, with the rivers Minho, Douro, and Tagus running through them, and unseparated by mountain ranges, it appears that the diversity is of race. When the Northern tribes came down upon Western Rome, the Suevi set- tled the west coast of Spain ; while the Vandals and Alans and Goths spread over the rest of the peninsula. The Suevi have maintained their individuality through all the intervening years, insomuch that the Portuguese are called at the present day by the Spaniards Sevasos, a corruption of Suevi. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 3 2. THE REAL PRISONER OF CHILLON. " Chillon ! thy prison is a holy place, And thy sad floor an altar ; for 'twas trod, Until his steps have left a trace Worn, as if thy cold pavement were a sod, By Bonnivard ! May none those marks efface ! For they appeal from tyranny to God." Byron. The castle of Chillon has been immortalized by Byron's beautiful poem of "The Prisoner of Chillon." It is situated at the east end of the Lake of Geneva, Switzerland, on an isolated rock almost entirely sur- rounded by deep water, but connected with the shore by a wooden bridge. " Lake Leman lies by Chillon's walls : A thousand feet in depth below, Its massy waters meet and flow." This castle was built in the ninth century, and was altered and fortified by Amadeus IV., Duke of Savoy, in 1238, and was long used as a state prison, where, among other victims, many of the early reformers were immured. The castle is well preserved, and is extremely interesting to tourists. The prison-vaults are all below the surface of the lake. Such of these vaults as are lighted at all have small windows, through which the sunlight passes by reflection from the surface of the lake up to the roof, transmitting also partly the blue color of the waters. The dungeon of Bonnivard, the Swiss patriot, whose imprisonment has made this castle one of the shrines of freedom, consists of two vaulted aisles ; its floor and one side being formed by the solid rock. In one of the pillars is a ring, to which Bonnivard 4 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. was chained (1530-36) ; and the stone floor at its base is worn by his constant pacing to and fro. When Byron wrote his poem, either he had in view an imaginary captive, or else the true history of the real Bonnivard was unknown to him. Francois Bonnivard, the real prisoner, had no broth- ers ; and none of his name died in the castle. Byron makes him one of six brothers, who, with their father, laid down their lives upon the altar of freedom. " We were seven — who now are one, — Six in youth, and one in age, Finished as they had begun, Proud of persecution's rage : One in fire, and two in field, Their belief with blood have sealed; Dying as their father died, For the God their foes denied : Three were in a dungeon cast, Of whom this wreck is left the last." The true Bonnivard was the son of the Lord of Lune : when he was but sixteen years old, he inherited from his uncle the rich priory of St. Victor. He espoused the cause of the city of Geneva against Charles V. of Savoy, who, in retaliation, sequestered his estates, and confined him for two years in the castle of Grolee. When he regained his liberty, he took up arms to recover his estate, and was aided in this effort by the city of Geneva. The Duke of Savoy again captured him, and sent him to the castle of Chillon, where he was imprisoned for six years. After the Reformation, when the castle was taken by the Swiss, he was set free. " It might be months, or years, or days, I kept no count, — I took no note. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 5 I had no hope my eyes to raise, And clear them of their dreary mote. At last men came to set me free : I asked not why, and recked not where; It was at length the same to me, Fettered or fetterless to be, I learned to love despair." He had left Geneva a Catholic state, and in pos- session of the Duke of Savoy : he found it on his return a free republic, and devoted to the faith of the Refor- mation. He died at the age of seventy-five, a distin- guished citizen of the republic. Travellers are also shown, in this castle, the chapel where the dukes of Savoy attended mass, unmindful of the victims in the vaults below; the Potence, a beam black with age, to which the criminal was hanged ; the hole in the wall through which his body was thrust into the lake ; the torture-chamber, in which stands a wooden pillar which still bears the marks of the hot iron ; and the Oubliette, a frightful place, into which prisoners were thrust to die. The attendant will also raise a trap-door in the stone floor, and show a spiral stairway of three steps. The prisoner was compelled to walk down these steps, and, failing to find a fourth, was hurled eighty feet below into a pit, where he fell upon sharp knives, and was left to die. " It is by this castle of Chillon also that Rous- seau has fixed the catastrophe of his ' Heloise,' in the rescue of one of her children by Julie from the water ; the shock of which, and the illness produced by the immersion, is the cause of her death." The chateau being large, and its walls white, it can be seen for a long distance from the lake. The lake has been sounded to a depth of eight hun- dred feet, French measure. 6 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 3. FIRST PICTURE IN THE WORLD. "The Transfiguration" by Raphael is called the first and grandest picture in the world. It was originally painted by order of Cardinal Giulio de Medici (afterward Clement VII.), Archbishop of Nar- bonne, for that cathedral : but it was scarcely finished when Raphael died ; and it hung over his bed as he lay in state, and it was carried in his funeral procession. Three reasons are given for combining in one the two scenes, that of the Transfiguration and that of the heal- ing of the demoniac boy. First, it was in accordance with the custom of the day to paint an earthly and a heavenly scene on one canvas ; secondly, an historical reason, because the Gospel narrative presents the two events as nearly simultaneous (St. Matthew xvii.) ; thirdly, an artistic reason, because this conjunction gave the painter room to express in ideal perfectness the great contrast between light and darkness, human suffer- ing and divine glory. In looking at "The Transfiguration," we must bear in mind that it is not an historical, but a devotional, picture. On the right side of the Saviour we see Moses, and on the left Elijah, representing the law and the prophets, both of which testified of him. It has been asked who are the two figures on the left side of the upper group. The two are St. Laurence and St. Julian, placed there at the request of Cardinal de Medici ; and these two figures commemorate (in a poetical way, not unusual at the time) his father Lo- renzo, and his uncle Giuliano de Medici. This picture was carried to Paris ; and, on its restora- tion to Rome by the French, it was placed in the Vatican, and now bears the title of " The Jewel of the Vatican." THE TRANSFIGURATION — Raphael (Vatican, Rome.) Curious Questions. Vol. I , page 6. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 7 4. CURIOUS CUSTOMS IN PARLIAMENT. During the reign of King John (1199), the king agreed to settle the difficulty with Philip II. of France, respecting the Duchy of Normandy, by single combat. John, the Earl of Ulster, was the English champion ; and, as soon as he appeared on the field of combat, his adversary put spurs to his horse, and fled, leaving him master of the field. King John asked the earl what his reward should be. He replied, "Titles and lands I want not; of these I have enough : but, in remembrance of this day, I beg the boon for myself and successors, to remain covered in the presence of your Majesty and all other sovereigns of this realm." The request was granted, and has never been revoked, which accounts for the odd custom in Parliament of members wearing their hats. During the reign of Elizabeth (1558) an act of Parliament was passed forbidding the exportation of wool ; and as a me- morial of the event, and to impress the people with the national importance of it, as well as to keep constantly in their minds this source of national wealth, sacks of wool were placed in the House of Lords, on which the Judges sat. The Lord Chancellor, who presides over the House of Lord's, still sits upon a sack of wool, over which is thrown a red cloth. To be appointed " High Chancel- lor " of England is even now " to be appointed to the wool-sack." 5. THE TAE-PING REBELLION. During this rebellion in China, which broke out in 1850, women were as active as men in all military du- ties. 8 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. In Nankin in 1853 na li: a million of women from va- rious parts of the country were formed into brigades of thirteen thousand each, under female officers. Of these, ten thousand were picked women, drilled and garrisoned in the city. The rest were compelled to undergo the drudgery of digging moats, making earth- works, erecting batteries, etc. This politico-religious rebellion is the most remarkable of recent events in China. The leader of the rebellion, Hungsewtseuen, having been led by the perusal of some Christian tracts to renounce idolatry, founded a society called " God- Worshippers." In 1850 this society came into collision with the im- perial authorities, the state religion of China being the Confucian. Hungsewtseuen persuaded himself and his followers that he had received a divine commission to uproot idolatry, and establish a universal peace. He assumed the title of Tien-wang, or Heavenly Prince. His followers held that Tien-wang was the Son of God, and worshipped him accordingly. Polygamy was a dark feature of their religious sys- tem : Tien-wang had thirty wives. With immense armies of converts, men and women, he laid desolate some of the best cultivated provinces of China. The city of Nankin was held by them until 1864, when the rebellion was finally suppressed by the gov- ernment, assisted by English, French, and American officers. The leader, Hungsewtseuen, perished by his own hands amid the blazing ruins of the palace he had occu- pied for eleven years. Nankin became again the seat of the Chinese govern- ment. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 9 The recapture of Pekin in i860 by the English and French was followed by a treaty which granted impor- tant privileges to European merchants, and made it the direct interest of the English, French, and American governments, to re-establish order in China. China in art, literature, politics, was like a precocious child. It developed early, and then that development was arrested ; and every thing has gone on without improve- ment for centuries. [These notes upon " Tent on the Beach " have been kindly approved by the author of the poem.] 6. TENT ON THE BEACH. " When heats as of a tropic clime Burned all our inland valleys through, Three friends, the guests of summer time, Pitched their white tent where sea-winds blew." Whittier. This poem was written in 1867. The "three friends" are James T. Fields, Bayard , Taylor, and Whittier himself. " They rested there, escaped a while From cares that wear the life away, To eat the lotus of the Nile, And drink the poppies of Cathay." The "lotus" is an Egyptian plant very like our water-lily. It is fabled, if eaten, to make one forget his native country, or cease to desire to return to it : by "lotus-eater" is meant one who gives himself up to pleasure-seeking. "In the afternoon they came unto a land, In which it seemed always afternoon." 10 CURIOUS QUESTIONS 11 And round about the keel with faces pale, Dark faces pale against that rosy flame, The mild-eyed melancholy Lotus-eaters came." " Then some one said, ' We will return no more ; ! And all at once they sang, ' Our island home Is far beyond the wave : we will no longer roam.' " Tennyson. " Cathay " is the ancient name for China. Opium is the chief ingredient of the poppy, which grows luxuriantly in the East Indies, and is largely imported into China : it is a narcotic, and makes one insensible to, or forgetful of, pain. " One, with his beard scarce silvered, bore A ready credence in his looks, A lettered magnate, lording o'er An ever-widening realm of books." James T. Fields, A.M., is referred to here and in the next two verses. He was editor of "The Atlantic Monthly" for eight years, was a poet, essayist, and extensive publisher. ■ Few men have exercised a more important influence over American literature. He was born in New Hamp- shire, 1 817, died in Boston, 1881. " In him brain-currents near and far Converge as in a Leyden jar : The old, dead authors throng him round about, And Elzevir's gray ghosts from leathern graves look out. " The "Leyden jar" is used to store electricity, and is so named because the first one was made in Leyden, Holland. " Elzevir " is the name of a celebrated family of printers in Holland. They published an edition of the CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 1 1 Latin classics, bound in leather, between 1 592-1626, an edition unrivaled for beauty and correctness. They published also twelve hundred and thirteen other works with the greatest care. For more than a century this family has ceased to have any connection with printing. " He knew each living pundit well." A " pundit" means a learned man or woman. " No Rhadamantine brow of doom, Bowed the dazed pedant from his room." Rhadamanthus was a mythical personage, the brother of Minos. So great was his reputation for justice during his life, that after death he was appointed one of the three judges in the underworld, the other two being Minos and ^Eocus. A "pedant" is one who makes a display of learning in an improper manner. " Pleasant it was to roam about The lettered world as he had done, And see the lords of song without Their singing robes and garlands on; With Wordsworth paddle Rydal mere, Taste rugged Elliott's home-brewed beer, And with the ears of Rogers, at fourscore, Hear Garrick's buskined tread and Walpole's wit once more." William "Wordsworth" was a famous English poet born in 1770, died in 1 850. His home was at Rydal- mere, a lake near by. "Elliott" was a poet highly praised by Carlyle, en- gaged with John Bright and Richard Cobden in the re- peal of the English Corn Laws. « Garrick " was the most celebrated actor on the Eng- lish stage from 17 16 to 1799. 12 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. " Walpole " was an English statesman from 1676 to 1745. "And one there was, a dreamer born, Who, with a mission to fulfil, Had left the Muses' haunts, to turn The crank of an opinion-mill." John G. Whittier refers to himself in this and in the three succeeding verses. He was born in Haverhill, Mass., 1807, in the Society of Friends. He worked on a farm in his youth. In 1835 hj was elected to the Massachusetts Legislature; in 1836 appointed sec- retary of the Antislavery Society, and editor of the " Pennsylvania Freeman " in Philadelphia; in 1840 he removed to Amesbury, Mass., where he still resides. He is one of the most popular poets of America. " Too quiet seemed the man to ride The winged Hippogriff Reform." " Hippogriff," a fabulous animal represented as a winged horse, with the head of a griffin. " And one whose Arab face was tanned By tropic sun and boreal frost, So travelled, there was scarce a land Or people left him to exhaust." Bayard Taylor, the great American traveller and statesman, is here referred to. When quite a young man he took a journey through Europe on foot. On coming home, he published a history of his travels in a book called "Views Afoot." He afterwards travelled all over the world, and pub- lished various books of travels ; also wrote four novels and several volumes of poems, and a translation of Goethe's " Faust." He was sent as American minister CURIOUS QUESTIONS. to Berlin in 1877, and died there, Dec. 19, 1878, aged about fifty-three years. " His memory round the ransacked earth On Puck's air-girdle slid at ease." "Puck," the same as Hobgoblin or Robin Goodfellow, a fairy and merry wanderer. " They bore, in unrestrained delight, The motto of the Garter's Knight." This refers to the " Order of the Garter," instituted by Edward III. of England. " Honi soit qui mal y pense " (" Evil to him who evil thinks ") is the motto not only of the " Garter Knight," but is also seen on the royal arms of Great Britain. " Careless as if from every gazing thing Hid by their innocence, as Gyges by his ring." "Gyges' ring," according to Plato, rendered the wearer invisible. By this talisman he is said to have entered the chamber of the Lydian King Candaules, unseen, and to have murdered him, reigning in his stead from 716 to 678 B.C. " At times their fishing-lines they plied, With an old Triton at the oar." " Triton," a son of Neptune, is represented in myth- ology as a fish with a human head. It is to this sea-god that the roaring of the ocean is attributed, — " Triton blowing through his shell." " And heard the ghosts on Haley's Isle complain." " Haley's Isle," one of the group called the Isles of Shoals off the coast of New England: the crew of a wrecked Spanish vessel were buried on the island. The three poems introduced, — The Wreck of River- 14 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. mouth," "The Grave by the Lake," and "The Brother of Mercy," — though poetically assigned to "the guests," are of Whittier's own composition. 7. THE "MADONNA DI SAN SISTO." This work of Raphael's belongs to the most brilliant period of the great master. According to Vasari, it was painted in 15 18 for the high altar of the convent of the Benedictines of St. Sixtus at Piacenza, and remained there until Augustus III., Elector of Saxony, and King of Poland, resolved to purchase it. It was not until twenty years later (in 175 3), that, through the interven- tion of the painter Carlo Giovannini of Bologna, it was finally purchased for the Dresden Gallery, the sum of eight thousand pounds being paid for it. The sellers reserved the right to have an exact copy of the picture, which should, according to custom, remain in the place of the original, and continue to pass for it. In No- vember, 1753, Giovannini himself bore the picture to Dresden. The king, impatient to see again this long- desired masterpiece, ordered it to be immediately un- packed and displayed in the castle. When it was carried into the throne-room, they hesitated to put it in the most favorable place in regard to light, for that was ex- actly where the throne stood. The king, perceiving this, hastily drew aside the throne-chair, saying, " Make room for the immortal Raphael ! " This painting has remained ever since the prized masterpiece of the Dres- den Gallery. It was painted in 15 18. The characters at either side and below the Madonna are Pope Sixtus and St. Barbara. The two cherubs in the lower part of the painting are known as " Raphael's Afterthoughts." CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 8. ORIGIN OF CASTING A SHOE AFTER A BRIDE. As seen from paintings on the walls of Thebes, shoe- making formed a distinct trade in the reign of Thothmes III. (about 1600 B.C.). Reference is made in Scripture to different symbolical usages in connection with san- dals or shoes. The delivery of a shoe was used as a testimony in transferring a possession. A man plucked off his shoe, and gave it to his neighbor ; and this was a testimony in Israel. The throwing of a shoe on property was a symbol of new ownership, as, " Over Edom will I cast out my shoe " (Ps. lx. 8). From these ancient practices came the old customs in England and Scotland of throwing an old shoe after a bride on her departure for a new home, symbolizing that the parents gave up all right or dominion over their daughter. In Anglo-Saxon times the father delivered the bride's shoe to the bridegroom, who touched her on the head with it, to show his authority. In Turkey the bridegroom after marriage is chased by the wedding-guests, and pelted with slippers by way of adieu. " Whose shoes I am not worthy to bear," means not worthy to be his lowest slave ; as it was the business of the slave most recently purchased, to loose and carry his master's sandals. Among the ancient Northmen, when a man adopted a son, the person adopted put on the shoes of the adopter. St. Crispin and Crispinian are regarded as the patron saints of shoemakers, as they supported themselves at 16 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. this trade while preaching the gospel through Gaul and Britain. Shoemaking is called the gentle craft, and is noted for the number of men who have risen from it to emi- nence. 9. WOODEN SWORDS USED IN BATTLE. It is recorded of the ancient Mexicans, that they went into battle with wooden swords, that they might not kill their enemies. (See Grimm's "Life of Michael Angelo.") The name Mexico is derived from Mexitili, the tute- lary deity of the Aztecs. There is no authentic history of Mexico until the end of the sixth century, all before that time being more or less mythological. It is known, that, in the beginning of the seventh century, the Toltecs, a race of people from the north, descended into the valley, and settled there. Little is known of the history of the Toltecs except that they were an agricultural people, humane and civilized, and proficient in the mechanical arts. They seem to have lived quietly for about five hun- dred years, when civil strife, pestilence, and famine caused large numbers to emigrate. Those remaining intermarried with neighboring tribes : they were all finally overcome by the Aztecs, who gave their name to the whole country and to the civilization of their day, much of which, however, they really received from the Toltecs. The Aztecs were a fierce, warlike race ; and their re- ligion was the most bloodthirsty the world has ever known. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 17 The temples of their gods were scattered throughout the land, and thousands of human beings were sacri- ficed every year upon their altars. The victims were mostly prisoners-of-war ; and, in their battles, the Aztecs tried to kill as few of their enemies as possible, that they might have the more to offer in sacrifice. In the years preceding the Spanish conquest, from twenty thousand to fifty thousand victims were annu- ally sacrificed. On April 22, 15 19, Hernan Cortes landed at Vera Cruz, overthrew the Aztec kingdom, and took perma- nent possession of the country for Spain. The story of the conquest has been most vividly told by Prescott, and is the foundation of a novel by Lewis Wallace, entitled "The Fair God." 10. THE DEATH-WARRANT OF JESUS. 1 Of the many interesting relics and fragments brought to light by the persevering researches of antiquarians, none could be more interesting to the philanthropist and believer than the following, to Christians the most imposing judicial document ever recorded in human annals. It has been thus faithfully transcribed : — "Sentence rendered by Pontius Pilate, acting Governor of Lower Galilee, stating that Jesus of Nazareth shall suffer death on the cross. " In the year seventeen of the Emperor Tiberius Caesar, and the 27th day of March, the city of the holy Jerusalem — Annas and Caiaphas being priests, sacrificators of the people of God ; Pontius Pilate, Governor of Lower Galilee, sitting in the presidential chair 1 See Gleanings, C. C. Bombaugh, A.M., M.D. i8 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. of the prsetory — condemns Jesus of Nazareth to die on the cross between two thieves, the great and notorious evidence of the peo» pie saying, — " i. Jesus is a seducer. " 2. He is seditious. " 3. He is the enemy of the law. "4. He calls himself falsely the Son of God. " 5. He calls himself falsely the King of Israel. " 6. He entered into the temple, followed by a multitude bearing palm-branches in their hands. " Orders the first centurion, Quilius Cornelius, to lead him to the place of execution. Forbids any person whomsoever, either poor or rich, to oppose the death of Jesus Christ. "The witnesses who signed the condemnation of Jesus are, — " 1. Daniel Robani, a Pharisee. "2. Joannus Robani. " 3. Raphael Robani. " 4. Capet, a citizen. "Jesus shall go out of the city of Jerusalem by the gate of Struenus." The foregoing is engraved on a copper plate, on the reverse of which is written, " A similar plate is sent to each tribe." It was found in an antique marble vase, while excavating in the . ancient city of Aquila, in the kingdom of Naples, in the year 18 10, and was discov- ered by the Commissioners of Arts of the French army. At the expedition of Naples, it was enclosed in a box of ebony, and preserved in the sacristy of the Chartem. The French translation was made by the Commissioners of Arts. The original is in the Hebrew language. 11. PLINY'S DOVES. In one of the rooms on the upper floor of the Mu- seum of the Capitol at Rome, is the celebrated mosaic described by Pliny, and from his description called CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 19 "Pliny's Doves." It is one of the finest and most per fectly preserved specimens of ancient mosaic, and is formed of natural stones so small that one hundred and sixty pieces cover only a square inch. It was found in Villa Adriana, in 1737, by Cardinal Furietti, from whom it was purchased by Pope Clement XIII. for the Cap- itoline Museum. This exquisite specimen of mosaic art is a copy of the work of Sosus, and is described by Pliny as a proof of the perfection to which that art had arrived. He says, " At Pergamos is a wonderful specimen of a dove drinking, and darkening the water with the shadow of her head : on the lip of the vessel are other doves pluming themselves." It was found set as a centre- piece in the floor of a room which was laid with coarser mosaic : around it was a stripe of flower-work as a border, about a hand in breadth, equally fine with the centre-piece. 12. AMBER. Amber is the name of a fossil gum : we say " a fossil gum " because it seems to be the remains of a former age. From its peculiar qualities, the Romans called it electrum. This gum is found in the ground ; and, as it seems to be a crystallized substance, it is called a mineral. Amber was originally generated from a species of pine and fir tree, just as turpentine is now produced from certain pine and fir trees in our country. As the gum oozed out of the trees, it flowed down to the roots of the trees, where it lay in large deposits. A forest undisturbed for centuries would produce extensive fields of this gum. 20 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. The excavations and explorations around the Black Sea reveal the fact that its shores were covered by vast forests of pine and fir trees, and that centuries ago the forests were submerged and covered up, as in this place amber is found in larger quantities than elsewhere. It is used largely for ornaments worn by ladies, and for many things it is more valuable than gold. Smokers use amber as mouthpieces for pipes, and very large quantities of it are sent to China to be made into idols, etc. 13. A QUEEN WHO DRANK FROM A CUP MADE OF A HUMAN SKULL. The successors of Theodoric in the Gothic Kingdom of Italy were seven in number. After the death of the last of the seven, the Goths were subdued by Narses, who administered the govern- ment as duke until A.D. 567. He was recalled by the emperor Justin II. ; and, to avenge this insult, he invited Alboin, king of the Lombards, into Italy. Alboin penetrated into Italy, and was proclaimed king in 568. In single combat he killed Cunimund, king of the Gepidae, a German tribe, and forced Rosamond, the daughter of the murdered king, to become his wife. He then had a wine-cup made of the skull of Cuni- mund, out of which he compelled the queen to drink. The beautiful Rosamond dissembled her indignant feelings, but, waiting her opportunity, appealed to two officers for revenge, who, being admitted by her to the king's apartment, assassinated him as he lay asleep. According to agreement, Rosamond fled with one of the assassins, Helmichis, to Ravenna. TOMB OF THEODORIC THE GREAT. {Near Ravenna, Italy } CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 2 I Afterward, to free herself from the power of HeL michis, she gave him a cup of poison to drink ; but he, detecting her treachery, drank half of it, and compelled her to drink the other half, so that they died together. 14. THE POET WHOSE NAME WAS "WRIT IN WATER." In the Protestant cemetery at Rome, there is a grave with this inscription : "This grave contains all that was mortal of a young English poet, who on his deathbed, in the bitterness of his heart at the malicious power of his enemies, desired these words to be engraved on his tombstone : * Here lies one whose name was writ in water.' February 23, 182 1." This is the grave of John Keats, aged twenty-four years, born in London, 1795, died at Rome, 1821. He published his first volume of poems in 18 17. In the following year appeared " Endymion," dedicated to the memory of Thomas Chatterton. This work was so severely handled in the English journals of the day, that he left England, and went to Italy. His later poems place him among the masters of his art, especially one entitled "The Eve of St. Agnes." , He died feeling that his name would perish, but the influence of his style still lives. It is said that Browning "has his color without his melody," while Tennyson has both the color and the melody of Keats. 15. THE LION OF LUCERNE. One of the chief attractions to tourists in the city of Lucerne, Switzerland, is the figure of a lion hewn out of the living rock on the side of a high cliff which bor 22 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. ders a small park at the extremity of the town : be- neath the lion is a small sheet of water, which reflects it with the clearness of a mirror. The lion is of colossal size, wounded to death, with a spear in his side, yet endeavoring in his last gasp to protect from injury a shield bearing the fleur-de-lis of the Bourbons, which he holds in his paw. The design was furnished by the great sculptor Thor- waldsen ; and the " Lion of Lucerne " is a noble monu- ment erected to the memory of the Swiss Guard who fell in defence of the Tuileries at Paris, on the memor- able ioth of August, 1792. Beneath the sculptured lion are the names of the officers of the Swiss Guard. When the revolutionary mob surrounded the Tuile- ries, the National Guard, and nine hundred men com- posing the Swiss Guard, were in charge of the defence of the palace. The king, desiring to avoid the shedding of blood, would not allow the Guard to fire upon the crowd, but with the royal family fled for safety to the hall of the National Assembly. The Swiss Guard finding it im- possible to keep back the mob, who were pressing into the palace, at length fired, killing and wounding many of them. The rage of the people then knew no bounds ; and, being joined by the National Guard, they broke into the palace, and murdered all whom they found in it. This affair furnished a fresh charge against the king : the Swiss Guard were said to have fired by his orders, and thus the king was accused of making war upon his people. Seven hundred of the Swiss Guard were massacred; and the king and royal family were taken prisoners, and CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 23 finally executed. Thus, the date upon the "Lion of Lucerne " marks not only the massacre of the Swiss Guard, and their loyalty to the Bourbons, but it marks an important epoch in history, — the day upon which Louis XVI., King of France, really ceased to reign. 16. TOM THUMB AND HAYDON. It is scarcely an exaggeration to say that poor Hay- don, the historical painter, was killed by Tom Thumb. In 1846 Haydon finished one of his six large historical pictures, called "The Banishment of Aristides," by the exhibition of which he hoped to relieve himself from debt. He engaged a room for the purpose in the Egyptian Hall, London ; and, very shortly after, Gen. Tom Thumb came to London, and exhibited himself under the same roof. The following was found recorded soon afterwards in Haydon's diary: "They rush by thousands to see Tom Thumb ; they see my bills, but do not read them." Two weeks after, he made his record in a few bitter words : "In one week, 12,000 persons have paid to see Tom Thumb, while only 133 have paid to see 'Aris- tides.'" In five weeks he closed his exhibition with a positive loss of more than a hundred pounds ; and then, in the midst of poverty and misery, he made his last entry : " O God ! let it not be presumptuous in me to ask thy blessing on my six works." He was found one morning in June prostrate before his picture. The pistol and the razor had ended his troubles. 24 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 17. THE GREAT MOGUL. The greatest of the Mogul emperors of India was Akbar, born Oct. 14, 1542. He began to reign, when he was twelve years old, over three provinces only; but he extended his empire over nearly the whole of India. He showed such wisdom in ruling, and was so just to all in his decisions, that he was called "the Guardian of Mankind." His court at Agra was very magnificent. Many buildings of his time are still to be seen there, among them the fortress, within the walls of which are the palace of Shah Jehan, and. the famous Pearl Mosque, so called on account of its wondrous beauty. Still more noted is the Taj Mahal (q.v.). The real name of Akbar was Jelal-ed-Deen ; but, when he became powerful, he was called Akbar, which in Arabic means very great, or greatest ; so in English he became known as the Great Mogul. He is said to have kept five thousand elephants, twelve thousand sta- ble-horses, and one thousand hunting-leopards. Akbar died in 1605, and was buried in a magnificent mausoleum at Sicandra near Agra, and was succeeded by his son. In 1525 Baber, a descendant of the great Mogul con- queror, Tamerlane, invaded Hindostan, overthrew the Afghan dynasty that had ruled in that country for three centuries, and became the founder of a dynasty of Mogul princes which ruled Hindostan for more than two cen- turies. The religion of the Moguls was Mohammedan ; and their capital was the city of Delhi, in Northern Hindostan. The English finally conquered the Mogul empire ; and in 1858 the last Mogul had his title taken from him because he took part in the great Indian mutiny against the English. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 25 18. THE MIRACLE-PLAYS. These plays were founded on the historical parts of the Old and New Testaments and on the lives of the saints. They were performed at first in churches, and afterwards on platforms in the streets. Their design was to instruct the people in Bible history; but, long be- fore the Reformation, they had so far departed from their original character as to bring contempt upon the Church and religion. The exhibition of a single play often occupied several days. The earliest recorded mir- acle-play took place in England in the beginning of the twelfth century ; but they soon became popular in France, Germany, Spain, and Italy. In England they received a check from the rise of the modern drama, yet they continued to be performed during the reigns of James I. and Charles I. Milton's first sketch of his " Paradise Lost" was a sacred drama. In Germany these plays, with one exception, were suppressed in the year 1779. The villagers of Oberammergau, in the Bavarian highlands, had, upon the cessation of a plague in 1633, vowed to perform " The Passion of Our Saviour" every tenth year, out of gratitude, and also as a means of in- struction to the people, — a vow which they had regu- larly observed. The pleading of a deputation of Oberammergau peas- ants with Maximilian Joseph of Bavaria saved their play from the general condemnation. The play was then remodelled, and is perhaps the only Mystery or Miracle Play that survives to the present day. The performance of it lasts for eight hours, with an intermission of one hour at noon ; and, though occur- 26 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. ring only once in a decade, it is repeated on several Sundays in succession during the season. The char- acters in the play number about five hundred, and, from the oldest to the youngest, are exclusively the villagers of Oberammergau. The personator of the Saviour seems to regard the performance of his part as an act of religious worship ; and the other important actors are said to be selected for their holy life, and to be conse- crated to their work with prayer. The New Testament is strictly adhered to, the only legendary addition being the story of the handkerchief of St. Veronica. The acts alternate with tableaux from the Old Testa- ment, and with choral odes. Many of the tableaux vivants are perfect copies of celebrated pictures, as "The Last Supper," "The En- tombment," etc. Travellers from all parts of the world flock to Ober- ammergau during the time announced for its represen- tation ; and very many Protestants who expect to be disagreeably affected by the Passion Play, find it not at all irreverent, but very solemn and devotion-inspiring. 19. LIKENESSES OF CHRIST. " In 1702 the late Rev. H. Rowlands, author of 'Mona Antiqua,' while superintending the removal of some stones near Aberfraw, Wales, for the purpose of making an antiquarian research, found a beautiful brass medal of our Saviour, in a fine state of preservation, which he forwarded to his friend and countryman, the Rev. E. Llwyd, author of the ' Archaeologia Britannica,' and, at the time, keeper of the Ashmolean Library at Oxford. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. *7 " This medal has on one side the figure of a head ex- actly answering the description given by Publius Len- tulus of our Saviour, in a letter sent by him to the Em- peror Tiberius and the senate of Rome. On the reverse side it has the following inscription, written in Hebrew characters : — '"This is Jesus Christ the Mediator,' or 'Jesus the great Messias.' "Being found among the ruins of the chief Druids, resident in Anglesea, it is not improbable that the curi- ous relic belonged to some Christian connected with Bran the Blessed, who was one of the hostages of Carac- tacus at Rome from A.D. 52 to 59, at which time the apostle Paul was preaching the gospel of Christ at Rome. In two years afterwards, A.D. 61, the Roman General Suetonius extirpated all the Druids in the island. "The following is a translation of the letter referred to, a very antique copy of which is now in the posses- sion of the family of Kellie, — afterwards Lord Kellie, now represented by the Earl of Mar, a very ancient Scotch family, — taken from the original at Rome : — "'There hath appeared in these our days, a man of great virtue, named Jesus Christ, who is yet living among us, and of the Gen- tiles is accepted as a Prophet, but his disciples call him the " Son of God." He raiseth the dead, and cures all manner of diseases ; a man of stature somewhat tall and comely, with very reverent coun- tenance, such as the beholders both love and fear; his hair the color of chestnut, full ripe, plain to his ears, whence downwards it is more Orient, curling and waving about his shoulders. '"In the midst of his head is a seam or a partition of his hair after the manner of the Nazarites ; his forehead plain and very delicate ; his face without spot or wrinkle, beautified with a most lovely red ; his nose and mouth so formed that nothing can be rep- rehended ; his beard thickish, in color like his hair, not very long but forked; his look, innocent and mature; his eyes, gray, clear and quick. In reproving he is terrible ; in admonishing, courte- 28 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. ous, and fair spoken ; pleasant in conversation, mixed with gravity. It cannot be remarked that any one saw him laugh, but many have seen him weep. In proportion of body, most excellent ; his hands and arms most delicate to behold. In speaking, very temperate, modest, and wise. A man, for his singular beauty, surpassing the children of men ! ' "The representation of this sacred person, which is in the Bodleian Library, somewhat resembles that of the print of this medal, when compared together. It was taken from a likeness engraved in agate, and sent as a • present from the sultan for the release of his brother, who was taken prisoner. "There is a well-executed drawing of this at the Mostyn Library, much worse for age." On a photograph by Messrs. McClean & Co., London, is printed the following: — " The following extract in proof of the authenticity of the above portrait is translated from the Latin contemporary historians of the period. ' The only true likeness of our Saviour, taken from one cut on an emerald by command of Tiberius Caesar, and was given from the Treasury of Constantinople by the Emperor of the Turks to Pope Innocent VIII. for the redemption of his brother, then a captive of the Christians.' " 20. INUNDATION OF THE NILE. The fruitfulness of Egypt is caused entirely by the annual overflowing of the Nile, known to the natives as Hapi Mu, "the genius of the waters." When the pe- riodical rains of the tropics have swollen the water- source, and the reservoirs of the two lakes can contain no more, the stream begins to rise, and continues to swell for three months, from the middle of June until the middle of September. When July comes, the river CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 2 9 has already overflowed its shores. In August, when it has nearly reached its highest point, about twenty-five feet above its normal height, the dams are opened, and the overflow of the stream is carried into the canals, with which human industry had, even in ancient times, intersected the country, that the water may be carried to distant localities. The Lower Nile for six hundred miles has scarcely a single tributary rivulet. At this time the country has the appearance of a lake, the towns and hilly spots appearing like so many islands. Numerous boats are in use during the flood ; and the whole population, festively adorned, celebrate the joyful time with delight. Egypt has been well called " the gift of the Nile." When the tropical rains are over, the stream returns gradually to its proper level, leaving behind it every- where, in the shape of slimy mud, the fertilizing soil it has swept down from the mountain regions. In Octo- ber the land dries, seed is planted, and quickly the green shoots give the country the appearance of a garden. The time of growth lasts until the end of February : in March the harvest is reaped. Then follow three months of drought, during which the Nile is at its lowest level ; and each year the life- giving stream begins its course anew in the month of June. It is only very lately that full light has been thrown, by the expeditions of Speke and Baker, upon the true source of the Nile and the cause of its annual overflow. It is the efflux of two large lakes situated in a high table-land near the equator, called the Victoria Nyanza and the Albert Nyanza. The. waters of both lakes rise during the rainy season above their banks, and, pass' ing northward, finally unite to form the Nile. 3Q CURIOUS QUESTIONS. The high-lying country on the Victoria Nyanza, whence the Nile obtains its chief tributaries, is one of the most picturesque and salubrious localities in the world, and must before long be opened to Western civilization and development. 21. A NOTED WARRIOR WHO LED HIS TROOPS INTO BATTLE AFTER HIS DEATH. The history of Roderigo Diaz the Cid Campeador (or " Lord Champion "), the noted Spanish warrior, is so intermingled with fable, that it is almost impossible to sift out the truth. One of the oldest poems in the Spanish language, the epic " Poem of the Cid " (q.v.), gives a long account of him, and of his battles against the Moors. From this poem, and other Spanish works, Southey translated and compiled his " Chronicle of the Cid." The Cid is supposed to have been born about the year 1026, and to have died at Valencia, 1099. His real name was Ruy or Rodrigo Diaz : but he was sue h a terror to the Moors, and seemed so superior tc all others, that they called him El Seid (Arabic for the Lord) ; and he was finally called Cid Campeador (Lord Champion). In the eleventh book of the " Chronicle of the Cid," Southey relates that after the Cid had won Valencia from the Moors, and had held possession of it for five years (during which time the Moors and Christians had lived peaceably together), tidings reached him that King Bucar of Morocco, whom he had conquered, was coming to take his revenge with thirty-six Moorish kings and an army so great that it could not be numbered. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 3i The Cid at once began to devise measures for with- standing this great force : his first act was to banish the Moors from Valencia until the result of the invasion should be known. The same night he had a vision, in which St. Peter appeared to him, saying, " Sleepest thou, Rodrigo, or what art thou doing ? " And the Cid made answer, "What man art thou who askest me?" And he said, " I am St. Peter, the Prince of the apostles, who come unto thee with more urgent tidings than those for which thou art taking thought concerning King Bucar ; and it is, that thou art to leave this world, and go to that which hath no end ; and this will be in thirty days. But God will show favor unto thee, so that thy people shall discomfort King Bucar, and thou, being dead, shalt win this battle." . . . This vision had great effect upon the Cid; and he was "as certain that all this would come to pass, as if it were already over." So great was his faith, that, on the twenty-ninth day, he assembled his people, and spoke to them as follows : " Ye know that King Bucar will presently be here to besiege this city, with seven and thirty kings whom he bringeth with him, and with a mighty power of Moors. Now, therefore, the first thing which ye do after I am departed, wash my body with rose-water many times and well. And when it has been well washed and made clean, ye shall dry it well, and anoint it with myrrh and balsam, from these golden caskets, from head to foot, so that every part shall be anointed, till none be left. And you, Dona Ximena, and your women, see that ye utter no cries, neither make any lamentation for me, that the Moors may not know of my death. And when the day shall come in which King Bucar arrives, order all the people of Valencia to go upon the walls, and sound your 32 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. trumpets and tambours, and make the greatest re- joicings that ye can. And when ye would set out for „ Castille, let all the people know in secret, that they make themselves ready, and take with them all that they have, so that none of the Moors in the suburb may know thereof ; for certes ye cannot keep the city, neither abide therein after my death. . . . Then saddle ye my horse Bavieca, and arm him well ; and ye shall apparel my body full seemlily, and place me upon the horse, and fasten and tie me thereon so that it cannot fall ; and fasten my sword Tizona in my hand. And let the Bishop Don Hieronymo go on one side of me, and my trusty Gil Diaz on the other, and he shall lead my horse. You, Pero Bermudez, shall bear my banner, as you were wont to bear it ; and you, Alvar Fanez, my cousin, gather your company together, and put your host in order as you are wont to do. And go ye forth and fight with King Bucar, for be ye certain and doubt not that ye shall win this battle : God hath granted me this." According to "The Chronicle," the Cid, having ap- pointed what should be done after his death, on the morning of the thirtieth day made his testament, re- ceived the sacrament, "yielded up his soul, which was pure and without spot, to God, on that Sunday which is called Ouinquagesima, being the twenty and ninth of May, in the year of our Lord one thousand and ninety and nine, and in the seventy and third year of his life." Three days after the death of the Cid, King Bucar and his countless host of Moors arrived, and encamped in "fifteen thousand tents" about Valencia. While they were busy preparing bastilles and engines where- with to combat the city, the Christians were preparing to carry out the directions of the Cid. Gil Diaz had CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 33 embalmed the body, and placed it in a frame upon the saddle. On the twelfth day after his death, when all else was in readiness, " The Chronicle " goes on to re- late, " they took the body of the Cid, fastened to the saddle as it was, upon his horse Bavieca, and fastened the saddle well ; and the body sate so upright and well it seemed as if he was alive ; . . . and his shield was hung round his neck, and they placed the sword Tizona in his hand, and they raised his arm, and fastened it up so subtilly that it was a marvel to see how upright he held his sword. And when all this had been made ready, they went out from Valencia at midnight, through the gate Roseros which is towards Castille. Pero Ber- mudez went first with the banner of the Cid, and with him five hundred knights who guarded it, all well ap- pointed. And after these came all the baggage. Then came the body of the Cid with an hundred knights, all chosen men, and behind them Dona Ximena with all her company, and six hundred knights in the rear. All these went out so silently, and with such a meas- ured pace, that it seemed as if there were only a score. And by the time that they had all gone out it was broad day. . . . Now Alvar Fanez Minaya had set the host in order, and attacked the tents which lay nearest the city ; and this onset was so sudden, that they killed full a hundred and fifty Moors before they had time to take arms ; . . . and so great was the uproar and con- fusion, that few there were who took arms, but instead thereof turned their backs and fled towards the sea. And when King Bucar and his kings saw this they were astonished. And it seemed to them that there came against them on the part of the Christians full seventy thousand knights, all as white as snow : and before them a Knight of great stature upon a white horse with 34 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. a bloody cross, who bore in one hand a white banner, and in the other a sword which seemed to be of fire, and he made a great mortality among the Moors who were flying. And King Bucar and the other kings were so greatly dismayed that they never checked the reins till they had ridden into the sea ; and the company of the Cid rode after them, smiting and slaying and giving no respite ; and they smote down so many that it was marvellous, for the Moors did not turn their heads to defend themselves. And when they came to the sea, so great was the press among them to get to the ships, that more than ten thousand died in the water. And of the six and thirty kings, twenty and two were slain. And King Bucar and they who escaped with him hoisted sails and went their way, and never more turned their heads. . . . And so great was the spoil of that day, that . . . the poorest man among the Christians be- came rich. . . . And when they were all met together, they took the road towards Castille." Thus was ful- filled the prophecy of the Vision, — "Thou being dead shalt win this battle." 22. THE "REBECCA" OF IVANHOE. Sir Walter Scott's model for this character was a young lady, Rebecca Gratz by name, of an honorable Jewish family of Philadelphia. She was born on the 4th of March, 1781, and in her younger days, and even beyond middle life, possessed singular beauty. She was noted for her benevolent and charitable life, and for her devotion to the Jewish faith. One of the most intimate friends of her family was Washington Irving ; and it is through him that her CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 35 goodness, and steadfast devotion to the religion of her forefathers, have been handed down to us in the hero- ine of Scott's beautiful novel. It was in the fall of iSiy that Scott and Irving met for the first time. With a letter of introduction from the poet Campbell, who was aware of Scott's high estimate of Irving's genius, the latter visited Abbots- ford, and there spent several of the most delightful days of his life. During one of their many conversations, Irving spoke of his friend Rebecca Gratz of Philadelphia, described her wonderful beauty, and related the story of her firm adherence to her religious faith. Scott was deeply interested and impressed, and con- ceived the plan of embodying a character like hers in one of his novels. Shortly after this he wrote " Ivan- hoe," and named his heroine " Rebecca." When the book was published, in December, 1 8 19, he immediately sent the first copy to Irving ; and in the letter accom- panying it he asked, " How do you like your Rebecca ? Does the Rebecca I have pictured compare well with the pattern given ? " After living a noble life, Miss Gratz died on the twenty-seventh day of August, 1869, at the age of eighty-eight. 23. THE BAYEUX TAPESTRY. This celebrated antique tapestry — called Bayeux from the place where it is preserved — is a pictorial his- tory on canvas, more minute in some particulars than the written history, of the invasion and conquest of England by the Normans in 1066. Tradition asserts it to be the work of Matilda — wife 36 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. of William the Conqueror — and the ladies of her court, and to have been presented by the queen to the cathe- dral of Bayeux, Normandy, as a token of her apprecia- tion of the assistance which its bishop, Odo, rendered to her husband at the battle of Hastings. This tapestry is a web of canvas or linen cloth two hundred and fourteen feet long by twenty inches wide : upon it the history of " The Conquest " is worked in woollen thread of various colors. It was annually ex- hibited on St. John's Day, around the nave of the church. When Napoleon contemplated the invasion of Eng- land in 1803, he caused this record to be removed to Paris, and exhibited in the National Museum, after which it was returned to Bayeux. The exhibition of this tapestry in the National Mu- seum awakened public curiosity concerning it, and the truth of the tradition was then established. The tap- estry is divided into seventy-two distinct compartments, each representing one particular historical occurrence, and bearing an explanatory Latin inscription. According to Mr. Bruce, the latest authority on the subject, the tapestry contains, besides, the figures of 505 various quadrupeds, birds, sphinxes, etc., the figures of 623 men, 202 horses, 55 dogs, 37 buildings, 41 ships and boats, and 49 trees — in all, 1,512 figures, and only three women. The Bayeux Tapestry would have been destroyed during the French Revolution, had not a priest succeeded in concealing it from the mob, who demanded it as covering for their guns. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 37 24. "PERFECTION NO TRIFLE." A friend once called upon Michael Angelo while he was finishing a statue : some time afterward he called again ; the sculptor was still at the same work : his friend, looking at the figure, exclaimed, "You have been idle since I saw you last!" — " By no means," replied the sculptor. "I have retouched this part, and polished that ; I have softened this feature, and brought out this muscle ; I have given more expression to this lip, and more energy to this limb." — " Well, well," said his friend; "but all these are trifles." — "It may be so," replied Angelo ; " but recollect, that trifles make per- fection, and that perfection is no trifle." 25. LAST BATTLE FOUGHT ON THE SOIL OF GREAT BRITAIN. While George II. of England was engaged in the war of the "Austrian Succession," Charles Edward (called the "Young Pretender"), a grandson of King James II. of England, landed in Scotland, and made two attempts to obtain the throne of his ancestors. He was victorious in the battle of Falkirk ; but the Duke of Cumberland, son of George II., having been recalled from the Continent to take command of the king's forces, the Pretender was entirely defeated at Culloden Moor, a plain in Scotland, four miles from Inverness. This was the last battle fought on the island of Great Britain (April 16, 1746), and it was also the last at- tempt on the part of the Stuart family to recover the throne of Great Britain. Charles Edward Stuart escaped to France after he had wandered for five months in the Highlands, pur- 38 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. sued by his enemies. He died in Rome, Jan. 30, 1788. The Duke of Cumberland gave no quarter. The wounded were all slain ; and the jails of England were filled with prisoners, many of whom were executed. Among the latter number were Lords Balmerino, Kil- marnock, and Lovat, — Lovat being the last person who was beheaded in England. 26. THE CHAIR OF IDRIS. On the very summit of Cader-Idris (a mountain peak in Merionethshire, Wales) is an excavation in the solid rock, resembling a couch. It is said to be the chair of Idris the giant, after whom the mountain was named. Tradition says, that whoever rests for a night in this seat will be found the next morning either dead, or a raving maniac, or endued with supernatural powers. This excavation is probably the " Chair of Idris " to which Tennyson refers in " Enid," where Geraint says, — " He felt, were she the prize of bodily force, Himself beyond the rest pushing could move The chair of Idris," as it is situated in what is supposed to have been King Arthur's territory, and as Geraint was a knight of his court. 27. HISTORY OF THE STRASBOURG CLOCK. This famous astronomical clock stands in the south transept of the Strasbourg Cathedral. It was constructed by Schwilgue, a celebrated Stras- bourg mechanic, between the years 1838 and 1842, to replace an older clock made in 1574. CATHEDRAL OF STRASBOURG ■Curious Questions. Vol. I , page 38. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 39 It comprises a number of complicated devices, to show the astronomical changes of the year. It con- tains a perpetual calendar, which shows also the feasts that vary from year to year on account of their connec- tion with Easter Sunday. The phases of the moon and the eclipses of the sun and moon are calculated for all time. True time and sidereal time are also indi- cated, besides many other astronomical changes. Pre- cisely at a quarter to twelve, an angel standing on the topmost gallery of the clock strikes the third quarter on a bell. When the hands point to twelve, one of the genii reverses an hour-glass, and Death strikes the hour. Beneath are the figures of Childhood, Youth, Manhood, and Old Age. Under the first gallery, Sat- urn, the symbolic deity of the day, steps out from a niche. Then the figures of the twelve apostles come out on the gallery, while two doors flying open reveal the Saviour standing in a little temple. Each of the apostles passes in turn before Him, bowing low as he passes ; and over each the Lord raises His hands in blessing. As St. Peter passes, a cock crows thrice, and the Devil looks after him with a hideous grin : this spectacle takes place only at noon. Three clocks of this character have stood in the same place, but this is the most nearly perfect of them all. An interesting legend is connected with the second clock, which was constructed far back in the Middle Ages. " The maker was an ingenious mechanic, but a very simple- hearted old man. He had a daughter, whose hand was sought by one of the magistrates of the town, — a rich, miserly man: but the heart of the maiden was already given to her father's young apprentice, who had rendered the mechanic great service in the construction of his clock ; and the old man had promised that the marriage might take place as soon as the clock was finished. Thus encouraged, the apprentice worked so zealously that tha 40 CURIOUS QUESTIONS clock was soon completed. The old man wept for joy at the suc- cess of his labor. Everybody came to see it, and the city author- ities bought it for the cathedral. Then the lovers were married. " The fame of the clock soon spread far and wide ; and the city of Basel, Switzerland, ordered another just like it. This aroused the jealousy of the magistrates ; and, sending for the old mechanic, they tried to extort a promise from him that he would never dupli- cate this masterpiece for any other town. ' I will make no such promise,' said the clock-maker. ' Heaven gave me not my talents to feed your vain ambition.' Then the magistrate who had been rejected by the old man's daughter persuaded his colleagues to put out the old man's eyes. The clock-maker heard the sentence with fortitude, only requesting that his sentence might be executed in the presence of his beloved work. His request was granted : he was carried before the clock, where he stood gazing at it fondly. * But one touch remains to complete my work,' said the old man ; and he busied himself a moment among the wheels of the clock. Then he stepped back, and submitted himself to the executioner, who quickly deprived him of his sight. At the same moment a crash was heard, and the works of the clock fell into a mass of ruins. The old man had removed the mainspring; and the works, suddenly released from control, had destroyed themselves. " His revenge was complete, for there was no one that could restore the wonderful piece of mechanism. " The people then turned upon the cruel magistrate, and with blows and curses drove him from the church." The clock remained a ruin until 1842, when parts of it were used by Schwilgue to construct the present one. 28. GREEK FIRE. 1 During the reign of Constantine III., the Saracens besieged the city of Constantinople for five months, but were then obliged to retire. They returned seven times during as many succes- 1 See Gibbon, early sieges of Constantinople, for its use, etc. CUR TO US QUESTIONS. 4' sive years, but were each time repulsed by Callimachus, who, in 688, invented an inextinguishable fire by which he destroyed their ships. This Greek or liquid fire was made principally of naphtha or liquid bitumen, mixed with some sulphur and pitch extracted from green firs. Water, instead of extinguishing, quickened this powerful agent of de- struction, which nothing but sand, wine, or vinegar could check. For four hundred years the Greeks kept the secret of its composition, but the Mohammedans at length discovered and used it. This fire remained in use until the middle of the fourteenth century, when it was superseded by gun- powder. 29. A KING EXHIBITED IN AN IRON CAGE. Bajazet I. was sultan of the Ottoman Turks in 1389. He was called Ilderim (the Lightning) on account of his rapid successes in the war. He made all of Asia Minor a part of his dominion, conquered what is now called Turkey in Europe, overran Greece, Hungary, etc. He seemed invincible until Tamerlane of Timour defeated him, and took him prisoner in the great battle of Angora. Timour was one of the greatest soldiers that ever lived. No one man ever conquered so large a portion of the world, or ruled over so many conquered people. After the battle of Angora, Bajazet being asked by Tamerlane how he would have treated him had their lots been reversed, " Like a dog," he replied. " I would have made you my footstool when I mounted my saddle ; and when your services were not needed, I would have chained you in a cage like a wild beast." Tamerlane 42 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. replied, " Then, to show you the difference of my spirit, I shall treat you as a king." So saying, he ordered his chains to be struck off, gave him one of the royal tents, and promised to re- store him to his throne if he would lay aside his hos- tility. Bajazet abused this noble generosity, and plotted the assassination of Tamerlane. Finding clemency of no avail, Tamerlane commanded him to be "treated as a dog," to be "chained in a cage like a wild beast," and in this condition was compelled to accompany the victorious army of Tamerlane. 30. THE " EIKON BASILIKEV' The " Eikon Basilike " (" Royal Image ") was a book for many years supposed to have been written by Charles I. of England, during his imprisonment on the Isle of Wight. It is now known to have been written by Dr. Gauden, Bishop of Exeter (1605-1662). The manuscript copy was put into the hands of the publisher, Richard Royston, on the 23d of December, 1648. Whether any copies were printed by the 30th of the following month, the day when Charles I. was. executed, is doubtful ; but there is no doubt that it was largely in circulation soon afterwards, and that it produced a powerful effect upon the Royalists, strengthening their doctrine in the divine right of kings, most of them believing that the king himself wrote it. This work was the chief means of obtaining for Charles I. the designation of the " Royal Martyr," and to it has been attributed also the Restoration. M. Guizot, in his history of the events of those times, says, "The manuscript had probably been read, per- haps even corrected, by Charles himself, during his resi- CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 43 dence in the Isle of Wight. In any case, it was the real expression and true portraiture of his position, character, and mind, as they had been formed by misfortune." Nearly fifty thousand copies of it were sold within a year in England alone, and it did not fail to excite a deep interest in the faithful adherents of the House of Stuart : it also produced a general tendency among his avowed opponents to forget the faults of the unfortu- nate king, and to recall his virtues. The Government becoming alarmed at the effect of it upon the public mind, desired Milton to write an answer to the " Eikon Basilike," with the view of showing, that, whether writ- ten by the king or not, its political reasonings were invalid. Milton accepted the duty, and wrote what became one of his most celebrated works, called the " Eikonoklastes " (" Image-breaker "), more frequently spelled Iconoclastes. The question of the authorship of the " Eikon Basi- like" was long a matter of literary discussion ; and in the last century we find Hume, in his History of England, advocating the claims of the king to the authorship, in preference to those of Dr. Gauden. Numerous copies of the "Eikon Basilike" are pre- served in public and private libraries in England : these copies have verses, written on the fly-leaves during the troubled period of the Commonwealth, showing that the grief of the people was deep and sincere, and that they considered the work to be "A Faithful Portraiture of his Sacred Majesty in his Solitudes and Sufferings." According to Hume, " it must be acknowledged the best prose composition which, at the time of its compo- sition, was to be found in the English language." The bitter vein and scurrilous tone of the " Iconoclastes " has been considered a spot on Milton's fame. ■ 44 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 31. THE ROPE OF OCNUS. "The Rope of Ocnus " is the name of a celebrated picture painted by Polygnotus, a distinguished Greek painter who died about 426 B.C. He was the first who gave life, character, and expression to painting. Ac- cording to Pliny, he opened the mouth, and showed the teeth of his figures : he was the first to paint women with transparent drapery and with rich head-dresses. Ocnus was the name of a poor but industrious Greek, whose extravagant wife spent his money as fast as he earned it. He complained to Polygnotus of his trials and tribulations in this respect, and Polygnotus painted the picture alluded to above. The picture represents a poor man weaving a rope out of straw, while behind him stands an ass eating off the other end of the rope. The silent lesson con- veyed by the picture is said to have had the desired effect upon the wife of Ocnus, and by her frugality and thrift she enabled him soon to rise from obscurity to great prosperity. The phrase, like "the rope of Ocnus," signifies profit- less labor. 32. ORIGIN OF LIFTING THE HAT. The custom of lifting the hat had its origin during the age of chivalry, when it was customary for knights never to appear in public except in full armor. It became a custom, however, for a knight, upon en- tering an assembly of friends, to remove his helmet, signifying, " I am safe in the presence of friends." The age of chivalry passed away with the fifteenth century ; but among the many acts of courtesy which CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 45 can be traced back to its influence, none is more direct in its origin than that of lifting the hat to acknowledge the presence of a friend. 33. THE INCAS. The origin of the Incas, the native rulers of Peru, is purely traditional. We have no authorities on the sub- ject save the traditions of the Indians, gathered by the early Spaniards. From these traditions, it appears that Manco was the name of the first Inca (Child of the Sun). He founded the city of Cuzco, instructed the men in agriculture and the arts, gave them a comparatively pure religion, and a social and natural organization ; while his wife taught the women to sew, to spin, and to weave. Thus the Inca was not only the ruler of his people, but also the father and high priest. After introducing wise laws among his people, and ruling over them for forty years, "he ascended to his father the Sun ; " the year generally assigned as that of his death being A.D. 1062. The progress of the Peruvians was slow : they in- vented no alphabet, and could therefore keep no written records. Thus it is that we have no exact history of the Incas farther back than about one hundred years before the conquest of the country by the Spaniards in the sixteenth century. Three distinct historical eras are manifested in Peru. The Pre-Incarial period, of unknown duration, during which a highly civilized people lived in large cities, had a language and a religion more advanced than even those of the Incas who succeeded them. Whence 4 6 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. these people came, and to what branch of the human family they belonged, still remain unanswered questions. Their existence, however, is clearly attested by vast architectural remains. Then follows the period of the Incas, which attained its greatest extent and the height of its glory when Huayna Capac ascended the throne, in 1475. About the year 15 16, and ten years before the death of Huayna Capac, the first white man landed on the western shore of South America ; but it was not until the year 1532, that Pizarro, at the head of a small band of Spanish adventurers, invaded and conquered Peru. From that date to the present may be considered the third historical era of Peru. Atahualpa was the last Inca of Peru : when his father, the Inca Huayna Capac, died, he left his throne to his eldest son, Huascar, and gave Atahualpa the government of Quito, of which his mother had been princess. This division of the empire led to civil war ; and, after a long and bloody struggle, Huascar was taken prisoner, and Atahualpa became Inca. It was at about this time that Pizarro invaded Peru ; and Atahualpa ordered that he should be treated kindly, and gave him quarters in one of his cities. A meeting between the two having been arranged, Atahualpa approached the Spanish camp with a retinue of unarmed followers, when he was treacherously seized by Pizarro, and thrown into prison. Atahualpa offered as his ransom to fill the room in which he was confined as high as he could reach with gold. Pizarro accepted the ransom; but, while the Peruvians were bringing in the gold from all parts, he was plotting to kill the Inca, and seize his vast treasure. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 47 At length, when the ransom was paid, and Atahualpa demanded his liberty, Pizarro refused to grant it, falsely accusing him of plotting against the Spaniards. After much base treachery on the part of Pizarro, Atahualpa was brought to a mock trial, and condemned to be burned ; but, upon his consenting to be baptized, the sentence was commuted to strangulation, Aug. 29, 1533. This most romantic history has been given by William H. Prescott in his " Conquest of Peru." 34. THE VEILED PROPHET OF KHORASSAN. Hakim Ben Allah, called Mokanna the Veiled, was the founder of an Arabic sect in the eighth century, during the reign of Mahadi at Meru in Khorassan. He commenced his extraordinary career as a common soldier, but soon rose to be commander of a band of his own. An arrow pierced one of his eyes ; and, to hide this deformity, he always wore a veil. Hakim finally set himself up as God ; he assumed to have been Adam, Noah, and other wise men of various times ; and now he had taken the human form of the Prince of Khorassan. He was well versed in the arts of magic, and pro- duced some startling effects of light and color. Among other miracles, for one week, to the delight and bewilderment of his soldiers, he caused a moon to issue from a deep well. So brilliant was this luminary, that the real moon paled beside it. Hakim had many followers, and was soon able to seize several fortified cities. The Sultan Mahadi marched against him, and after 4 8 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. a long siege took his last stronghold. Upon that, Ha- kim, having first poisoned his soldiers with wine at a banquet, threw himself into a vessel filled with a burn- ing acid of such a nature that his body was dissolved, nothing but a few hairs remaining. He wished to leave the impression that he had as- cended bodily into heaven. Some remnants of this heresy still exist. Hakim has been made the subject of many romances, of which the one by Moore in his " Lalla Rookh" is the most brilliant and best known. 35. SIX FAMOUS DIAMONDS. Large diamonds, like first-class pictures, have a Euro- pean valuation ; because they are few in number, are not susceptible of reproduction, are everywhere prized, and can be bought only by the very wealthy. Only six large diamonds, called paragons, are known, the largest of which, the "Grand Mogul," is in the possession of the Shah of Persia, weighing, after being cut, 280 carats. Next in size follows the " Orloff " diamond, named from Count Orloff, who bought it in 1772 for the Empress Catharine of Russia. It was once the eye of an idol in India. A Frenchman, who happened to see it, made a glass one like it, and, watch- ing his chance, put it in the place of the diamond, with which he ran away. He sold the diamond to the captain of a ship for $10,000: the captain took it to Europe, and sold it for $100,000. At last it came into the hands of a diamond- merchant, who sold it to Count Orloff for $450,000 in money, and a yearly payment during his life of $20,000. CURIO US Q UES 7 '10 A r S. 49 The empress also conferred upon the merchant a title of nobility. This stone, rose-cut, is shaped like half a pigeon's egg, and weighs 195 carats. It adorns the point of the sceptre of the Emperor of Russia. The "Regent," or "Pitt Diamond," one of the French crown-jewels, is the next in size. It was found in India, and is sometimes called the "Pitt" diamond from Mr. Pitt, Governor of Madras, India, who bought it in 1702 for $100,000. It gets its name "Regent" from the fact that the Duke of Orleans, acting as regent for Louis XV. of France, bought it for him at a cost of $650,000. It is said to be worth twice that sum now, and is accounted the most perfect brilliant-cut diamond in the world. The time occupied in cutting it was two years, during which time diamond powder to the value of ^850 was used. The " Florentine " or " Austrian " diamond, the fourth in size, weighs 139 carats. This was one of the three great diamonds belonging to Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, and lost by him at the battle of Granson in 1476. It was found by a Swiss peasant, who sold it to a priest for half a crown. The priest sold it for ,£200 to Bartholomew May of Berne. It subsequently came into the hands of Pope Julius II., and the Pope gave it to the Emperor of Austria. The " Star of the South," next in size, was found by a negro in Brazil in 1853. After it had been cut at Amsterdam, it was bought by the Earl of Dudley, whence it is known also as the " Dudley " diamond. It weighed 254^ carats when found : after cutting, its weight was 126 carats. The English "Kohinoor" ("Mountain of Light") has attached to it quite a romantic history. It was found 5o CURIOUS QUESTIONS. in the mines of Golconda, how many ages ago no one can tell ; but the Hindoos, who are fond of high num- bers, say that it belonged to Kama, King of Anga, three thousand years ago. Viewed within more moder- ate limits, this diamond is said to have been stolen from one of the kings of Golconda by a treacherous general named Minizola, and by him presented to the Great Mogul, Shah Jehan, father of Aurung-Zebe, about the year 1640. It was then in a rough state, and weighed, it is said, 800 carats, but was reduced to 279 carats by the awk- wardness of the cutter. When Tavernier, the French traveller, was in India about two hundred years ago, he saw the " Kohinoor," and on his return told of the immense wonderment and admiration with which it was regarded in that country. After his time the treasure changed hands frequently among the princes of India, generally through fraud or violence. Early in the present century its possessor was the Khan of Cabul, from whom it was treacherously ob- tained by a slave, and passed into the possession of Runjeet Singh, thence to his successors on the throne of Lahore, India. When Punjaub was conquered by the English in 1850, the "Kohinoor" was included among the spoils ; and on the 6th of April, 1850, the " Kohinoor " left India, to pass into the hands of Vic- toria, Queen of England, and who has been lately made Empress of India. Col. Mackesan and Capt. Ramsey were intrusted to convey it to England in the " Media," as a present from the East-India Company. The court jeweller was employed to recut it, to increase its brilliancy ; and as a mark of honor the Duke of Wellington was CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 51 allowed to give the first touch to the work. It now weighs only 106 carats, but is regarded as far more dazzling and beautiful than at any previous time in its history. While in size and weight it ranks the sixth diamond, in value it ranks as the highest in the world, its present valuation being $2,000,000. Diamonds are generally considered the most precious of all stones, but this is a mistake. A fine ruby of one carat is worth $450 ; a sapphire, #300; a diamond, $150. Diamonds are, however, of more value for their use in art, since only a diamond can cut a diamond. The Amsterdam firm of J. Metz is now busy with the erection of a special workshop, in which the cut- ting of a diamond — the largest in the world — is soon to begin. This diamond, which has recently been found in South Africa, weighs 475 carats, and is said to be greatly superior in color and brilliancy to all the other famous diamonds of the world. 36. A ROLAND FOR AN OLIVER. Roland and Oliver were the most famous of th? twelve paladins of Charlemagne. Roland, the nephew of Charlemagne, is the hero of Ariosto's epic poem called " Orlando Furioso," Orlando being the Italian form of the name. He is there rep- resented as being eight feet high, and well proportioned. Oliver was also a knight celebrated for his exploits, and was so nearly a match for Roland that they finally engaged in single combat on an island in the Rhine. They fought for five successive days without either 52 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. gaining the advantage; so that the expression, "a Ro- land for an Oliver," means a blow for a blow, a retort for a retort, or a quid pro quo. History tells us, that in 778, when Charlemagne was busily engaged in organizing the recently subjugated pagan Saxons, and superintending their collective bap- tism and entrance into the Christian Church, he was visited by a Saracen chief who offered to put the Frankish sovereign in possession of several towns south of the Pyrenees Mountains. Charlemagne accepted the offer, and marched with a large army through the territory ; but, finding that the Saracen had betrayed him, he gave orders to return to France. It was during the retreat, while the Christian army was slowly threading its way through the narrow valley of Roncesvalles, that Roland, commanding the rear guard, was suddenly surrounded by an immense army of the enemy, who had been lying in ambush, and was slain. Roland, according to tradition, possessed an en- chanted horn, which could be heard at a distance of thirty miles. With this horn he could have called his uncle to his rescue; but he refused to use it until one hundred thou- sand of the Saracens lay dead, and but fifty of his twenty thousand men remained to aid him. After he was mortally wounded, he blew one blast on his horn (Olifant), and threw his enchanted sword (Durandal) into a stream. Charlemagne heard the blast, and returned, but was too late to rescue his nephew. The oldest version of " The Song of Roland " be- longs to the eleventh century ; and throughout the CURIO US Q UES TIONS. 53 Middle Ages it was the most popular of the heroic poems, William the Conqueror having it sung at the head of his troops during his conquest of England. Roland is also the hero of Boiardo's " Orlando Inna- morato," or " Roland in Love." 37. THE BUCCANEERS. The buccaneers were a celebrated association of sea- robbers, or pirates, called also " Brethren of the Coast," who for nearly two centuries, from the second quarter of the sixteenth century to the end of the seventeenth, maintained themselves in the Caribbean Seas, and waged a constant warfare against the Spaniards in the West Indies. The buccaneers were Europeans, chiefly natives of Great Britain and France, who first associ- ated together about 1524. The arrogant assumption by the Spaniards (on account of a bull issued by the Pope) of a divine right to the whole New World was not, of course, to be tolerated by the enterprising mariners of England and France ; and the enormous cruelties practised by the Spaniards upon all foreign interlopers, of which the history of that time is full, naturally led to an association for mutual defence, par- ticularly among the English and French. The fundamental principles of their policy — for they in course of time formed distinct communities — were close mutual alliance, and mortal war with all that was Spanish. Their simple code of laws bound them to share the common necessaries of life ; locks and bars were proscribed, as an insult to the general honor ; and every man had his comrade who stood by him when alive, and succeeded to his property after his death. 54 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. When they were not hunting Spaniards, or being hunted themselves, their chief occupation and means of subsistence was the chase. From the flesh of wild animals they made their " boucan," or cured meat, and sold the skins and tallow to Dutch traders. The name buccaneer is derived from the Caribbee word "boucan," the French calling it "boucanier," from which the English derive our present "bucca- neer." The history of these men embraces narratives of cruelty and bloodshed unsurpassed in the annals of It has, however, not a few stories of high and ro- mantic adventure, of chivalrous and brilliant general- ship. Among the great captains whose names figure most prominently in the records of buccaneering, are the Frenchman Montbar, surnamed "The Exterminator;" and his countryman Peter Dieppe, surnamed "The Great." Pre-eminent, however, among them all was the Welshman Henry Morgan, who organized fleets and armies, took strong cities, and displayed throughout the genius of a born commander. He led the way for the buccaneers to the Southern Ocean, by his daring march, in 1670, across the Isthmus of Panama to the city of that name, which he took and plundered after a desperate battle. He was knighted by Charles II., and became deputy governor of Jamaica. The war between France and Britain, after the accession of William. III., dissolved neers. The last great event in their history was the crime. the ancient alliance of the French CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 55 capture of Carthagena, in 1697, where the booty was enormous. After the peace of Ryswick (1697), and the acces- sion of the Bourbon, Philip V., to the Spanish crown (1701), they finally disappeared. 38. THE LETTERS OF JUNIUS. Junius was the name, or signature, of a writer who published, at intervals between the years 1769 and 1772, a series of political papers, forty-four in number, on the leading questions and men of the day, among them George III. The authorship was a mystery at the time, and re- mains a puzzle still. All the world felt the letters to be the work of no common man, and they are still consid- ered models of letter-writing. The most remarkable thing about them is the evi- dence of familiarity with high people and official life. "A traitor in the camp!" was the cry of leading statesmen of the period, and every person of talent or eminence fell more or less under the suspicion of being " Junius." He said in one of his letters, " I am the sole deposi- tary of my secret, and it shall die with me." Lord Chatham (Mr. Pitt) was, among others, accused of being the writer of these letters ; but Lord Macaulay was of the firm opinion that the author was Sir Philip Francis. On this subject he says, — " Was he the author of the ' Letters of Junius ' ? Our own firm belief is, that he was. The external evidence is, we think, such as would support a verdict in a civil, nay, in a criminal proceeding. The handwriting of Junius is the very peculiar handwriting of Francis, slightly disguised. As to the position, pursuits, and con- 56 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. nections of Junius, the following are the most important facts which can be considered as clearly proved : first, that he was ac- quainted with the technical forms of the Secretary of State's office ; secondly, that he was intimately acquainted with the business of the war-office; thirdly, that he, during the year 1770, attended debates in the House of Lords, and took notes of speeches, par- ticularly of the speeches of Lord Chatham ; fourthly, that he bitterly resented the appointment of Mr. Chamier to the place of Deputy Secretary of War ; fifthly, that he was bound by some strong tie to the first Lord Holland. Now, Francis passed some years in the Secretary of State's office. He was subsequently chief clerk of the war-office. He repeatedly mentioned that he had himself, in 1770, heard speeches of Lord Chatham; and some of those speeches were actually printed from his notes. He resigned his clerkship at the war-office from resentment at the appointment of Mr. Chamier. It was by Lord Holland that he was first introduced into the public service. Now, here are five marks, all of which ought to be found in Junius. They are all five found in Francis. We do not believe that more than two of them can be found in any other person whatever. If this argument does not settle the ques- tion, there is an end of all reasoning on circumstantial evidence." 39. THE MONA LISA. Mona Lisa was the wife of Francesco del Giocondo, a Florentine friend of Leonardo da Vinci ; and her portrait in the Louvre is rightly considered one of the chefs-d'oeuvre of this master and of his style. He is said to have worked at this portrait for four years with- out having finished it to his own satisfaction. The picture is known as " La Belle Joconde" (in Ital- ian, "La Gioconda") ; and Vasari describes it as "rather divine than human, as lifelike as nature itself, . . . not painting, but the despair of other- painters." M. Mich- elet adds, " This picture attracts me, it fascinates and absorbs me : I go to it in spite of myself, as the bird is drawn to the serpent." CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 57 40. A FEATHER IN ONE'S CAP. In the Lansdowne manuscript in the British Museum is a description of Hungary in 1599, in which the writer says of the inhabitants, " It hath been an antient cus- tom among them that none should wear a fether but he who had killed a Turk, to whom onlie yt was lawful to shew the number of his slaine enemys by the number of fethers in his cappe." 41. AN ENGLISH POPE. Pope Adrian IV. was by birth an Englishman, and the only one of that nation who has ever occupied the papal chair. He was a native of Langley, near St. Albans, in Hertfordshire. He was born before A.D. 1100: his real name was Nicholas Breakspear. He is said to have left England as a beggar, and to have become a servant or lay brother in a monastery near Avignon, in France, where he studied with such diligence that in 11 37 he was elected abbot. His merits soon became known to Pope Eugenius III., who made him cardinal-bishop of Alba in 1 146, and sent him two years later as his legate to Denmark and Norway, where he converted many of the inhabitants to Christianity. Soon after his return to Rome, Nicholas was unani- mously chosen pope, against his own inclination, No- vember, 1 1 54. Henry II. of England, on hearing of his election, sent the abbot of St. Albans and three bishops to Rome with his congratulations. With Adrian began the long struggle between the papal power and the house of 58 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. Hohenstaufen, which ended in the destruction of that dynasty. Frederick Barbarossa entered Italy at the head of a large army, for the purpose of receiving the crown of Germany from the hands of the Pope : Adrian met him at Sutri. The demand that he should hold the Pope's stirrup as a mark of respect was refused by Frederick, and not until after two days' negotiation was he induced to yield the desired homage. His Holiness then conducted the emperor to Rome, where the ceremony of coronation took place in St. Peter's Church, A.D. 1 1 55 . It was in these transac- tions that the quarrel originated. The Pope addressed a letter to Frederick and the German bishops in 1 1 57, asserting that the emperor held his dominions as a beneficium. This expression being interpreted as de- noting feudal tenure, aroused in Frederick and the Germans the fiercest indignation. Explanations were attempted, but the breach could not be healed. Adrian was about to pronounce the sentence of excommunica- tion upon Frederick, when he died at Anagni, Sept. 1, 1 159. During the pontificate of Adrian, the doctrine of Transubstantiation, advanced by Petrus Lombardus, was established. 42. FREDERICK BARBAROSSA. Frederick I., called Barbarossa (Red-beard), was Em- peror of Germany (A.D. 1125-1190). He was a great statesman and a valiant soldier. He had much trouble with his Italian towns, which rebelled against him, desiring to become republics in themselves. The Pope encouraged them at first, be- CURIO US Q UES T10NS. 59 cause he did not like Frederick ; but after their cele- brated reconciliation at Venice, these towns submitted to Frederick. One of his vassals, however, Henry the Lion, rebelled against him ; and Frederick had no peace until he took from Henry his lands, and sent him out of the country. The name of Henry's family was Welf ; the Hohen- staufens, Frederick's family, were sometimes called Waibling. The Italians called these names Guelph and Ghibel- line. In 1 189, when Frederick was quite an old man, he set out, at the head of a large army, on the third Cru- sade. But he did not reach the Holy Land; for, while his army was crossing a river in Asia Minor, he grew impatient because the bridge became blocked, and dashed into the water on horse-back. The stream swept him away ; and, before help could reach him, he was drowned, June 10, 1190. He was buried in Antioch ; but in after-times a story arose that he was not dead, but sleeping in a mountain cave in Germany, and that, when the ravens should cease to fly around the mountain, he would awake, and restore Germany to its ancient greatness. According to the story, his red beard has become so long that it has grown through the table beside which he sits, and that it must wrap itself three times around the table before his second advent. 43. THE GOLDEN TEMPLE OF UMRITSEER. The Golden Temple of Umritseer in India is an ele- gant little building, architecturally resembling the Sara- cenic in some features, and in others partaking of the pagoda style. 6o CURIOUS QUEST/ OA'S. It is about sixty feet long, and thirty feet wide, and is situated in the middle of a huge tank, called by the Sikhs the " Fount of Immortality." The gateway to the bridge leading across the tank to the temple, is covered with plates of chased silver, twelve feet square ; and along this bridge are richly gilded lamps, supported by marble pedestals. The tem- ple is two-storied, the walls being of marble inlaid with mosaics of the Florentine style, representing birds, vases, and flowers : the roof is surmounted by three domes, around which are grouped a multitude of little cupolas, all highly gilded, and glittering in the light. The doors are of silver, embossed and chased with various designs. 44. THIRTEEN A LUCKY NUMBER. There is an ancient superstition, that if on any occa- sion thirteen sit at table together, one of the number will die before the year is out. This silly superstition has been traced back to the Last Supper of our Lord with his twelve disciples, Judas after the betrayal hav- ing hanged himself. Thirteen has in consequence been considered an unlucky number : to counterbalance this, there is an instance of thirteen having been a lucky number. An obituary notice of John Hatfield, who died June 18, 1770, aged 102, appeared a few days after his death in the " Public Advertiser," London. It states, that, "when a soldier in the time of William and Mary, he was tried by a court-martial on a charge of having fallen asleep at midnight when on duty upon the terrace at Windsor." It goes on to state, " He absolutely denied the charge against him, and solemnly CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 6l declared (as a proof of his having been awake at the time) that he heard St. Paul's clock strike thirteen : the truth of which was much doubted by the court because of the great distance. But while he was under sentence of death, an affidavit was made by several persons that the clock actually did strike thirteen instead of twelve : whereupon he received his Majesty's pardon." It is added that a recital of these circumstances was engraven on the coffin-plate of the old soldier, to satisfy the world of the truth of the story. The clock which struck on this important occasion was Tom of Westminster, afterwards removed to St. Paul's. 45. THE TOMB OF CHARLEMAGNE. Charles the Great, or, as the French call him, Charle- magne (a corruption of Carolus Magnus), built a splen- did palace for himself at Aix-la-Chapelle in Prussia ; also a chapel on the site of the present cathedral, and under the chapel a tomb for himself. His body was placed in a sitting position in the tomb on his death, in the year 814. Nearly two hundred years afterward, in 1001, the emperor, Otho III., had the vault opened ; and it is said that the body of the great emperor was found in a won- derful state of preservation, seated on a marble throne, dressed in imperial robes, with his crown on his head, his sword by his side, the Gospels lying open on his lap, and his sceptre in his hand. A large picture, representing Otho and his nobles gazing on the dead emperor, is painted on the walls of the great room of the town-hall at Aix-la-Chapelle. In the year 1 165 the Emperor Barbarossa had the vault 62 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. again opened; and in 1215 Frederick II. took there- mains from the vault, and put them in a casket of gold and silver, in which they are still kept in the treasury of the cathedral. The marble throne on which the dead emperor sat for three hundred and fifty years is still to be seen in the cathedral. It was used as a throne at the corona- tion of the German emperors until 1558, after which the emperors were crowned at Frankfort. The crown and other relics found with the body are preserved in Vienna. 46. VICTOR HUGO'S OPINION OF CERTAIN GREAT LITERARY MEN. Victor Hugo (who died in May, 1885) said that the greatest Pelasgian was Homer ; the greatest Hellen, iEschylus ; the greatest Hebrew, Isaiah ; the greatest Roman, Juvenal; the greatest Italian, Dante; and the greatest Briton, Shakspeare. The name of Homer is the greatest in the history of epic poetry. He was an Asiatic Greek : seven cities claimed his birth, but he is supposed to have been born at Smyrna (one of the twelve cities of the Ionian Con- federacy in Asia), which, ten times destroyed, has risen ten times to splendor. Almost every trace of the ancient city is now destroyed ; but Smyrna is still the emporium of the Levant, and contains a hundred and twenty thousand inhabitants. Homer lived some time between 1000 B.C. and 850 B.C. : this is as near as we can come to the date. He is called the greatest Pelasgian, though born at Smyrna, because Pelasgia was the name of that part of ancient Greece, now called Thessaly, where it is certain CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 63 that the greater part of Homer's life was spent, and where he wrote his immortal epics, the " Iliad " and the "Odyssey." " Seven cities claimed him dead, where Homer, living, begged his daily bread." AZschilles, or AZschylus, was born at Eleusis in Attica (a kingdom in that part of Greece called Hella) in the year 525 B.C., and died at Gela in Sicily, 456 B.C. He is called the "Father of Tragedy," also "The Shak- speare of the Grecian Drama." He wrote ninety trage- dies, forty of which won public prizes. He was the first to erect a regular stage, with scenery and appropriate costumes. He was killed by the fall of a tortoise, dropped from the beak of an eagle, on his head. Isaiah (Salvation) was one of the four greater Hebrew prophets. We know not his name, nor of what tribe he was ; but he was a prophet of the kingdom of Judah, and must have been an old man in the time of Hezekiah, who died 698 B.C. Smith says of him, "His mind is the most sublime and variously gifted instrument which the Spirit of God has ever employed to pour forth Its Voice upon the world." Decimtis Junius Juvenalis was born in Aquinum ; the exact date of his birth is unknown; but he was a youth in the time of Nero, who died in the year A.D. 68 ; and he was a writer between the years 81 and 1 17. Juvenal, the Satirist of Indignation, and Horace, the Satirist of Ridicule, represent the two schools into which satire has been divided ; and from one or the other every classical satirist of modern Europe derives his descent. Among Dryden's masterpieces are his versions of five satires of Juvenal. Dante {Durante Alighieri), one of the greatest poets 6 4 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. of all time, and always the greatest among the Italians, was born in Florence, May 14, 1265, and died in Ra- venna, Sept. 14, 1 32 1. His passionate and undying love for Beatrice, from the time he was nine years of age, became the fountain of the poetical inspiration of his life. His immortal work, "The Divina Commedia," depicts a vision in which the poet is conducted, first, by Virgil, "the representative of human reason," through hell and purgatory ; then by Beatrice, the representative of reve- lation ; and finally by St. Bernard, through the several heavens, where he beholds the Triune God. William Shakspeare was born April 23, 1564, at Stratford-on-Avon, in Warwickshire, England, and is the chief literary glory of that country. He married Anne Hathaway, and had two daughters and one son : the latter did not survive his father. The Germans have nationalized Shakspeare to such an extent, that their enthusiasm over him almost ex- ceeds that of the English ; and to them is due his title of "the poet par excellence of the whole world." He died on his fifty-third birthday, in 1616. As a dramatist, Shakspeare is without a peer ; and only one or two poets can be named as ranking with him. No edition of his plays was published until after his death. Many separate plays were rudely printed ; but the first (folio) edition appeared in 1623, seven years after he died. The few remaining copies of this edition are very rare and costly. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 65 47. THE SECOND GREAT PICTURE OF THE WORLD. The " Last Communion of St. Jerome " by Domeni- chino is the masterpiece of this master, and is second only to the "Transfiguration," being placed opposite to it in the Vatican. It was painted for the monks of Ara Coeli, who quar- relled with the artist, and shut up the picture. They commissioned Poussin to paint an altar-piece for their church ; and, instead of supplying him with fresh canvas, they produced the picture of Domenichino, and desired him to paint over it. Poussin indignantly threw up his engagement, and made known the existence of the picture, which was afterwards preserved in the Church of St. Girolamo della Carita, from whence it was carried off by the French. "The aged saint, emaciated and dying, is borne in the arms of his disciples to the chapel of his monastery at Bethlehem, and placed within the porch. " He is represented as receiving his last sacrament from St. Ephraim of Syria. "A young priest sustains him; St. Paula, kneeling, kisses one of his hands ; a deacon holds the cup, and an attendant priest the book. "The lion droops his head with an expression of grief : the eyes of all are on the dying saint, while four angels hovering above look clown upon the scene." A noticeable feature in the picture is, that the candle is ingeniously bent, so as not to interfere with the architectural lines of the picture, while the flame is straight. The lion, which always accompanies Jerome when he is represented in art, is said to have pined away after Jerome's death, and to have died at last upon his grave. 66 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. St. Jerome was born about the middle of the fourth century. As a scholar and an author, he takes the first rank : as a theologian, he is the second only to his contempo- rary St. Augustine, among the Latin Fathers. His chief work is his Latin translation of the Scriptures. In 374 he retired to the desert of Chalcis, where he spent four years in study, especially that of the Hebrew language. He was thus prepared to produce a new version of the Old Testament. He commenced this work in 385, and completed it in 405 ; and he also made an improved translation of the New Testament : his two translations together received the name of the "Vulgate." About two hun- dred years after Jerome's death, in A.D. 420, the Vul- gate became the universally received version of the Church. Paula was one of St. Jerome's chief converts from among the wealthy families of Rome. She founded four convents in the East, and became so celebrated for her holy life, that after her death she was canonized as St. Paula. 48. ROMAN-CATHOLIC AND PROTESTANT SERVICE HELD IN THE SAME PLACE AND AT THE SAME TIME. Religious toleration is nowhere more plainly set forth than in Heidelberg, an ancient city of Germany. One of the most important buildings of the town is the Church of the Holy Ghost. Through the middle of this church a partition wall has been run, that the ser- vice according to the Roman-Catholic and the Protes- tant ritual may be held at the same time. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 67 In the year 17 19 an effort was made by Charles Philip, the Elector, to deprive the Protestants of their half of the church ; but the townspeople made so strong a resistance, that he was obliged, not only to desist, but to remove the Electoral Court from Heidelberg to Mannheim. Heidelberg is celebrated chiefly for its university, which is five hundred years old, and has still one hun- dred and eight professors, and more than seven hundred students. The library of the university is one of the largest in Germany, and has many very old and valu- able manuscripts. Heidelberg Castle is called the " Alhambra of Ger- many," and well deserves the title. Built in the four- teenth century, it served the double purpose of a castle and a fortress : it is now one of the most superb ruins in Europe. * The Great Tun of Heidelberg Castle is a celebrated wine-cask, holding two hundred and eighty-three thou- sand bottles of wine; and it is known to have been filled three times. 49. DEVOTION OF THE WOMEN OF YVEINSBERG. During the wars between the Guclphs and Ghibellincs, a battle was fought (1140) between the Emperor Kon- rad III. and Welf, brother of Heinrich the Proud, at the foot of Weinsberg, a hill crowned with a castle on the banks of the Neckar; and in this battle, "Welf" (Guelph) and "Waibling" (Ghibelline) were first used. The victory fell to Konrad, and he besieged the cas- tle until those within offered to surrender. All the men were to be made prisoners ; but the 68 ( 1 f 'RIO US Q UES TIONS. women were to go away in peace, with as much of their treasure as each could carry. All Konrad's army was drawn up to leave free pas- sage for the ladies, the emperor at their head, when, behold, a wonderful procession came down the hill ! Each woman carried on her back her greatest treasure, — husband, son, father, or brother. Some were angry at this, as a trick ; but Konrad was touched, granted safety to all, and not only gave free- dom to the men, but sent the women back to get the wealth they had left behind. The hill was called Weibertreu, or Woman's Truth ; and in 1820 Charlotte, Queen of Wurtemberg, daughter of George III., with other ladies of Germany, built an asylum there for poor women who have been noted for self-sacrificing acts of love. 50. SEVEN LAMPS. "The Seven Lamps of Architecture" by Ruskin appeared in 1849. The whole design of the work seems to be an effort to introduce a new and higher concep- tion of the significance of architecture. It is beauti- fully written, and finely illustrated by the author him- self. The seven lamps are as follows : — The Lamp of Sacrifice, The Lamp of Truth. The Lamp of Power. The Lamp of Beauty. # The Lamp of Life. The Lamp of Memory. The Lamp of Obedience. John Ruskin, an English author, was born in Lon- CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 69 don, in 18 19. Nearly all of his works relate to the arts of painting, sculpture, and architecture. In all three branches he is considered high authority. He studied at Christ Church, Oxford, where he gained the Newdigate prize for English poetry in 1839, an d took his degree in 1842. The following year appeared the first volume of his " Modern Painters." The fifth and last volume of this work was not published until i860. The unequalled splendor of Ruskin's style has given him the first place among writers on art. In 1871 the University of Cam- bridge conferred on him the degree of LL.D. In his latest and complete edition of his works, anno- tated with great care and fidelity, he abandons many of his early positions, and reverses his former judg- ments, daring to acknowledge that in his development he has seen reason to change his views. 51. THE ART OF ARTS. The blind man's judgment was just, when, having felt first a statue, and then a painting of the same fig- ure, he remarked, " If this flat surface looks like that round one, then this is the greater art." Painting is called " The Art of Arts ; " for to be a successful painter necessitates a knowledge of drawing, sculpture, and architecture. While the sculptor and architect make forms, the painter, without making them, presents them to the eye. Pliny states that " Gyges the Lydian " introduced painting into Egypt, and adds, " The Egyptians affirm that the art was invented among themselves several thousand years before it passed into Greece." JO CURIOUS QUESTIONS. The formative period of Grecian painting covers about seven hundred years, — from the fall of Troy (1184 B.C.) to the restoration of the Athenian Democ- racy (510 B.C.). 52. CHARLES II. " Who never said a foolish thing, And never did a wise one." After the death of Oliver Cromwell, his son Richard was acknowledged his successor. But, as Richard possessed neither the energy nor the ambition of his father, he resigned the office of Pro- tector, and retired to private life : this left England for a time in a state of anarchy. Then came the " Res- toration," when Charles II. was received by the nation with joy amounting almost to frenzy. The first year of his reign (1660) was called the twelfth, dating back from the time of his father's death. Charles II. was a man of considerable ability; but he preferred pleasure to business, and was therefore called "The Merry Monarch." He understood the interests of his kingdom, how- ever, better than any of his ministers ; and he was well aware of the fact, as is shown by his witty reply to an epigram written by a member of his court : — " Here lies our sovereign lord, the king, Whose word no man relies on ; Who never said a foolish thing, And never did a wise one." "That is very true," said the king when it was shown to him ; " for my words are my own : my actions are my ministry's." CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 71 53. THE BATTLE OF NATIONS. Many battles have been fought on the plain which lios around the city of Leipsic, but none more impor- tant in the world's history than the "Battle of Nations," German Volkerschlacht, which took place Oct. 16, 18 13, between Napoleon with his allied nations, and the allied powers of Russia, Prussia, Austria, Sweden, Denmark, and England. When Alexander I. of Russia refused, in 1812, to concur in Napoleon's scheme of excluding British com- merce from the whole European continent, it so offended the emperor, that he resolved to march against Russia with all the force of the territories under his dominion. "In that way," says Professor Heeren, "a storm of nations arose (about twenty were united under the standard of the conqueror) unparalleled in history since the expedition of Xerxes and Attila." Upon the invasion of his dominion, Alexander at once made allies of the Turks, and could have met his foe with an equal number of nations, if he had had time to summon them from the mountains and deserts of Asia. All of his troops (divided into three armies) did not equal those of his enemy, which amounted to nearly half a million ; but the whole Russian army manifested the most determined purpose to resist the hated invad- ers, and to engage God and religion on the side of Russia. They made an entire consecration of the em- pire and the church to the God of battles. The Russians retreated before the , French, until at last, on the 14th and 15th of September, 1812, Napoleon, with his victorious army, entered Moscow, and took possession of the Kremlin, the ancient resi- dence of the czars. 72 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. Here Napoleon reached the limit of his expedition and the grave of his greatness. Moscow, fired by its own citizens, fell a victim for the Emperor of Russia ; but in its pillars of fire the first dawn of freedom shone over shackled Europe. When three-fourths of Moscow was consumed, an unconquerable Russian army appeared before it. Never was a disappointment more sudden or more bitter. Napoleon gave the order for retreat, and a retreat more disastrous is nowhere recorded in history. Alexander pursued the enemy beyond the borders of his empire, and there gave the signal for that union of European powers which ended the campaign with the battle of Leipsic, the greatest battle of modern history. The signal defeat of the French emperor left the way open to Paris, which in 1814 was entered by the respective sovereigns, who compelled Napoleon to abdi- cate, and restored the House of Bourbon to the throne. The renown of Alexander was now complete, as the providential deliverer of Europe. 54. DON QUIXOTE. The object of Cervantes in writing " Don Quixote " was, as he himself declares, "to render abhorred of men the false and absurd stories contained in the books of chivalry." The fanaticism caused by these romances was so great in Spain during the sixteenth century, that the burning of all extant copies was earnestly requested by the Cortes (or Legislature of the realm). To destroy a passion that had taken such deep root CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 73 among all classes, to break up the only reading which (at that time) was fashionable and popular, was a bold undertaking, yet one in which Cervantes succeeded. No books of chivalry were written after the appear- ance of "Don Quixote;" and from that time those in existence have been steadily disappearing, until now they are among the rarest of literary curiosities. This is a solitary instance of the power of genius to destroy, by a well-aimed blow, an entire department of literature. This romance, which Cervantes threw so carelessly from his pen, and which he only regarded as an effort to break up the absurd fancies about chivalry, has now become the oldest specimen of romantic fiction, and one of the most remarkable monuments of modern genius. Ten years after its appearance Cervantes published the second part of " Don Quixote," which is even better than the first. It was written in his old age, when in prison, and finished when he felt the hand of death pressing cold and heavy upon him ; so that both admira- tion and reverence are due to the living power of " Don Quixote" and to the genius of Cervantes. A second intention or application of the poet was to depict in "Don Quixote" all or any forms of ill-judged, visionary enthusiasm, as contrasted with even the sim- plest solid sense of honest Sancho Panza. So while in one sense it is true that " Cervantes laughed Spain's chivalry away," in a larger view he has presented so telling a satire upon the faults and foibles of human nature, that " Don Quixote" has done great good as a practical treatise and moral philosophy. 74 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 55. THE COSTLIEST PICTURE IN THE WORLD. The Blenheim Madonna, painted by Raphael in 1507, and now valued at three hundred and fifty thousand dollars, is considered the costliest picture in the world. It belongs to the Duke of Marlborough, who has a large and very expensive collection of paintings, which has come down to him from the original Duke of Marl- borough. It has been proposed to the British Government, to purchase this celebrated Madonna, which was originally painted for the Church of the Servi at Perugia. The picture is eight feet high, representing the Ma- donna and Child seated upon a throne, with a figure of St. John the Baptist on the left, and that of St. Nicolas of Bari on the right, the last two being apparently life- size. Its high valuation arises from the fact of its being one of the best preserved specimens of Raphael's paint- ing extant. It is called the "Blenheim Madonna" from its being in Blenheim Palace, which is the residence of the Duke of Marlborough, and one of the most costly and magnifi- cent buildings in Europe. After the victory won by the English under the Duke of Marlborough, over the French, at Blenheim, Bavaria, in 1704, Queen Anne gave Marlborough a large tract of land near Oxford, called Woodstock, on which he erected the palace (called Blenheim in memory of the battle). It still belongs to his descendants ; and every year the duke sends to Windsor Castle, as a kind of rent, a little flag worked with a French fleur-de-lis, which is hung up in one of the halls of the castle. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 75 56. THE MENTONE MAN. This man was a Frenchman ; or at least his skeleton was found in a cave at Mentone, near Nice, in France. The skeleton was almost perfect when found (March, 1872), and showed its owner to have been a tall, well- formed, good-looking man, with an average skull, and a facial angle of eighty-five degrees. The antiquity of this skeleton is undoubted ; for his bones are associated with those of the cave-lion, cave- bear, and other extinct animals. The bones of this skeleton were all in place, sur- rounded by flint implements and the bones of animals supposed to have been killed by him. Twenty-two per- forated teeth lay by his head, and arc supposed to have formed a chaplet. His name is, of course, unknown ; but his bones, with the Dutchman's skull found in a cave near Engis, are the oldest known human bones in existence. They are great aids in proving that ancient races had as much brain-room as ourselves, and were not a mere development of a lower race of animals. 57. THE COSSACKS. The word cossack means robber. Their name was given to them by the Turks. They are a race, in manners, in appearance, and in language, like the Russians, yet they are said not to be akin to them. There are two tribes of Cossacks, — those of Little Russia, and the Don Cossacks. They are said to be the most unscrupulous robbers in the world. They are ;6 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. famous horsemen, and the Czar of Russia largely exe- cutes his imperial commands by means of the Cossack cavalry. They have lately been styled the " Spies of the Czar," and they keep the Nihilists in greater check than any other power in Russia. There are 1,900,000 Cossacks in Russia at the present time. That part of Russia bordering on Poland is called the " Ukraine," and it was to the Ukraine that the wild horse in Byron's poem is said to have carried Mazeppa (a Don Cossack). Mazeppa was born in 1645 J ne was descended from a noble Polish family : but, for an in- sult offered the wife of a Polish nobleman, he was con- demned to be bound upon a wild horse, with his head to the horse's tail,, to be borne away, and left to his fate. The horse carried him towards the Ukraine ; but, instead of his being killed, he was rescued by the Cos- sacks, and soon became their Hetman, or chief. Eventually he won the confidence of Peter the Great, and was appointed by him "Prince of the Ukraine." But, when the freedom of the Cossacks was curtailed, Mazeppa conceived the idea of throwing off allegiance to the Czar, and for this purpose joined his forces with those of Charles XII. of Sweden. He was taken pris- oner in the battle of Pultowa, and condemned for trea- son ; but he escaped, and fled to Bender, Turkey, where he died in 1709. The story of Mazeppa has been made the subject of a poem by Lord Byron, of a novel by Bulgarin, and of two celebrated pictures painted by Horace Vernet. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 77 58. AN ODD CUSTOM: "TELLING THE BEES." The beautiful poem by Whittier, called " Telling the Bees," from which the following stanzas are taken, was founded upon an odd custom brought from the old country, and which prevailed for a time in the rural dis- tricts of New England. On the death of a member of the family, the bees were at once informed of the event, and their hives draped with mourning. This ceremony was supposed to be necessary to prevent the swarms from leaving their hives, and seeking a new home. " Before them under the garden wall, Forward and back, Went drearily singing the chore-girl small, Draping each hive with a shred of black. Trembling, I listened : the summer sun Had the chill of snow, For I knew she was telling the bees of one Gone on the journey we all must go. And the song she was singing, ever since In my ear sounds on : — ' Stay at home, pretty bees, fly not hence ! Mistress Mary is dead and gone ! ' " 59. A HUGUENOT EXEMPTED FROM THE MASSACRE. Bernard Palissy, born in Agen, France, in 15 10, was the first to rediscover the art of producing white enamel. He was the leading representative of French ceramic art in the sixteenth century ; was an origina- tor, and his life is characterized as "the great romance" in the history of ceramics. 7S CURIOUS QUESTIONS. An enamelled cup of " faience," which he saw by- chance, inspired him with the resolution to rediscover the mode of producing white enamel. Neglecting all other duties, he devoted himself to this one object for sixteen years. He had exhausted all his resources, and, for want of money to buy fuel, was reduced to the ne- cessity of burning his household furniture piece by piece ; his neighbors laughed at him ; his wife over- whelmed him with reproaches, and his starving children surrounded him crying for bread ; but, in spite of all these discouragements, he persisted in the search until his labors were rewarded with success. A few pieces sold for high prices, and enabled him to complete his investigations, after which he became famous, — famous at the expense of an injured wife, a broken family, and a row of little graves. His second success was a jasper glaze, which shows a mixture of brown, white, and blue. His third success, an achievement which brought him enduring fame, was the manufacture of " Rustiques Figulines," which con- sisted of curiously shaped dishes and vases, ornamented with shells, frogs, lizards, snakes, fishes of many varie- ties, and leaves. These are now best known by the imitations. Barbizet claims to have rediscovered Pal- issy's method, which was lost as a specialty upon the death of his immediate family. Palissy aimed at absolute truth to nature : his moulds were formed from living specimens, and he reproduced the exact colors of his models. Having become a Prot- estant, he was thrown into prison, in Bordeaux, but was released by King Charles IX., in order to become " Pot- ter to the King." Under royal protection he removed to Paris, and set up his works in a place called from his tile-kilns "Tuileries." Afterwards, when the palace of CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 79 the king was built there, it retained the name ; and the royal residence has ever since been known as the " Pal- ace of the Tuileries." Palissy, having been employed to ornament the gar- dens of the palace, was specially exempted by Catherine de' Medici, Queen of Henry II., from the massacre of St. Bartholomew, Aug. 24, 1572. In 1575 he commenced a course of lectures on natu- ral history and physics. He gave the first right notions of the origin of springs, and the formation of stones and fossil shells. These, with his theories regarding the best method of purifying water, have been fully supported by recent discovery and investigations. In 1588 he was arrested as a heretic, and thrown into the Bastile, but died in 1590 before his sentence was pronounced. 60. BROTHER JONATHAN. The origin of this term, as applied to the United States, is as follows : — When Gen. Washington, after being appointed com- mander of the army of the Revolutionary war, went to Massachusetts to organize it, he found a great want of ammunition, and other means for its defence; and on one occasion it seemed that no means could be devised for the necessary safety. Jonathan Trumbull the elder was then governor of the State of Connecticut ; and the general, placing the greatest reliance on his Excellency's judgment, re- marked, " We must consult Brother Jonathan on the subject." The general did so, and the governor was success- ful in supplying many of the wants of the army; and 8o CURIOUS QUESTIONS. thenceforth, when difficulties arose, and the army was spread over the country, it became a by-phrase, "We must consult Brother Jonathan : " and the name has now become a designation for the whole country, as " John Bull " for England. 61. WILLIAM AND MARY. Mary was the daughter of James II., and William his nephew and son-in-law : had James been acceptable to the English people, they, as Prince and Princess of Orange, would have had but slight mention in history. Their reign as joint monarchs of Great Britain forms a great epoch in English history, called " The Glorious Revolution of 1688." James II. had attempted to re-establish the Roman- Catholic religion in England; but the majority of the English people being thoroughly Protestant, James lost favor, and was finally forced to abdicate, and take refuge in France. In contracting for a marriage with Mary, William had stipulated, that, if she inherited her father's throne, he should reign as joint heir of the kingdom in title from Charles I. ; otherwise he would return to Holland, and remain " Prince of Orange," this being a part of the marriage contract : when in 1688 both Houses of Par- liament elected the Prince and Princess of Orange to be king and queen conjointly, it was in fulfilment of this previous promise. The administration of affairs was to be held in the hands of William, but all acts of the reign were proclaimed in the name of "William and Mary." After they had reigned six years, Mary died of small- pox in 1694. William was then called "William III.," CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 81 and ruled between seven and eight years longer, when he was killed by a fall from his horse in 1702. The Roman Catholics supported James II. in his attempt to recover the throne, while the Protestants took the part of William III. : the latter were therefore called " Orangemen." James II. was utterly defeated at the battle of the Boyne, July 12, 1690. The day is still celebrated as "Orangemen's Day" by the Protestant Irish, and it seldom passes without a conflict between them and the Roman-Catholic Irish. Even at this late day, and in America, there have fre- quently been demonstrations of hostility between the two parties, which have required great coolness and firmness on the part of the municipal authorities to calm down. 62. "LUCREZIA BORGIA." This opera is founded upon Victor Hugo's drama of " Lucrece Borgia," and was composed by Gaetano Doni- zetti in 1834. The scene passes in Venice and Ferrara. Lucrezia, wife of Don Alfonso, Duke of Ferrara, impelled by some irresistible feeling, follows Gennaro, a young man sup- posed to be the son of a poor fisherman, to Venice, where she becomes convinced that he is her son. The duke, however, not knowing her secret, becomes jealous, and determines to get rid of him. Gennaro is taunted by some of his companions with being the lover of Lucrezia ; and having no respect or attachment for the haughty and cruel woman, in a fit of rage he insults her by defacing her name on the pal- ace-gates. Lucrezia is informed of this by her spy, Gubetta, and demands from her husband that the cul- 82 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. prit shall be punished with death : this he readily promises, believing him to be his wife's lover. The prisoner is brought in, and Lucrezia is horrified at beholding Gennaro. The duke, mistaking the cause of her emotion, insists on her deciding the manner of his death. She chooses poison, mixes it in his wine, and presents it to him. The duke, satisfied, leaves him to die, when Lucrezia compels Gennaro to swallow an antidote, as- sists him to escape, and begs him to leave Ferrara at once. This he is about to do, but is induced by his friend Orsini to remain for a fete given by the courte- san, Negroni. During the evening goblets of wine are brought in, which the guests partake of. Lucrezia then enters, and informs them that they are all poisoned ; giving as a reason for the act, the insult offered to her at Venice. Gennaro appears, to her great anguish, she thinking that he had left the city ; and she again tries to save him with the antidote, which he re- fuses unless she will also save his friends. This she is unable to do, but urges him to save himself, informing him that he is a Borgia, and she is his mother. He tells her it is now too late, and falls lifeless before her. The duke and attendants enter just as Lucrezia throws herself, dying, on the body of her son. Gaetano Donizetti, the author of this opera, — and sixty other operas, — was born in Bergamo, Sept. 25, 1798, and died there, April 8, 1848. Among his most famous operas are " La Favorita," " Lucia di Lammer- moor," " La Fille du Regiment," "Don Pasquale." He wrote his last opera, " Don Sebastian," in two months, and said at the time, " 'Don Sebastian ' will be the death of me." Soon after it was finished he had a stroke of paralysis, and ended his days in a lunatic-asylum. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. «3 63. THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA. About three centuries after the time of Confucius, and two centuries before Christ, a great warrior, called Chi-hoang-ti, was emperor of China; and for the purpose of putting a stop to the incursions of the Tartars, Kal- mucks, and other tribes from the north, he caused the Great Wall — fifteen hundred miles in length — to be erected along the northern frontier of his dominions. It required ten years to build the wall, which is now mostly in ruins. In the emperor's haste to complete it, he caused the deaths of tens of thousands of his laborers from over- work ; and his name is an object of hatred among the Chinese to the present day. The wall proved utterly useless as a means of de- fence, as the conquest of China was effected during the reign of the immediate successors of Chi-hoang-ti. It is interesting to know that the name China (unknown by the inhabitants of the country) comes from the house from which the builder of the Great Wall was descended. Chi-hoang-ti was a usurper of the throne of China, and murdered all who were of royal blood : he not only took the title of Chi-hoang-ti, or First Emperor, but. he used every means to make the title permanent ; even issuing an order for all records previous to his time to be destroyed. He was especially anxious that the writings of Confu- cius and Mencius should be destroyed ; and fearing that some of the learned men might rewrite those works from memory, he caused one hundred of the literati to be executed. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 64. A PUN THAT COST A LIFE. According to Stowe, Sir William Collingborne was executed in 1484 for writing the following pun, which, \n his day, was considered excellent wit : — " The Rat, the Cat, and Lovel the dog, Rule all England under the Hog." This was during the reign of Richard III. of England. The chief agents of his wicked schemes were Catesby, Ratcliff, and Lovel. Lovel was a common name for a dog On the escutcheon of the king was a white boar. 65. THE "PILLAR-SAINTS." These people were also called " Stylites " (Greek, stylos, a column) and "Air-Martyrs," and were a very remarkable class of ascetics, living chiefly in Syria, who, with a view to separating themselves more completely irom the earth and their fellow-men, took up their abode on the tops of pillars, upon which they remained during the rest of their lives. The earliest and most celebrated, called Simeon the Stylite, had been a monk, and had lived in the begin- ning of the fifth century in extreme seclusion. Finally he withdrew to a place forty miles from An- tioch, where he built a pillar, on the top of which he took up his abode, with his neck loaded with chains. From this pillar he removed to several others in suc- cession, each higher than the preceding one, until he attained a height of sixty feet. He died on this last pillar, A.D. 460, aged seventy-two years. Simeon the Stylite had many followers, the most CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 8? celebrated of whom was named Daniel : he erected his pillar on the shores of the Bosphorus, four miles from the city of Constantinople, and maintained his mode of life for thirty-three years, in a most trying cli- mate, sometimes being covered with snow and ice. He lived until the year 494. In Syria there were many " Pillar-Saints;" but in the West, Daniel was the solitary representative. Tennyson has written a poem called "St. Simeon Stylites," which is in brief the story of the saint, his philosophy, his impulses, and his hopes, as told by himself : — "Then, that I might be more alone with Thee, Three years I lived upon a pillar, high Six cubits, and three years on one of twelve ; And twice three years I crouched on one that rose Twenty by measure ; last of all, I grew, Twice ten long weary, weary years to this, That numbers forty cubits from the soil. Ah ! let me not be fooled, sweet saints : I trust That I am whole and clean, and meet for heaven. Speak, if there be a priest, a man of God, Among you there, and let him presently Approach, and lean a ladder on the shaft, And climbing up into my airy home, Deliver me the blessed sacrament; For by the warning of the Holy Ghost, I prophesy that I shall die to-night, A quarter before twelve." 66. THE SEVEN SLEEPERS OF EPHESUS. During the seventh persecution of the Christians under the Emperor Decius (A.D. 250), seven young men, converts to Christianity, refused to bow down 86 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. before an idol erected by order of the Emperor at Ephesus. They fled to a cavern in Mount Celion ; and Decius, enraged at their escape, ordered all the caves in the mountain to be sealed up. Nothing was heard of the young men for two hun- dred and thirty years, when they were accidentally discovered by some workmen who were digging the foundation of a building. They awoke from their long sleep ; and the antiquity of the coin which they offered, that some one should bring them food, attracted the attention of the authori- ties. They died soon after being discovered ; and their bodies were taken to Marseilles in a large stone coffin, still to be seen in St. Victor's Church. The preservation of these young men was declared to be a miracle, and the 27th of July was appointed as a festival day in honor of it. The names of the young men were, Constantine, Dionysius, John, Maximiam, Malchus, Martinian, and Serapion. 67. GRANITE COLUMNS OF ST. MARK'S. In front of the quay and landing-steps of the Piazzeta, stand the two memorable granite columns associated with the fortunes of Venice for so many years. They were transported from the Holy Land in H2obythe Doge Dominico Michiele. Originally there were three ; but, in landing them, one was lost in the mud of the lagoon ; the other two were safely brought to shore, but remained prostrate on the quay for several years, before any one would undertake to raise them. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 87 A reward offered by the Doge Sebastiano Ziani, at length induced one Nicolo Barratiero, or "Nick the Blackleg," to offer his services. He succeeded, and claimed for his remuneration the privilege of carrying on in the space between the col- umns those games of chance elsewhere prohibited by the Venetian law. The doge could not refuse : but, to neutralize the privilege, it was enacted that all public executions should thenceforth take place on the same spot ; hence, to the imaginative Venetians, it became so ominous, that even to cross it was indicative of a coming misfortune. When Marino Faliero was made doge, his gondoliers by some mischance landed him " between the columns," a circumstance which in the minds of the populace accounted for his sorrows, his treason, and his fate. One of the columns is surmounted by the Lion of St. Mark, holding the Gospel of St. Mark in his paw. The other column supports a fine figure of St. Theo- dore, the patron saint of the city, executed in 1329 by Pietro Guilombardo. He stands upon a crocodile ; a nimbus surrounds his head ; his right arm carries a buckler ; and his left wields a sword, intimating that Venice took for its motto " Defence, not Defiance," and drew the sword only to shield herself from attack. 68. ORIGIN OF THE TERM "PIN-MONEY." By the term pin-money, is understood a lady's allow- ance for her own personal expenditure. For a long time after the invention of pins in the fourteenth century, the maker was allowed to sell them only on the 1st and 2d of January. 88 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. They were so expensive for a long time, that none but the very wealthy ladies could use them ; and it be- came customary to give a certain sum of money to women at their marriage, for buying pins. On the ist and 2d of January they flocked to the stores, provided with this money, which was thence called "pin-money." Since pins have become cheap and common, the ladies spend their allowance on other fancies ; but the term " pin-money " still remains in vogue. 69. THE JESUITS. Ignatius de Loyola, founder of the Order of Jesuits, or " Society of Jesus," was born in Guipuzcoa, Spain, in 149 1. His real name was Inigo ; but he changed it in later life to Ignatius, its Latin form. He was first a page in the court of Ferdinand and Isabella, and afterward a soldier, until he was thirty years of age. He was severely wounded in the battle of Pampeluna, and while in the hospital read the " Lives of the Saints" and many religious books, which made him desire to lead a better life. He wished to become a priest at once ; but finding that he was too ignorant, he went to school with little boys when he was thirty-three years old. It was in the Church of the Virgin in Montserrat, that he hung up his arms, and vowed obedience to the Church. Finally in 1537 he became not only a priest, but the founder of the most celebrated order of the Roman Church, which it cost him great labor and urgency and constancy to establish. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 8 9 He died in Rome when sixty-four years old, July 31, 1556, and was canonized by the Pope in 1622. The Society is still governed by the original rules and constitution of St. Ignatius. The later history of the Society presents different aspects in different countries : it is therefore neces- sary to study separately, the history divided into three stages, — the Rise, the Suppression, and the Restora- tion of the Order of Jesuits. Even in countries where the Roman-Catholic Church has been established, to the exclusion of all other de- nominations, the Jesuits have been often oppressed, and in many cases banished. The fundamental princi- ple of the order is implicit obedience to the Pope. 70. LAURA'S LOVER. " There is a tomb in Arqua ; — reared in air, Pillared in their sarcophagus, repose The bones of Laura's lover." This quotation is from Byron's " Childe Harold," Canto IV., and refers to Petrarch, the first and greatest lyric poet of Italy. He was born in Arezzo, July, 1304, and died at Arqua, July, 1374. The great event of his life (viewed in the light of its literary consequences) was his tenderly romantic and ultimately pure passion for Laura, the golden-haired, beautiful French woman. He met her on the 6th of April, 1327, in the Church of St. Clara in Avignon, and at once and forever fell deeply in love with her. The lady was then nineteen years old, and had been married for two years to a gen- tleman of Avignon, named Husrues de Sade. For ten years Petrarch lived near Laura in the papal 9Q CURIOUS QUESTIONS. city, and frequently met her at church, in society, and at festivities. He sang her beauty and his love in those sonnets which ravished the ears of his contemporaries, and have not yet ceased to charm. Laura was not insensible to a worship which made an emperor (Charles IV.) beg to be introduced to her, and to be allowed to kiss her forehead ; but she kept the too passionate poet at a proper distance. Only once did he dare make an avowal of his love in her presence, and then he was sternly reproved. After her death he with- drew from Avignon, and passed the rest of his life in Italy. A most brilliant honor was awarded him in Rome in 1341. Having written an epic poem entitled "Africa," on the Second Punic War, he was crowned, on Easter Day, in the Capitol, with the "laurel wreath" of a poet. His chief lyric, called the " Rime," in honor of Laura, was composed during a period extending over forty years. It consists of sonnets and madrigals ; and the later ones, written long after Laura had been laid in her grave, appear purified from all earthly taint, and have done as much to refine the Italian language as the "Divine Comedy " of Dante. Petrarch was not only far beyond his age in learning, but had risen above many of the prejudices and the superstitions of his time. He was found dead in his library, with his head rest- ing on his book (July 18, 1374). CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 91 71. THE ELGIN MARBLES. The Elgin Marbles are a collection of ancient sculp- tures, chiefly from the Acropolis at Athens. About the year 1801, when Greece was under Turkish sway, they were obtained at great trouble and expense by Thomas, seventh Earl of Elgin, and transferred to England. They were purchased by the English Gov- ernment in 1 8 16, and are now in the British Museum. Those most appreciated are slabs of marble, with figures in relief, which constituted the frieze of the cell of the Parthenon ; and fifteen metopes representing the battle of the Centaurs and the Lapithae. The figures, mostly equestrian, represent the grand procession in honor of Minerva, which took place once in five years. This series of sculptures was executed by Phidias and by other Greek sculptors under his direction. Casts of the marbles are well known to students of art. 72. THE EARTH. The motion of the earth is perpetual, while all artifi- cial motion is temporary. The one is irresistible, while resistance puts the other to rest. The earth is said to have three motions : first, upon its own axis ; secondly, around the sun ; thirdly, with the sun and planetary system it moves in a great revolution through space. The weight of the earth is forty-six hundred and forty-three trillions of tons (avoirdupois). Yet it moves at the rate of eleven hundred miles per minute, at a 9 2 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. distance of ninety-five million miles from the sun, in an orbit of six hundred million miles, without effort or support, without the ruffling of a feather or the disturb- ance of a grain of dust, however minute or delicate. 73. WILHELMINA. Wilhelmina was a Bohemian princess, who died in 1282. " She appeared in Milan, and announced her gospel, a profane and fantastic parody, centring upon her- self the great tenet of the Fraticelli, the reign of the Holy Ghost. In her, the daughter, she averred, of Constance, Queen of Bohemia, the Holy Ghost was in- carnate. Her birth had its annunciation, but the angel Raphael took the place of the angel Gabriel. She was very God and very woman. She came to save Jews, Saracens, false Christians, as the Saviour the true Christians. Her human nature was to die as that of Christ had died. She was to rise again, and ascend into heaven. As Christ had left his vicar upon earth, so Wilhelmina left the holy nun Mayfreda. Mayfreda was to celebrate the mass at her sepulchre, to preach her gospel in the great church at Milan, afterwards at St. Peter's at Rome. She was to be a female pope, with full papal power to baptize Jews, Saracens, unbelievers. The four gospels were replaced by four Wilhelminian evangelists. " She was to be seen by her disciples, as Christ after his resurrection. Plenary indulgence was to be granted to all who visited the convent of Chiaravalle, as to those who visited the tomb of our Lord: it was to become the great centre of pilgrimage. Her apostles were to have CURIO US Q UES TIONS. 93 their Judas, to be delivered by him to the Inquisition. But the most strange of all was, that Wilhelmina, whether her doctrines were kept secret to the initiate, lived unpersecuted, and died in peace and in the odor of sanctity. She was buried first in the Church of St. Peter in Orto : her body was afterwards carried to the convent of Chiaravalle. Monks preached her funeral sermon ; the saint wrought miracles, lamps and wax can- dles burned in profuse splendor at her altar ; she had three annual festivals ; her Pope Mayfreda celebrated mass. " It was not till twenty years after, that the orthodox of the Milanese clergy awoke in dismay and horror ; the wonder-working bones of St. Wilhelmina were dug up and burned ; Mayfreda, and one Andrea Saramita, expi- ated at the stake the long unregarded blasphemies of their mistress." 74. THE "ILIAD" OF FRANCE. The " Romance of the Rose " is a poetical allegory begun by Guillaume de Lorris in the latter part of the thirteenth century, and continued by Jean de Meung in the fourteenth century. The poet dreams that Dame Idleness conducts him to the Palace of Pleasure, where he meets Love, whose attendant maidens are Sweet Looks, Courtesy, Youth, Joy, and Competence : by them he is conducted to a bed of roses. He has just singled out one rose, when an arrow from Love's bow stretches him fainting on the ground, and he is carried away. When he comes to himself, he resolves to find his rose ; and Welcome promises to aid him. Shyness, 94 CURIOUS QUESTIONS Fear, and Slander obstruct his way ; Reason advises him to give up the quest ; Pity and Kindness show him the object of his search; but Jealousy seizes Welcome, and locks her in Fear Castle. Here the original poem ends. The sequel, longer than Homer's Iliad, takes up the tale at this point, and is an extraordinary mix- ture of erudition and satire ; at one time a history of heroes, then a disquisition upon the hoarding of money, astronomy, duties of mankind, etc. The poem reached the height of its popularity in the sixteenth century. Then writers were never tired of quoting and explain- ing it ; and some learned commentaries were written upon it, and passages often quoted from it in the pul- pit. The poem, which is a very learned but tedious one of twenty-two thousand verses, contains many im- moral passages, which so excited the animadversion of the Fathers of the Church, that, better literature being written, the romance finally lost its hold upon the French people. 75. THE PANORAMA OF "THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG." This panorama represents the decisive battle which took place on the afternoon of July 3, 1863, between the Southern or Confederate troops under Gen. Lee, and the Union forces under the command of Gen. Meade, at Gettysburg, Penn. The battle resulted in the retreat of Gen. Lee, and the loss on his part of thirty thousand men ; while the National army lost more than twenty thousand men, but gained the victory. The author of this great work of art, Paul Philippo- teaux, was born in Paris in 1836, and is now among the CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 95 foremost painters in Paris. The success of his pano- rama representing the " Siege of Paris " induced him to paint others, which have met with like success. In order to paint the panorama of Gettysburg, Paul Philippoteaux came to America, and spent several months on the battle-field, taking sketches and draw- ings of the country. He also consulted the official maps at Washington, and obtained from Generals Han- cock, Doubleday, and others, details of the battle as it took place. He then returned to Brussels, and was occupied for two years in painting this panorama. The canvas is four hundred feet long, and fifty feet high, or covering an area of twenty thousand square feet. A special fire-proof building was erected for it in Chicago, 111., where it is permanently located. The building is duo-octagonal in form, and the light so arranged as to produce a most wonderful optical illu- sion. The beholder, standing in the centre on a little platform, can hardly realize that he is not actually on the battle-field, surrounded by hills, highways, artillery, and battalions of soldiers, or that he is not looking miles away over green fields and valleys. Between the canvas and the platform the artist has placed some real earth, fallen trees, and cannon ; and the effect is so realistic, that it taxes the ingenuity of the beholder to tell where the real ends, and the paint- ing begins. The building cost forty thousand dollars, is a hun- dred and thirty-four feet in diameter, and ninety-six feet high. The walls are windowless, the light coming only through the roof in daytime ; while at night the building is brilliantly illuminated by electric lights. "The Chicago Times," Dec. 2, 1883, says, — 9 6 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. "The panorama of 'The Battle of Gettysburg' is universally conceded by all who have seen it, to be the most extraordinary work of art ever seen in this city. " To describe it in words is impossible. It must be seen, in order to have any idea of its striking realistic effect." 76. THE WAX FIGURES IN WESTMINSTER ABBEY. These wax figures, dressed in the costumes of the day, were carried in the funeral processions of great personages, and were left to mark the place of burial until funeral monuments could be erected. Among the effigies now remaining are those of Queen Elizabeth, Charles I., and Queen Philippa. They are kept in an alcove leading by a spiral stairway from Islip Chapel. The exhibition, at stated times, of these figures, called "The Play of the Dead-volk," was dis- continued only in 1839, and is the origin of the modern "wax-work" exhibition known as "Mrs. Jarley's." In the alcove with these wax figures is shown the box in which the remains of Major Andre were taken to England. 77. PASQUINADES. Pasquinades are anonymous publications, either printed or written, or sometimes only posted up, having for their object defamation of character or the turning of a person into ridicule. The statue of Pasquin in Rome is a famous place for placards of this description, the Pope and the cardinals being the favorite victims. The rival statue of Marforio in the Capitol, which for- merly stood near the Arch of Septimius Severus in the Forum, was made the vehicle for replying to the attacks CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 97 of Pasquin : for many years they kept up an incessant fire of wit and repartee. The modern Romans seem to regard Pasquin as part of their social system : in the absence of a free press, he has become the organ of public opinion, and there is scarcely an event upon which he does not pronounce judgment. When Mezzofanti, the great linguist, was made a cardinal, Pasquin declared that it was a very proper appointment, because there could be no doubt that the "Tower of Babel " required an interpreter. 78. "OLD MAN OF THE MOUNTAIN." This title was first applied to Hassan Ben Sabbah, who founded a formidable dynasty in Syria, A.D. 1090. He was the prince, or chief, of a sect of the Moham- medans. Having been banished from his country, he took up his abode in Mount Lebanon, gathered around him a band of followers, who soon became the terror alike of Christians, Jews, and Turks. They paid the most im- plicit obedience to his commands, and believed that if they sacrificed their lives for his sake they would be rewarded with the highest joys of paradise. For two hundred years these " Assassins," as they called them- selves, continued to be the terror of the country. Whenever their chief, the " Old Man of the Moun- tain," considered himself injured, he despatched some of his assassins secretly to murder the aggressor. This is the origin of our use of the word assassin for a secret murderer. 9 8 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 79, THE TAJ MAHAL. This magnificent mausoleum in Agra (or, as it is sometimes called, Akbarabad), India, was erected by- Shah Jehan, to the memory of his favorite queen. It is octagonal in form ; the four sides which face the cardinal points being one hundred and thirty feet long, the others much smaller. It is built of the finest Jey- pore marble, finely polished ; and all the beautiful tints of the stone are retained. The roof is seventy feet high, and expands in the centre into a noble dome seventy feet in diameter, and one hundred and twenty feet high ; and when to the height of the dome is added the height of the building and terraces, it shows that the gilt crescent at its apex is two hundred and seventy feet from the ground level. This mausoleum is inlaid with jasper, cornelian, tur- quoise, agate, onyx, amethysts, and sapphires ; and it is said that the whole of the Koran is inlaid within its stately walls. The sarcophagus of the sultana is in a vault directly under the centre of the building, and near it that of the shah. There is no part of the exterior, except the dome, that is not covered with arabesques and inscriptions in black marble on the polished white of the surface. The great dome produces an echo that travellers pro- nounce to be the finest in the world. Of this echo, Bayard Taylor has said, — "A single musical note uttered by the voice floats and soars overhead in long, delicious undulations, fading away so slowly, that you hear it after it is silent, as you see, or seem to see, a lark you have been watching, after it is swallowed up in the blue vault of heaven." CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 99 This magnificent edifice was commenced in 1630, and finished in 1647 \ an d> during the seventeen years, twenty thousand workmen were constantly employed upon it. Every province of the empire contributed to its adornment, sending precious stones, of which a list was preserved in the public archives. Notwithstanding these free gifts and the forced labor of the workmen, the total cost was about twelve mil' lions of dollars. An English writer has said, — " Were there nothing to be seen in India but the Taj, it would be, for an artist or an architect, sufficient compensation for the long voyage ; for no pen can do justice to its incomparable beauty, and its astonishing grandeur." 80. THE HARLETAN COLLECTION. This collection of valuable manuscripts, now in the British Museum, was purchased by Parliament for ten thousand pounds in the reign of George IV. The col- lection was formed by Robert Harley, Earl of Oxford, an eminent statesman, and great patron of literature (1661-1724). It contains 7,639 volumes, exclusive of 14,236 original rolls, charters, and other deeds. Al- though somewhat miscellaneous in its character, his- torical literature, in all its branches, forms one of its principal features. It is particularly rich in heraldric and genealogical manuscripts ; in accounts of visitations of countries, and of parliamentary and legal proceedings ; in English topographical collections ; in originals, copies, and calendars of ancient records ; in abbey registers ; in manuscripts of the classics, among which is one of the earliest known manuscripts of the Odyssey of Homer; IOO CURIOUS QUESTIONS. in missals, antiphonaries, and other service-books of the Roman-Catholic Church ; and in ancient English poetry. It contains two very early copies of Latin Gospels, written in gold letters ; also a large number of splen- didly illuminated manuscripts, besides an extensive mass of correspondence. It further includes about three hundred manuscript Bibles, or biblical books in Hebrew, Chaldaic, Greek, Arabic, and Latin ; nearly two hundred volumes of writings of the Fathers of the Church ; and many works on the arts and sciences, among which is a tract on the steam-engine, with plans, diagrams, and calculations, by Sir Samuel Morland. 81. MOMUS. Momus, in Greek fable, was the god of mockery and censure, and delighted in finding fault with gods and men. When Neptune, Minerva, and Vulcan strove to prove which was the most skilful artist, Momus was chosen as judge to decide among them. Neptune made a bull; Minerva, a house; and Vulcan, a man. Momus declared that Neptune should have put the horns of the bull nearer the front, that he might fight better; Minerva should have made her house movable, so that she could remove it in case she had troublesome neighbors ; Vulcan should have made a window in the man's breast, so that his thoughts could be seen. All were so disgusted with his criticism, that they turned him out of heaven ; and he died of grief be- cause he could find no imperfection in Venus. A chronic grumbler is therefore called "a Momus." CURIOUS QUESTIONS. IOI 82. THE CARROCCIO. The Carroccio was the great standard car of state and the sacred palladium of the Lombard Republic, and was invented about the year 1035. It was a strong car on four wheels, painted red, drawn by four pairs of milk-white oxen with splendid trappings of scarlet. In the centre of the car, raised upon a mast which was crowned with a golden ball, floated the banner of the republic : beneath it was an image of the Saviour extended upon the cross, as if to pour benediction upon the surrounding hosts. It was the custom whenever they took the field, to conduct the Carroccio into the midst of the army ; and its sight was supposed to inspire courage in the hearts of the combatants. Three hundred of the most distin- guished soldiers were appointed to guard it in the bat- tle, and the loss of it was considered the most grievous calamity and the greatest disgrace. In the Lombard Republic, to belong to the gallant Cohort of the Three Hundred was a great honor. Next in point of rank came nine hundred chosen men called the " Cohort of Death." Feelings of religion and military glory were strangely associated with the Carroccio. It was an imitation of the Jewish ark of the covenant, and from its platform the chaplain of the army administered Christian rites to the people. The thickest of the battle ever encircled the Carroc- cio : it guided the advance, and the duty of defending it insured order in a retreat. The liberty of Lombardy was secured by the battle of Legnano (11 76), and the victory was due to the rallying 102 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. of the "Three Hundred" and the "Cohort of Death" around the Carroccio. The return of the Carroccio to Milan after this deci- sive battle (in which the disciplined forces of Germany, commanded by the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in person, gave way, and were defeated) was celebrated by eight days of festivity. 83. "ROBBING PETER TO PAY PAUL." This saying has its origin in the rivalry between St. Peter's Cathedral (now Westminster Abbey) and St. Paul's Cathedral in London. In 1550 an appropriation was made from St. Peter's to make up a deficiency in the accounts of St. Paul's. This action met with much opposition, the people saying, "Why rob St. Peter to pay St. Paul ? " The proverb was afterwards revived upon the death of William Pitt (Earl Chatham) in 1778. Each of the metropolitan cemeteries laid claim to the honor of his burial. The city of London argued that so great a statesman as William Pitt should be buried in St. Paul's ; while Parliament took the ground that the dust of so great a man as he should come near to the dust of kings, and that not to bury him in Westminster Abbey would again be " robbing St. Peter to pay St. Paul." The dispute resulted in favor of Westminster Abbey. William Pitt the elder was called the " Great Com- moner of England," but afterwards forfeited the title when he was made Earl of Chatham. A MAMELUKE Curious Questions. Vol. I., page ioj. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. I03 84. THE MAMELUKES. The Mamelukes were a body of soldiers who ruled Egypt for several hundred years. The name Mame- luke is taken from an Arab word meaning slave ; and these men were so called because originally they were young captives from Caucasian countries. In the mid- dle of the thirteenth century they were introduced into Egypt as the body-guard of the sultan ; but upon the accession of Turan Shah, who was so much hated by them, they overthrew and murdered him, and elected one of their own number sultan. For nearly three hundred years they monopolized that office ; and even when forced to give it up, they had great power in Egypt. The Mamelukes were very fine cavalry soldiers ; and when Napoleon saw their manoeu- vres at the "Battle of the Pyramids" in 1798, he said, that with Mameluke cavalry and French infantry, he could make himself master of the world. In 181 1 nearly all of the Mamelukes were massacred by Mohammed Ali. A few escaped to Nubia, but these were destroyed in 1820. 85. THE " LIA FAIL." Mr. Glover states that the return of the " Lia Fail," or " Stone of Destiny," to Ireland, and the possession of it by the Irish nation, is made the vital spark and motive of the Fenian secret oath ; and that it is pre- eminently the household word of the political Irish life, and the longing of those who have joined this too little heeded conspiracy, the object of which seems to be the overthrow of the English authority in Ireland, and the establishment of a republic. 104 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. This historic stone, known in Scotland as the " Stone of Destiny," in Ireland as the "Lia Fail," in England as "Jacob's Pillar," and more generally as the " Scone," is claimed by the Irish nation to have been brought from Egypt to Ireland by a beautiful princess, who placed it in Tara's Hall in 580 B.C. It is at present fastened underneath the coronation chair in Westminster Abbey. The stone is of a dark color, streaked with red, and is twenty-six inches long, sixteen inches wide, and eleven inches thick. Its sur- face is much defaced ; and a long, deep crack almost divides it in two. Tradition says that this stone can be traced back to the plains of Luz, where Jacob laid his head upon it, and dreamed his " ladder-dream ; " that it was preserved in the temple as a witness of the cove- nant between Jacob and his God ; that it was carried to Egypt by the prophet Jeremiah after the Jews had been taken captives to Babylon ; and that it was car- ried from Egypt to Ireland, as has been said, by a prin- cess in 580 B.C. From Ireland it is said to have been taken to Iona in A.D. 503, that Fergus, son of Ere, first king of the Scots, might be crowned upon it, as his ancestors in Ireland had been before him. History claims to know its story from the time of St. Columba of Iona, who, when dying (A.D. 597), re- quested that his head might be placed upon it in token of his faith in its biblical history. From Iona it was taken to Scone, Scotland, by King Kenneth (842), and enclosed in the present wooden chair, after the Scottish kings, having extended their power over the Picts, had transferred their royal resi- dence to Scone. The abbey of Scone had possession of this " Stone of Destiny" from A.D. 842 to 1296, and during these CURIOUS QUESTIONS. I05 four hundred and fifty-four years all the Scottish kings had been crowned upon it. From A.D. 1296 it has been in possession of the English. Edward I., King of England, having dethroned John Baliol, took with him to England all the relics of Scottish independence, this celebrated stone among the number. Robert Bruce stipulated for its restoration ; and, although Edward II. attempted to comply, he was pre- vented by a mob from restoring the stone to Scotland. For over five hundred years England's kings and queens have been crowned upon it ; and Queen Victo- ria, a direct descendant of James VI. of Scotland, has for more than forty years given her testimony to the truth of the couplet engraven upon the stone: — " Where'er is found this sacred stone, The Scottish race shall reign." 86. THE MOST CURIOUS BOOK IN THE WORLD. A book belonging to the family of Prince de Ligne, now in France, is said to be the most curious book in the world, because it is neither written nor printed. The letters of the text are cut out of each folio upon the finest vellum ; and, being interleaved with blue paper, it is as easily read as print. The labor bestowed upon it was excessive. Rudolph II. of Germany offered for it, in 1640, eleven thousand ducats, which is probably equal to sixty thou- sand dollars at this day. A remarkable circumstance connected with this lite- rary treasure, is that it bears the royal arms of Eng- land ; but it cannot be traced to have ever been in that country. io6 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 87. THE THIRD PICTURE OF THE WORLD. The "Martyrdom of St. Peter, Martyr" is the great chef-d'oeuvre of Titian, and classed by many as the third picture of the world. It was painted for the Church of San Zanipolo. The subject of this vast composition is the death of a Dominican monk named Pietro di Verona, who was assassinated in a wood while returning with another monk from some council of his order. He was canonized, and his tragic death recorded among the best authenticated legends. No honor that could have been paid to this picture has been wanting. The Senate of Venice, learning that a certain party had offered to pay eighteen thousand crowns for it, made a special decree, forbidding the Dominican monks, under penalty of death, to allow it to go out of the ter- ritory of the republic. Domenichino made a copy of it, but the copy did not attain to the grandeur of the original. It was carried to Paris after the conquest of Venice, and there re- stored to its original beauty, by being taken off the worm-eaten wood, and placed on new and durable can- vas. The picture represents the martyr stretched upon the ground, helplessly extending his arm towards the murderer who is about to deal the fatal blow ; but the tragic horror of the picture is concentrated in the figure of the saint's companion, who, overcome by terror, is taking refuge in flight. The natural and skilful arrangement of the scenery, heightened by the incomparable coloring of Titian, combines to justify Vasari in saying, "Titian never in all his life produced a more skilful or finished work." CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 107 The original picture was destroyed by fire in 1867, in the Chapel of the Rosario, having been placed there temporarily while the altar of the church was being re- paired. The copy hangs in its place. Some one gives its era thus : " Painted when Luther was at his zenith, it perished in the days of Garibaldi." Titian was born in 1477, an ^ died in 1576. 88. THE KEY OF DEATH. The " Key of Death " is apparently a large key, which is shown among the weapons at the arsenal at Venice. It was invented by Tibaldo, who, disappointed in love., designed this instrument for the destruction of his rival. The key is so constructed that the handle may be turned around, revealing a small spring, which being pressed, a very fine needle is driven with considerable force from the other end. This needle is so very fine, that the flesh closes over the wound immediately, leav- ing no mark ; but the death of the victim is almost in- stantaneous. 89. POMPEII. " I stood within the city disinterred, And heard the autumnal leaves like light footfalls Of spirits passing through the streets." Shelley. The beautiful town of Pompeii was in its full glory at the commencement of the Christian era, and was a city of wealth and refinement, having thirty-five thou- sand inhabitants. The town was beautifully located at the foot of Mount Vesuvius, on the bay of Naples. io8 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. The whole district is volcanic ; and a few years before the final catastrophe (A.D. 63), an earthquake had shaken Pompeii to its foundations. On Aug. 24, A.D. 79, occurred that terrific eruption of Mount Vesuvius which in one day overwhelmed the cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Stabiae. For more than sixteen hundred years Pompeii lay undisturbed in its bed of ashes and hardened mud from twenty to seventy feet deep. In 1689 some antique bronzes and utensils were discovered there by a peas- ant, but it was not until 1755 that excavations were begun. These have been assiduously prosecuted, until to-day three hundred and sixty houses, temples, thea- tres, schools, stores, factories, etc., have been thrown open before us with their treasured contents, thereby giving us a perfect picture of a city of eighteen hundred years ago. The remains found are in a remarkable state of pres- ervation, owing to the fact that the city was destroyed, not by lava, but by showers of ashes, sand, and cinders, which penetrated into every nook, and, as it were, her- metically sealed up the town. The excavations were commenced in 1785 by order of Charles III., and have been carried on by the Neo- politan Government ever since. In 1 8 16 Ferdinand I. appropriated the museum at Naples for the reception of the spoils from Pompeii and Herculaneum. A number of halls, entirely occupied by frescoes and mosaics chiefly found at Pompeii, are called the Pom- peian Halls. Bulwer's " Last Days of Pompeii " con- tains a fine description of the eruption which destroyed the city, and of its present appearance. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. IO9 " Nearly seventeen centuries had rolled away when the city of Pompeii was disinterred from its silent tomb, all vivid with un- dimmed hues; its walls fresh as if painted yesterday, not a line faded on the rich mosaic of its floors, in the forum the half-fin- ished columns as left by the workmen's hand, in its gardens the sacrificial tripod, in its halls the chest of treasure, in its baths the strigil, in its theatre the counter of admission, in its saloons the furniture and the lamp, in its triclinia the fragments of the last feast, in its cubicula the perfumes and the rouge of fated beauty, and everywhere the bones and skeletons of those who once moved the springs of that minute yet gorgeous machine of luxury and life." 90. THE ORIGINAL JEANIE DEANS. The original of Jeanie Deans in Sir Walter Scott's "Heart of Mid-Lothian" was Helen Walker, a young Scotch girl. She was left an orphan with the charge of a sister considerably younger than herself, whom she maintained and educated by her own exertions. Attached to her by so many ties, it will not be hard to conceive Jeanie Deans's feelings when she found that this only sister must be tried by the laws of her country for child-murder, and that she was called as principal witness against her. It was impossible for her to swear to a falsehood, and by her testimony her sister was found guilty and condemned to death. By the laws of Scotland, six weeks must elapse be- tween the pronouncing of a sentence and its execution. On the very day of her sister's condemnation, Helen Walker had a petition drawn up, stating the peculiar circumstances of the case, and set out on foot for London. Arrived there, she presented her petition to the Duke of Argyle, who was so much impressed with her bravery and devotion to her sister, that he procured the pardon no CURIOUS QUESTIONS. she asked for ; and Helen returned with it just in time to save her sister's life. The lady from whom Sir Walter Scott obtained this story, Mrs. Goldie, was extremely anxious to have a tombstone, with an appropriate inscription upon it, raised to the memory of Helen Walker ; and she re- quested Scott to write the inscription, which request he willingly complied with. The tombstone with his inscription may be seen in the churchyard of Iron Gray, about six miles from Dumfries, Scotland, where Helen Walker lies buried. 91. THE GATES OF PARADISE. After the plague which visited Florence, Italy, in the year 1400, had subsided, the people decided, as a thank-offering, to add bronze gates to the baptistery of the Church of St. John the Baptist. The Guild of Merchants, to whom the church be- longed, invited a competition of the artists of the day. Six artists shared the contest with Ghiberti, among them Brunelleschi. One year was allowed for them to complete a model. Thirty-four foreign and native artists were appointed as a deciding committee. Ghi- berti's work was considered faultless ; and the contract was awarded to him on the 23d of November, 1403.' A number of other artists were assigned to help him. The work lasted twenty-one years. On the 19th of April, 1424, both folding-doors were hung on their hinges. The work was so eminently satisfactory, that the Guild decided that a third door should be consigned to him also. He was no longer to be bound to a single CURIOUS QUESTIONS. Ill model ; the only condition in the contract being, that, so long as he was working at the door, he was to accept no other commission without the consent of the Guild of Merchants ; otherwise, as concerned time and cost, he was left to his own will. The door was completed and conveyed to its place June 16, 1452 : and not long afterwards Lorenzo Ghiberti died (1455) ; the principal part of his life, amounting to seventy-four years, having been devoted to these two works. The second door surpassed the first in every respect, and was the first important creation of Florentine art, the influence of which appears evident upon Michael Angelo. The creation of Adam, the drunkenness of Noah, and the death of Goliath, painted by Michael Angelo on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, owe their primary idea to the small figures of Ghiberti's compositions. Michael Angelo said of these doors, " They are worthy to be the gates of paradise. The history of the Old Testament is represented in ten large panels : — 1. The creation of Adam. 2. Adam and Eve driven out of Eden. 3. Noah's thank-offering after the Deluge. 4. Abraham's sacrifice on Mount Moriah. 5. Esau's renunciation of his birthright. 6. Joseph and his brethren. 7. Moses in the presence of the Lord on Sinai. 8. Joshua before Jericho. 9. David and Goliath. 10. The Queen of Sheba at Solomon's court. This must always be considered one of the grandest works of modern art. Plaster casts of these wonderful doors, or gates, have been brought to America. Two 112 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. bronze doors on a similar plan are in the Capitol at Washington, illustrating in one the life of Columbus, in the other the life of Washington. 92. "THERE'S MANY A SLIP 'TWIXT THE CUP AND THE LIP." Ancaeus, king of the Leleges in Samos (an island in the Grecian Archipelago), planted a vineyard ; and so heavily did he oppress his slaves, that one of them, it is said, prophesied to him that he would never live to taste the wine thereof. When the wine was made, the king sent for his slave, and said, " What do you think of your prophecy now?" The slave made answer, " There's many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip :" the words were scarcely uttered when Ancaeus was informed that a wild boar had broken into his vineyard, and was laying it waste. Ancseus, setting down the cup untasted, has- tened to attack and drive out the boar; but he was killed in the encounter. 93. CRUELTY OF IVAN THE TERRIBLE. Ivan IV. of Russia, called the Terrible, was the son of Vassili V. When his father died he was but a child ; and his mother Helena, contrary to the Russian custom, made herself regent, and for four years held her position, putting down all opposition with terrible cruelty. In 1537 she was poisoned ; and the regency was seized by the Shuiski, a powerful family who had received many humiliations at the hands of the grand princes, and who now avenged themselves by heaping all man- CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 113 ner of insults on the young Ivan. They punished all opposition to their power with relentless cruelty ; and Ivan saw his friends dragged from his presence, and put to death, notwithstanding his entreaties. In 1543, when the Czar was fourteen years old, the Shuiski were overthrown by the Gluiski, another promi- nent family, who pursued the same course of cruelty and despotism, but thrust the Czar forward, and robbed and killed and tortured in his name. They applauded and encouraged the development of his naturally cruel nature. It became his favorite amusement to torture wild animals, and to throw tame ones down from the summit of his palace. In 1547 the Gluiski were driven out and massacred by the people of Moscow, and for the next thirteen years Russia enjoyed peace and quiet. In 1560 the Czarina Anastasia, to whom Ivan was much attached, died ; and at about the same time Ivan was seized with a terrible illness which nearly proved fatal,- but from which he recovered, though he showed symptoms of insanity, and would break forth into fright- ful fits of rage on the slightest provocation. He delighted to inflict suffering on his people ; and in Novgorod, in the year 1570, he put sixty thousand of his subjects to death. " He butchered with his own hand a throng of the unfortunate people whom he heaped together in a vast enclosure ; and when at last his strength failed to second his fury, he gave up the remainder to his select guard, to his slaves, and to his dogs." In Moscow five hundred of the most illustrious of the nobles were tortured and put to death. Women were not spared any more than men, and hundreds of them were hung in their own doorways. H4 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. At length a number of subjects, headed by his eldest son, presented a supplication for mercy, which greatly enraged Ivan ; and with a single blow of his iron-bound staff he laid his son dead at his feet. His remorse for this deed greatly hastened his death, which occurred in 1584. In spite of his madness and tyranny, Ivan IV. did more for the greatness of Russia than any of his pre- decessors. He organized the first standing army, concluded com- mercial treaties with England, and induced many Eng- lishmen and Germans to settle in his empire. In 1569 he set up the first printing-office in Moscow. He was the first ruler to assume the title of czar. Rurik is justly regarded as the founder of the Russian Empire, A.D. 862 : he gave the country the name of Russia from the tribe to which he belonged. Rurik reigned for fifteen years with Novgorod as his capital, and died 879. During the reign of his successors, Russia was divided into numerous principalities. Ivan III., called "Ivan the Great," succeeded in re-uniting Russia, and was the first to assume the title of "Autocrat of all the Russias." His statesmanship was of the Macchiavellian order, but resulted in the establishment of his authority over the whole of Russia. He died in 1505, aged sixty-seven years. 94. THE KORAN. The word Koran in the Arabic language signifies " the reading." That Mohammed is the real author of the Koran, there is no doubt ; but the Mohammedans steadfastly CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 115 deny it to be the work of their prophet, the orthodox among them believing it to be of divine origin. Mo- hammed left his "revelations" written upon palm-leaves and skins, which were thrown promiscuously into a chest, bearing no dates, but merely the places of reve- lation ; some marked Mecca, and some Medina. Three years after the death of the prophet, in 635, Abu-Bekr collected and published these articles in the form of what is now called the Koran. It is as highly esteemed among the Mohammedans as the Bible is among Christians ; and among that people of theocratic views, it still serves, both for "law andgospel." 95. BUDDHISTIC MONUMENTS. Under the name of topes are included the most im- portant class of Buddhist architecture in India. They consist of detached pillars, towers, and tumuli, all of a sacred or monumental character. The word tope is a corruption of the Sanscrit stkupa, meaning a mound, heap, or cairn. The oldest topes are in the shape of cupolas, generally spherical, resting on a cylindrical base which sometimes rises in terraces. The cupola is surmounted by a roof in the shape of a parasol, the emblem of Hindoo royalty : on some of the topes of Sanchi there are three and five parasols. There are nine hundred of these topes in India, nearly all within the presidency of Bombay. They are generally in the vicinity of a temple or a convent. In the interior of the tope is the cell where the box containing the remains of the departed one and the "seven precious things" are placed. This cell consists of six slabs of stone, firmly closed after the box has n6 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. been placed in it, which is done when the structure has attained a certain height. The building is then com- pleted so that the cell is enclosed on all sides by solid masonry. The " seven precious things " referred to are gold, silver, lapis-lazuli, crystal, red-pearl, diamonds, and coral, with which the body of the deceased person is ornamented. The cupola is intended to represent a water-bubble, the Buddhistic symbol of the perishability of the world. The parasol is the emblem of Hindoo royalty, or of the royal dignity possessed by a Buddhistic saint. 96. MARY'S LAMB. The "Mary" that "had a little lamb" was a Massa- chusetts girl ; and her lamb was one of twins, thrust out of the pen by its unnatural mother. Mary took it home, and cared for it ; and it became a great pet in the family. One morning when it was to be taken to pasture, it could nowhere be found ; but as Mary went singing on her way to school, it heard her voice, and followed her. At the schoolhouse door, for fear it would stray away, she picked it up, and managed to carry it secretly to her desk, where it lay quietly covered with her shawl until she was called to her spelling-class, when the lamb got up, and pattered after her. The children laughed, and the teacher reproved, until her explanation was given, when he very kindly allowed her to take her pet home. It happened on that morning that a young man named Rowlston, the son of a riding-master in Boston, CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 117 who was fitting himself for Harvard, was at school ; and a few days after, he produced three verses of the poem. How it ever came to be published, Mary did not know ; for the young man died soon after, ignorant of the im- mortality of his verses. The lamb lived many years, and came to its death by the horns of an angry cow. 97. THE MAROONS. These people were the descendants of the African slaves brought to the island of Jamaica by the Spaniards. The island of Jamaica was discovered by Columbus in 1494. It is about the size of the State of Connecticut, with a mountain range running through the island, ris- ing in some places to a mile in height. The name Jamaica means "The Isle of Springs." During the conquest of Jamaica by the English, the Maroons, deserted by their masters, fled to the moun- tain fastnesses, where they lived a fierce and wild life. Their numbers being daily increased by accessions of deserting slaves, they soon became formidable to the white inhabitants, whom they plundered and assassi- nated. In 1738 an agreement was entered into by which they secured their independence, and they main, tained it for one hundred and forty years ; but the English finally determined to get rid of them from the island, and barbarously resorted to the use of blood- hounds. One hundred of these ferocious creatures were im- ported from Cuba, and, under the direction of experi- enced huntsmen, were let loose upon the mountaineers, to seize and tear them to pieces. n8 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. Thus hemmed in on every side, and hunted down like wild animals, the poor Maroons had no alternative except submission. Only about six hundred escaped : they were trans- ported from the burning climate of Jamaica to the bleak shores of Nova Scotia, and there they miserably per- ished. In 1833 the English Government emancipated all slaves in the West Indies, requiring still a period of apprenticeship, and making an allowance to owners of about nineteen pounds for each slave, in a slave popu- lation of 309,338. 98. WHITTIER'S "PENNSYLVANIA PILGRIM." Francis Daniel Pastorius, the " Pennsylvania Pil- grim," was the founder and first settler of Germantown, Philadelphia. He, in company with a small number of German Friends, bought of William Penn a large tract of land between the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers. They divided it into four hamlets, and Pastorius became the head and law-giver of the Germantown settlement. In the year 1688 he drew up a memorial from the Quaker meeting of Germantown against slaveholding. It is noteworthy as the first protest made by a religious body against negro slavery. Pastorius left many published and unpublished works, and was honored and beloved in his Germantown home. He is buried in the Friends' Burying-Ground at Ger- mantown, but no tombstone records the date of birth and death of one so important in the early history of the place. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 99. THE MOSCOW CATHEDRAL. The great Moscow cathedral, lately completed, has cost more than eleven million dollars, and will accommo- date ten thousand worshippers. It is, says " The Lon- don Times," one of the most remarkable churches in Europe. Not many cathedrals can boast of having been built in a lifetime ; but there are Russians still living who saw the French army depart from Moscow, to com- memorate which event the Church of St. Saviour has been erected. In less than three months after the re- treat of the foe, a decree went forth from Alexander I., that a memorial temple should be built ; and five years later the foundations were laid, but not on the present site. The emperor accepted plans, which, had they been carried out, would have given to Russia the highest building in the world ; namely, seven hundred and seventy-six feet, on the Sparrow Hills, between the routes of the entrance and departure of Napoleon : but the undertaking for a while collapsed; and the architect and building committee, after expending or misappro- priating upwards of four million rubles, were banished, and their estates confiscated. The Emperor Nicholas adopted new plans, and chose the present site, which has cost, with embankments, terrace, etc., upwards of one hundred and eighty thou- sand pounds, and where, at the outset, a nunnery had to be removed, and seventy thousand cubic feet of earth to be displaced, before, on the 27th of July, 1839, tne l av_ ing of the foundations was commenced. The building continued slowly to rise for twenty years ; and in 1858 the scaffolding was removed, this latter item alone hav- ing cost two hundred and seventy-seven thousand rubles, 120 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. or upwards of forty thousand pounds. A quarter of a century has been expended on fittings and decoration. The style is ancient Russian, or, rather, Graeco-Byzan- tine ; the most striking feature of which, to a western eye, on the exterior is the five cupolas, for the gilding of which were required nine hundred pounds of gold, their total cost being upward of one hundred and sev- enty thousand pounds. The domes are surmounted by crosses ; the centre one, nearly thirty feet high, standing three hundred and forty feet from the ground. The building covers an area of seventy-three thousand square feet. The bells, as usual in Russia, are of pon- derous weight. The largest, or " holy-day " bell, weighs twenty-six tons, or half as much again as " Great Paul." Even the second, or " Sunday " bell, is within a ton's weight of our bantling; while the smallest of the " every- day " bells descends to about thirty pounds. The cost of the peal was upwards of thirteen thousand pounds. ioo. THE SPHINX. " What animal walks on four legs in the morning, two at noon, and three at night ? " The Theban Sphinx was a monster sent by Juno to lay waste the neighborhood of Thebes in Bceotia. It had the head and bust of a woman, the body of a dog, the tail of a serpent, the wings of a bird, the paws of a lion, and a -human voice. This terrible monster soon became the terror of the country, by proposing the riddle above quoted, and by devouring all who could not explain it. In the midst of the general consternation, the Oracle told the people that the Sphinx would destroy itself as soon as the rid- CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 121 die was explained. Upon hearing this, Creon, King of Thebes, promised his crown and his sister Jocasta in marriage to him who should explain the riddle, and thus rid the country of this monster. CEdipus, attracted by the fame of the Sphinx riddle, made a visit to Thebes. He came to the monster, and explained that man " in the morning " of life walks upon his hands and feet, "at noon" he walks upon his two legs erect, and " in the evening " he supports the infirmities of old age with a staff. As soon as the Sphinx heard this explanation, she dashed her head against a rock, and expired. CEdipus became King of Thebes, and married Jo- casta. Some writers on mythology wish to unriddle the Sphinx riddle by the supposition that one of the daugh- ters of Laius laid waste the country of Thebes with her continual depredations, because she had been refused a part of her father's possessions. The lion's paw ex- pressed (as they say) her cruelty, the body of the dog her lasciviousness, her wings the despatch she used in her expeditions, and her enigmas the snares she laid for strangers and travellers. ioi. BURIAL OF GEN. KELLERMAN'S HEART. Francois Christophe Kellerman, Duke of Valmy and Marshal of France, was born, according to some ac- counts, at Strasbourg, and according to others, near Rothenburg, Bavaria, May 30, 1735. He entered the French army as a volunteer, and served in the Seven Years' War, and in the Polish expedition of Louis XV. in 1771. 122 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. In 1789 he embraced the cause of the Revolution, and in 1791 became general of the army in Alsace. In August, 1792, he was made commander of the Army of the Centre, with orders to effect a connection with Dumouriez in Champagne. The invading army of Prussians was marching to attack the almost defenceless city of Paris, with perfect confidence of success, when Kellerman, who saw how important it was that they should not accomplish their purpose, by a series of brilliant manoeuvres joined his forces with those of Dumouriez : then by his daring and bravery, though his army numbered but forty-seven thousand men, he routed the allies, numbering a hun- dred and fifty thousand, on the field of Valmy, and saved Paris. When Napoleon came into power, Kellerman was successively made senator, Marshal of France, and Duke of Valmy. In 1814 he voted for the deposition of the emperor, and became a peer under the royal government. Kellerman always considered the battle of Valmy, though not a sanguinary battle, the most important of his many engagements. On his death-bed he requested that his body should be buried in Paris, and his heart on the field where the battle had taken place, that it might repose with his old comrades-in-arms. He died in Paris, Sept. 12, 1820. France now calls herself a republic. She first assumed that title on the 26th of September, 1792, the very day on which the battle of Valmy was fought and won. To that battle the democratic spirit owes its preservation ; and its influ- ence has been felt ever since, and even at the present day. The "republic" of 1792 became the consulate of 1799, and the empire of 1804, both democratic in CURIO US Q UES TIONS. 123 theory, at least. The return of the Bourbons, in 18 15, was but an episode in the march of democracy in France. Louis Philippe was a " citizen king ; " Louis Napoleon, a declining ray of his uncle's glory ; and France is to-day a republic again, in reality and in name. 102. PLOT OF THE OPERA "LOHENGRIN." The scene of the opera " Lohengrin " (Knight of the Swan) is laid in Antwerp, Belgium, in the early part of the tenth century. Henry I., King of Germany, surnamed the " Fowler," has arrived at Antwerp with the intention of repelling the Hungarians, who have threatened to invade his dominions. He finds Brabant in a state of anarchy. Godfrey, the young son of the late duke, has disappeared ; and his sister, Elsa, is accused by her guardian, Frede- rick of Telramund, of murdering him. Frederick now claims to be the ruler of the duchy by right of his wife Ortrud. Elsa, appearing before King Henry I., asserts her innocence ; and it is agreed that the cause shall be decided by a judicial combat between Frede- rick and any champion who may appear on behalf of the accused. When Elsa's cause seems almost hopeless, a knight appears, ascending the river Scheldt in a boat drawn by a single swan, which, after having landed, he dismisses. He undertakes her defence ; Elsa promising that if he is victorious she will bestow upon him her hand, and never question him as to his name or origin. In the combat which ensues, Frederick is stricken to the ground by his unknown antagonist, and then de prived of his title and estate. 124 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. Preparations are made for the immediate marriage of the stranger with Elsa ; but, while all is revelry in the abode of the knights, Frederick and Ortrud are with- out, plotting how they may revenge and recover their lost honors. Ortrud at last presents herself at the kemenate y or abode of the ladies, gains admission, and secures the favor of Elsa, who promises to obtain the pardon of Frederick. She also listens to the suggestions of Or- trud, that she ought to inquire into the name and ori- gin of her future husband, who, without a ducal title, has been appointed Protector of Brabant. As the nup- tial procession approaches the cathedral, the conspira- tors reveal themselves in their true characters ; Ortrud opposing Elsa at the door, and Frederick declaring the unknown knight to be a sorcerer who has gained his victory by unfair means. The intruders are expelled by the king and people, and the marriage takes place ; but when the bride and bridegroom are left alone, Elsa, roused by the evil suggestions of Ortrud, begins, not- withstanding her promise, to question the knight, who in vain endeavors to allay her suspicions. Frederick, who enters the room, and is about to assail his former antagonist, is slain by him. On the following morning the explanation so un- wisely solicited by Elsa is given in the presence of the king. The knight is the son of King Percival, keeper of the mysterious cup known as the " Holy Grail," to whose service he is attached ; and his name is Lohen- grin. It is to the Grail that he is indebted for his invisible power ; but now that all is revealed, he must no longer remain in Brabant. The swan returns with the boat to bear him away ; CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 125 but he removes a gold chain from its neck, and in its stead appears the youth Godfrey, who had been changed to a swan by the sorceress Ortrud. Godfrey is now declared the rightful Duke of Bra- bant ; while Lohengrin departs, to the intense grief of his bride, the king, and the people. This opera was composed while, for political reasons, Wagner was residing in Switzerland in 1848. The words of the libretto, as of all Wagner's operas, are of his own composition. 103. MICHAEL ANGELO'S VOW. Cardinal Farnesina engaged Raphael to decorate the Farnesian mansion on the banks of the Tiber. Raphael agreed to undertake the work on condition that no one should be allowed to inspect it until it was completed. Much curiosity was excited by this secrecy, and the following story has been current : Michael Angelo determined to gain access to the mansion, and took an oath that he would put a stop to Raphael's work. With this end in view, having found that Raphael came late to work, he disguised himself as a vender of wine and biscuit, and started toward the palace crying his wares. Going in and out among the workmen who were employed about the palace, he soon found the scaffold- ing and wall made ready for the painter. After engaging the attention of the men with the wine and biscuit, he ascended the scaffolding, and drew upon the wall a gigantic head of Jupiter, then hurriedly left the building : his vow was accomplished. When 126 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. Raphael came, he instantly exclaimed, upon seeing the head, " Michael Angelo ! " and left the palace, never to return. The drawing, covered with glass, is still on exhibition in the Farnesian Palace. [Of course, this story is not now credited.] 104. THE NECK-VERSE. William Rufus, the second of the Norman kings of England, established what was called the " Benefit of the Clergy," by which any one condemned to death could save his life by proving that he could read. The first verse of the fifty-first psalm was chosen as the test to be read, hence it was called the " Neck- Verse." This law continued in force from the year 1087 until the close of Queen Anne's reign in the year 1700; although for a long period it had fallen into desuetude, and even become a dead letter. 105. MARIAN GAMES. The year 932 was signalized by the remarkable event celebrated in song and story as the " Loss and Recap- ture of the Brides of Venice." It is a curious illustration of the manners of a stormy and stirring time. A custom had long prevailed, that every year on St. Mary's Eve all the brides in Venice were to be married ; so that there was but one marriage day each year for the nobles of the whole nation. Each maiden brought her dowry with her in a small cassetta (chest). They went first to the church, and waited for the youths, who having come, mass was cele- brated, and the bishop preached, and blessed them. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 127 The bridal costume was always white, the hair flow- ing loosely over the shoulders interwoven with threads of gold. Gondolas, beautifully decked with flowers and flags, and gay with music, bore the procession of brides to the Church of San Pietro. The sea-rovers of Trieste, not ignorant of the custom, had this year concealed themselves during the night in an uninhabited locality called Olivolo ; and, as soon as the cortege and the beautiful brides had entered the cathedral, they leaped from their hiding-places, burst open the sacred doors, rushed into the midst of the dismayed multitude with flashing swords, and seizing the weeping, shrieking maidens, carried them to their barks, and hoisted sail for Trieste. The doge (Candiano II.), who was present at the festival, arose in a storm of indignation, and summoned the men to arms. Leaping into a few vessels, hastily put at their dispo- sal by the Corporation of Trunkmakers, they plied their oars lustily in pursuit of the rovers. They overtook them in a creek still known as the " Porto delle Don- zelle." Candiano led the attack, and the Venetians fought with such fury that not one of the sea-rovers escaped their swords. The brides were brought back to the city in triumph ; and in the evening of that eventful day the nuptial rites, so strangely interrupted, were celebrated with unusual pomp. In memory of this event, a solemn procession of twelve young women took place yearly, and was at- tended by the doge and the priests to the Church of Santa Maria Formosa, in the trunkmakers' quarter. The tradition runs, that, when the Doge Candiano proposed to reward the trunkmakers for the use of the 128 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. vessels, this andata> or anniversary, was all they would accept. The Marian Games, La Feste delle Marie as they were called, were observed with great splendor until the year 1379, tne epoch of the disastrous war of Chioz- zia, when they were discontinued, and soon lapsed into desuetude. It was the custom to elect twelve maidens, two from each of the six divisions of the city ; and it was deter- mined by lot which of the centrades, or quarters, of the town, should furnish them with dresses. As this in- volved a great amount of competition, the dresses were of the costliest description; and frequently the jewels of the treasury of St. Mark were borrowed to enhance their splendor. The celebration commenced on St. Mark's Day, Jan. 31 ; the next day the procession passed through the streets of the city ; and on the 2d of Feb- ruary they repaired to the Church of Santa Maria Formosa. The festival attracted such a throng of visitors from all parts of Italy, that special police regulations were passed to preserve order, and the Council of Ten were twice summoned. 106. "THE LUSIAD." Vasco de Gama is the chief hero of "The Lusiad;" but the poem presents a grouping of all the great people and events in the history of Portugal, — ancient Lusi- tania. "The Lusiad" is one of the noblest monuments ever raised to the national glory of any people. Camoens, the author, resolved to do for Portugal what Homer had done for Greece. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 129 The poem was written in the sixteenth century, which has been called the heroic age of Portugal, and was the result of the general impetus, literary as well as commercial, which pervaded Europe after the many maritime discoveries. The rounding of the Cape of Good Hope by Vasco de Gama is the main feature of the poem ; but one of the most interesting episodes is the crowning, after death, of Inez de Castro as Queen of Portugal. Greek mythology forms the machinery, as it were, of this epic ; and it is named " The Lusiad " after the mythological Lusius, who is said to have visited Portu- gal, and founded Lisbon. Luiz de Camoens, the author of "The Lusiad," was born in or near Lisbon some time between 15 17 and 1524, and died there in 1579. His career commenced brilliantly, but was blighted by his fruitless love for Catharina de Atayde, a lady of the court ; for which love he was banished by royal edict to Santarem. The lady died of a broken heart, and Camoens never married. It was during his banishment that he wrote "The Lusiad." He was recalled in 1561, but on the way back lost all his property except the poem. After many wanderings and other misfortunes, he reached Lisbon in 1569, and dedicated "The Lusiad" to King Sebas- tian, who bestowed upon him a small pension. This pension was taken away after the king's death ; and Camoens was reduced to such poverty, that a faith- ful Indian servant begged in the streets of Lisbon for the support of the great epic poet of Portugal. He died in the hospital at Lisbon in 1579; and sixteen years afterwards, when it was proposed to erect a splen- did monument to his memory, there was some difficulty in finding even his burial-place. i3o CURIOUS QUESTIONS. " The Lusiad " has been translated into the Spanish, French, Italian, Polish, German, Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Dutch, Swedish, Russian, Danish languages, and six times into English. 107. THE KREMLIN. The Kremlin (from the Russian word kretna, for- tress) is situated near the centre of the city of Moscow. It is triangular in form, and about two miles in perim- eter. The Kremlin contains palaces, cathedrals, monu- ments, etc. ; and it is enclosed by a high wall, having eighteen strong towers and five gates. The principal gate of the Kremlin is called the " Re- deemer's Gate : " it has a picture of the Saviour over it, and even the emperor must take off his hat when he passes through the gate. Among the buildings of the Kremlin are the great Imperial Palace ; the Cathedral of the Assumption (founded in 1326), in which the Russian emperors have been crowned for three hundred years ; the Cathedral of the Archangel Michael (in which the Russian emper- ors were buried, down to the time of Peter the Great) ; and the Cathedral of the Annunciation, in which many of them were baptized and married ; the floor of this cathedral is paved with jasper, agate, and cornelian. The Ivan Veliki, or Great Tower, contains thirty-four bells ; and near it (unmounted) is the Tzar Kolokol, or Great Bell, the largest in the world. The principal streets in Moscow lead from the Krem- lin like the spokes of a wheel ; and around them run handsome boulevards forming circles, one a mile, the other a mile and a half, from the Kremlin. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. Inside the inner boulevard is the Kitan Gorod, or Chinese Quarter, containing 12 1 acres. The city of Moscow is said to have been founded about A.D. 1 1 50 : from the fourteenth to the eighteenth century it was the capital, and it is still the richest city, of Russia. 108. PASCAL. It was Pascal who said, " Whoever would fully measure the vanity of human life must consider the causes and the effects of the passion of love. If the nose of Cleopatra had been shorter, the whole face of the earth would have been different." Blaise Pascal was one of the most distinguished phi- losophers and scholars of the seventeenth century. He was born in Auvergne, France, in 1623 ; died in Paris, 1662. He was a noted "Port-Royalist." These were a body of learned men, theologians, con- nected with the convent of Post-Royal des Champs, near Versailles, who played an important part in the Jansenist controversy. This long controversy in the Roman-Catholic Church was chiefly respecting the doctrine of "free grace." Jansen of Louvain (about 1630) propagated views on the subject contrary to those held by the Jesuits : hence the controversy is known by his name, which caused much excitement in France and other Continental coun- tries. The Post-Royalists were suppressed in 1709, in the reign of Louis XIV., this measure being instigated by Madame de Maintenon. Pascal's chief works, " Pensees " and " Lettres Provin- ciales," are among the finest specimens of French lit- erature. 132 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 109. CLEOPATRA. Cleopatra was the last queen of Egypt. Her father, King Ptolemy Auletes, died when she was seventeen years old, leaving the throne to his son Ptolemy Diony- sus (then thirteen years old), provided he would marry his half-sister Cleopatra. The Romans were appointed guardians of these children. Cleopatra married her brother, and they reigned jointly until she became dissatisfied with his attempt to obtain sole power. She resolved to seek assistance from Julius Caesar ; but not daring to go openly to him, as she was watched by her brother's friends, she caused a servant to carry her on his back in a roll of carpeting into the room of Julius Caesar. When the carpet was unrolled, the beautiful girl sprang out, and, throwing herself at the feet of the Roman general, begged him with tears to take her part. He promised to do so, and attempted to effect a compromise. For a short time Cleopatra and her brother were rec- onciled ; but Ptolemy, renewing the contest, was soon defeated, and drowned in the river Nile. Cleopatra then married her young brother, a boy of eleven years, who was already affianced to his sister Arsinoe. Cleopatra soon poisoned him, and assumed the sole government 43 B.C. With her death (30 B.C.) ended the dynasty of Ptolemy in Egypt, which had lasted for two hundred and ninety-four years ; and Egypt became a Roman province. There were three queens of Egypt under the Ptole- mies, — Arsinoe, Berenice, and Cleopatra. Most of CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 133 them were the sisters as well as the wives of the kings. There were thirteen kings of Egypt by the name of Ptolemy, during whose reigns Egypt attained a high degree of prosperity. Each of these kings had another name ; but they were called Ptolemy, from Ptolemy Lagus, the first of the name. (Ptolemy means warrior.) Cleopatra's history is so well known, as also all the circumstances of her tragic death, that we need only sum it up by quoting from Tennyson's " Dream of Fair Women." " I turning saw, throned on a flowery rise, One sitting on a crimsoned scarf unrolled; A queen, with swarthy cheeks and bold black eyes, Brow-bound with burning gold. She, flashing forth a haughty smile, began : ' I governed men by change, and so I swayed All moods. Tis long since I have seen a man. Once, like the moon, I made The ever-shifting currents of the blood According to my humor ebb and flow. I have no men to govern in this wood : That makes my only woe. Nay — yet it chafes me that I could not bend One will ; nor tame nor tutor with mine eye That dull, cold-blooded Caesar. Prythee, friend, Where is Mark Antony? The man, my lover, with whom I rode sublime On Fortune's neck: we sat as God by God: The Nilus would have risen before his time And flooded at our nod. We drank the Libyan Sun to sleep, and lit Lamps which outburned Canopus. O my life In Egypt! O the dalliance and the wit, The flattery and the strife, 134 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. And the wild kiss, when fresh from war's alarms, My Hercules, my Roman Antony, My mailed Bacchus leapt into my arms, Contented there to die ! And there he died : and when I heard my name Sighed forth with life I would not brook my fear Of the other ; with a worm I balked his fame. What else was left ? I died a Queen. The Roman soldier found Me lying dead, my crown about my brows, A name forever ! — lying robed and crowned, Worthy a Roman spouse.' " no. THE EDICT OF NANTES. In the year 1598 King Henry IV. of France issued, at Nantes, an edict which secured to the Huguenots freedom of conscience, and equal rights and privileges with the Roman Catholics. In 1685 Louis XIV. revoked the Edict of Nantes. The Huguenots' churches were destroyed ; and orders were given to take Protestant children from their parents, that they might be instructed in the Roman- Catholic faith. There was no longer any safety for the Huguenots in France : nothing was left but to flee from their native land. Every precaution was taken by the government to prevent their emigration ; but, notwithstanding this, almost half a million Huguenots succeeded in reaching Protestant countries, carrying with them, not only their wealth, but also their skill in manufacture. The fugi- tives were welcomed in England, Holland, and Ger- many, which countries were much benefited by their CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 1 35 industries ; while to the prosperity of France their de- parture was such a severe blow that she has never recovered from it. in. "THE CURTAIN IS THE PICTURE." About the year 455 B.C., an improved style of paint- ing was introduced in Athens by a celebrated painter named Zeuxis. The aim of this new style was illusion of the senses. Zeuxis soon acquired great wealth by his paintings, and was very ostentatious in the display of it. The same vanity is shown by the fact, that, after he had reached the summit of his fame, he no longer sold, but gave away, his pictures, as being above all price. He was a great master of color : and in this lay the secret of his success, and of that of his school ; for it rendered his paintings so accurate and lifelike, that they amounted to illusion. This is exemplified in the story told of him and Parrhasius. As a trial, these artists were appointed to paint each a picture. That of Zeuxis represented a bunch of grapes ; and so naturally was it represented, that the birds came and pecked at it. After this proof, Zeuxis, confident of success, called upon his rival to draw aside the curtain that concealed his picture. "The curtain is the picture," replied Parr- hasius ; and Zeuxis was obliged to acknowledge himself vanquished, for though he had deceived birds, Parr- hasius had deceived him. The paintings of Zeuxis displayed great dramatic power. He worked very slowly and carefully ; and he is said to have replied to somebody who blamed him for his slowness, " It is true I take a long time to paint ; but then, I paint works to last a long time." 136 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. His masterpiece was a picture of Helen of Troy, in painting which he had as his models five of the most beautiful maidens of Crotona, for which city the picture was painted. Zeuxis died in the early part of the third century B.C. : it is said that he died from laughter at a hag he had just painted. Parrhasius, his contemporary, also attained great ce- lebrity. He was particularly celebrated for the accuracy of his drawing and the excellent proportions of his figures. Just as Phidias established a canon in sculpture for gods, and Polycletus for the human figure, so Zeuxis established a canon for proportions in drawing and painting ; whence Quintilian calls him the legislator of his art. 112. "NO ROYAL ROAD TO LEARNING." The famous mathematician Euclid, upon being asked by Ptolemy Soter (who was his pupil, and afterward king of Egypt) if geometry could not be made easier, replied, " There is no royal road to learning." Euclid, sometimes called the father of mathematics, was born at Alexandria about 300 B.C. We know little more of his history than that he be- longed to the Platonic school of philosophy, and taught mathematics in the famous school of Alexandria during the reign of Ptolemy Soter. 113. THE FIRST ACCOUNT OF CHINA. Marco Polo, the celebrated traveller, born at Venice about 1254, gave to the world the first correct account of China. In 1271 he started on a tour through Asia, CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 137 finally reaching China in 1275, which was then known in Europe as Cathay, supposed to comprise the entire " Far East " of the world. The Emperor of China received him, and soon gave him important offices in the government, making him governor of a large city, which position he held for three years. The emperor, however, would not allow him to leave the empire, as it was closed to all foreigners ; and for sixteen years he was an honored prisoner of the em- peror. He finally managed to escape on board a ship which was carrying the emperor's daughter to Persia, where she was to become the king's wife. After nine months Polo went from Persia to the Black Sea, and finally returned to Venice in 1295. He had almost forgotten his native language ; and his friends would not believe his story, even when he showed the rich presents he had received from the Emperor of China. He entered the navy, and was taken prisoner in a war with Genoa : during five years' impris- onment he prepared an account of his travels, and gave to the world the first correct description of China. His book was published, and created an immense excitement among learned men, who did not hesitate to affirm it to be pure fiction. After his liberation he returned to Venice, was ab- jured by his friends, and even on his death-bed was urged to retract his falsehoods. He died in 1323, aged seventy years. Subsequent Venetian travellers and Roman-Catholic missionaries verified many of Polo's statements : then came a re-action of public opinion, and the wonderful accuracy of Polo's history became the theme of univer- sal praise. His work became of inestimable value as a 138 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. guide in geographical research : by it the Portuguese were led to sail round the Cape of Good Hope, and Columbus to make his discoveries in the western hemisphere. The book was translated into all foreign languages, but not into English until 1844. Marco Polo was long remembered in China; and a bust of him is still to be seen in one of the temples of Canton, where great men figure as social idols. 114. THE DRAMA "SAKUNTALA." " Sakuntala," or "The Fatal Ring," is a celebrated Hindoo drama by Kalidasa, the Hindoo Shakspeare. Kalidasa was the greatest dramatist, and one of the most celebrated poets, of India, and is known to the literary world chiefly through his drama " Sakuntala." It was first brought to the notice of the Western world by Sir William Jones, who translated it into English in 1789. It created so great a sensation throughout Europe, that it may be considered the cause of the early success attending Sanscrit studies in England and Germany. Very little is known of the personal history of Kali- dasa; that he lived at Onjein, and that he was "one of the nine gems of the court of Vikramaditya," is all that is related in regard to him ; but as there were sev- eral Vikramadityas, his date is very uncertain, and may be placed anywhere between the first century B.C., and the sixth century A.D. Many of the dramas of Kalidasa contain episodes selected from the epic poems of India, — the " Rama- yana " and the " Mahabharata," — and are founded on the principles of Brahmanism. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 139 The " Sakuntala," or " Fatal Ring," is considered Kalidasa's best drama ; and it has been translated into English and French and German. According to the story, Sakuntala was the daughter of St. Viswamita, and Menaka a water-nymph. Aban- doned by her parents, she was brought up by a hermit. King Dushyanta, coming one day to the hermitage, per- suaded Sakuntala to marry him ; and in due time a son was born. When the boy was six years old, she took him to the king, who recognized his wife by a ring he had given to her. The king then publicly proclaimed Sakuntala his queen. Bharata, his son and heir, became the founder of the glorious race of the Bharatas. Schubert has written an opera called " Sanktala." 115. NAPOLEON'S BEES. Napoleon I., wishing to have some regal emblem more ancient than the fletir-de-lis \ is said to have adopted the bee under the following circumstances : — When the tomb of Childeric (the father of Clovis) was opened in 1653, there were found (besides the skele- tons of his horse and his page, his arms, etc.) more than three hundred of what the French heralds mistook for bees, "of the purest gold, their wings being inlaid with a red stone like cornelian." These small ornaments resembling bees were only what, in French, are called flenrons, supposed to have been attached to the harness of the war-horse. The "bees" were sent to Louis XIV., but it was Napoleon who had them sprinkled over the imperial robes as emblematic of the enterprise and activity of 140 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. the Napoleonic dynasty. The modern opinion is, that the French fleur-de-lis is really a bee with its wings outstretched, which would make the royal and the im- perial emblems identical, but differently interpreted. 116. THE TRIAL OF RATS. Chassanee won his first laurels in a trial of rats in the diocese of Autun, 1445. Trials of wild animals of obnoxious description, as rats, locusts, caterpillars, and such like, were conducted in ecclesiastical courts between the years n 20 and 1740. In the last-named year the trial and execution of a cow took place. The proceedings were compli- cated, and, not having the sanction of Mosaic law, were founded on the following thesis : — " As God cursed the serpent, and our Saviour the barren fig-tree, 60 in like manner the Church hath full power and authority to ex- orcise and anathematize and excommunicate all animate and in- animate things. But as the lower animals, being created before man, were the first heirs of the earth ; as God blessed them, and gave them every green herb for meat; as they were provided for in the ark, and entitled to the privileges of the Sabbath, — they must be treated with all due deference consistent with justice." The process was as follows : the inhabitants of a district being annoyed by certain animals, the court ap- pointed experts to survey and report upon the damage done : an advocate was then appointed to defend the animals, and to show cause why they should not be summoned. They were then cited three times ; and, not appearing, judgment was given against them by default. The court next issued a " Monitoire," warning the animals CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 141 to leave the district within a certain time under penalty of adjuration. If they did not disappear on or before the time appointed, the exorcism was pronounced with all due solemnity. During the whole period, religious processions and other elaborate ceremonies, that had to be well paid for, were strictly enjoined. The summonses were served by an officer of the court, reading them in places which the animals frequented. These citations were written out with all due for- mality : thus, in a trial against rats, the defendants were described as " dirty animals in form of rats, of a gray- ish color, living in holes." This trial is famous in the annals of French law ; for in it Chassanee, the celebrated Juris-Consult, the Coke of France, won his first laurels. The rats not appearing on the first summons, Chas- sanee, their counsel, argued that the summons was of too local and individual a character ; that, as all the rats in the diocese were interested, all the rats from all parts of the diocese should be summoned. This plea being admitted, the curate of every parish in the diocese was instructed to summon every rat for a future day. The day arriving, but no rats, Chassanee said, that as all his clients were summoned, including young and old, sick and healthy, great preparations had to be made, and therefore he begged for extension of time. This being granted, another day was appointed. The rats still failing to appear, Chassanee denied the legality of the summons under certain circumstances. A summons from that court, he argued, implied full protection to the parties summoned, both on their way to it, and on their return home ; but his clients, the rats, 142 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. though most anxious to appear, in obedience to the court, did not dare to stir out of their holes, on account of the number of evilly disposed cats kept by the plain- tiffs. "Let the latter," he continued, "enter into bonds under heavy pecuniary penalties, that their cats shall not molest my clients, and the summons will be at once obeyed." The plaintiffs declining to be bound over for the good behavior of their cats, the time for the attendance of the rats in court was postponed indefinitely. Thus Chassanee, winning his first case, laid the foundation of his future fame. Legal proceedings against animals were not confined to France alone ; in Germany, Spain, Switzerland, and Italy, the lower animals were subject to the law; and cases are recorded in which they were condemned, and burned at the stake, with all the solemnity belong- ing to a judicial punishment in the case of men. 117. THE KING OF THE FRENCH. Louis Philippe, "King of the French," succeeded Charles X. in 1830. • On account of his republican principles, he was ex- empted from the decree by which the French Revolu- tionists banished the Bourbon family in 1792. At a later period he had to flee from France, and he spent twenty years in exile and poverty in different parts of Europe and America. When Bonaparte fell, Louis Philippe returned to Paris, and was welcomed by many friends. After the Revolu- tion of July, 1830, Louis Philippe was recalled to the CURIOUS QUESTIONS. H3 throne, not as " King of France," but as " King of the French : " this change in the title was made to show- that he reigned, not by his own right, but by the will of the people. The " Citizen King," as he was called, soon lost his popularity : the people missed the splendor to which they had been accustomed around the throne, and the consequence was another revolution in 1848. The king fled again to England, and died there at Clermont, near London, in 1850, aged seventy-seven. France was im- mediately declared a republic, and has never since had a king. Louis Napoleon, however, was Emperor of France from 1852 to 1870. 118. "THE BATTLE OF THE BOOKS." Sir William Temple wrote an article on "Ancient and Modern Authors;" and a discussion on this subject followed among the literati, after which Dean Swift wrote a satire called "The Battle of the Books." In this battle the books of ancient authors fight against the books of modern authors, and the skirmish takes place in St. James Library. The author does not relate the result of the battle, but it is very evident his sympathies are with the ancients. 119. TINTORETTO'S FAMOUS PICTURES. "The Last Judgment," "The Worship of the Golden Calf," "The Presentation of the Virgin," and "The Mar- tyrdom of St. Agnes," are considered Tintoretto's mas- terpieces. Of the first two, Ruskin says that no pictures will better reward a resolute study; of "The Last Judg- ment" he gives a powerful description in his "Modern 144 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. Painters : " " Bat-like, out of the holes and caverns and shadows of the earth, the bones gather, and the clay- heaps heave, rattling and adhering into half-kneaded anatomies, that crawl, and startle, and struggle up among the putrid weeds, with the clay clinging to their clotted hair, and their heavy eyes sealed by the earth- darkness yet, like his of old who went his way unseeing to the Siloam Pool ; shaking off one by one the dreams of the prison-house, hardly hearing the clangor of the trumpets of the armies of God, blinded yet more, as they awake, by the white light of the new Heavon, until the great vortex of the four winds bears up their bodies to the judgment-seat." The palaces of Venice are full of Tintoretto's brilliant works, and there is something of his in almost every collection in Europe. Tintoretto's great picture of " Paradise," which covers the end of the library in the ducal palace in Venice, is the largest oil-painting in the world. This famous Italian artist, Tintoretto, was born in Venice in 15 12. His real name was Giacomo Robusti ; but, his father being by trade a dyer (Italian, tintore), he was commonly called Tintoretto. Titian, who was his first master, is said to have sent him home in less than two weeks because he painted so well that master became jealous of pupil. Tintoretto was the only one of Titian's many pupils and imitators who approached an equality with his mas- ter, and who, in fact, became in his turn the founder of a new school. He was distinguished by his freedom of drawing, grandeur of design, and beauty of color. Tintoretto died in Venice in 1594 when eighty-two years old. CURIO US Q UES TIONS. MS 120. MANUFACTURED STONES. Manufactured stones were used in building the Ship Canal at Port Said in the Mediterranean Sea. The composition consisted of two parts of sand, and one of hydraulic lime : this was ground into paste, and poured into wooden moulds. After the mixture solidified, the boards were removed, and the stone left in the sun from three to six months to dry. Each stone weighed twenty tons. The Suez Canal is eighty-five miles long, seventy-two feet wide at the bottom, and three hundred and twenty- seven feet wide at the surface, and twenty-six feet deep throughout, and connects Europe and Asia. It was opened Nov. 16, 1869, by a procession of English and foreign steamers, in the presence of the Khedive, the Emperor of France, the Emperor of Aus- tria, the Crown Prince of Prussia, and others. It cost ;£ 1 1,672,000, and the chief advantage gained is the shortening of the route from Europe to India. 121. BURIAL OF ALARIC THE GOTH AND ATTILA THE HUN. Alaric, king of the Visigoths, and a famous con- » queror, was born about A.D. 376. He was buried by his soldiers in the bed of the river Busento in Southern Italy : they first turned the water into another channel ; and, after burying their chief and his treasures in the middle of the river-bed, they let the water flow back again. The digging was done by prisoners ; and after the burial they were all put to death, so that the Romans might never find his grave. Attila, king of the Huns, the greatest barbarian con- 146 CURIOUS QUESTIONS queror of the fifth century, was buried A.D. 453 in a wide plain ; his body being enclosed in three coffins, the first of gold, the second of silver, and the third of iron. With his body was interred much treasure; and, that his grave might be forever unknown, all the prisoners who had been sent to bury him, were, on their return, immediately put to death. Another secret burial, in later history, was that of Fernando de Soto, the discoverer of the Mississippi, whose coffin was sunk at midnight in the middle of the stream, to conceal his death from the natives, who had been told that he was immortal, and "a child of the sun." 122. THE GREATEST NAME IN GERMAN LITERATURE. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, the acknowledged prince of German literature, was born at Frankfort-on- the-Main, Aug. 28, 1749, and died in Weimar on the 22d of March, 1832. His works embrace almost every department of litera- ture, and many of the sciences. For half a century he stood at the head of the literature of Germany. His greatest work is "Faust;" but it can never be- come popular, as its wisdom does not lie on the surface. When he had finished it he said the work of his life was done. " Hermann and Dorothea " is as immortal as the "Vicar of Wakefield." Among his juvenile productions, "The Sorrows of Werther " rendered him famous. It was his first great novel ; and it became so popular, that it was soon trans- lated into every language, even the Chinese ; young women cried over it, and young men shot themselves CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 147 with a copy of "Werther" in their hands. It is said that the "Werther fever" ran so high, that in some countries booksellers were forbidden by law to sell it. A German writer, Knebel, says of Goethe, " He rose like a star in the heavens : everybody worshipped him, and especially the women." His last words were, "Open the shutters, and let in more light." 123. THE BURGH MOUSA. In the Isle Mousa, one of the Shetland Islands, there is a remarkable object of antiquity styled the Burgh Mousa y belonging to a class known in the north of Scotland as the Pictish Towers. The Burgh Mousa occupies a knoll close upon the rocky sea-beach, from which the materials for its con- struction have evidently been taken. The tower is round, inclining inwards until about half way up, then inclining outwards to the top. It is a hundred and fifty- eight feet in circumference at the foundation, and forty feet in height. One doorway facing the sea is the only aperture. The wall is sixteen feet thick, and the top open to the sky. There is a stairway within, winding up to the summit of the building. According to tradition, the Tower of Mousa was oc- cupied by Erland, a Norwegian jarl, about 11 54, when it successfully endured a siege undertaken to recover from within a runaway lady. The Picts were the ancient inhabitants of the north- eastern provinces of Scotland. The Pictish nation con- sisted of two great divisions, called the Northern and the Southern Picts, the boundary between them being 148 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. the mountain range known as the Grampians. The Picts were converted to Christianity at different periods. The Southern Picts received the faith from St. Ninian early in the fifth century. The Northern Picts owed their conversion to St. Columba. The life of that abbot, from his leaving Ireland in 563 to his death in 597, was chiefly spent in converting the Northern Picts. It is impossible to ascertain the precise character of the superstitions held by the Picts before their conver- sion, but their religion is said to have been a species of Druidism. The first Christian king of the Picts died in 586 : the kingdom began to decline in 760, and its later history is involved in impenetrable obscurity ; all that we know for certain is the final result. Henry of Huntingdon refers to the utter destruction of the Picts, of their princes, their race, and their lan- guage, in a work published in the year 1864, though written some time previous. " The Pictish vessel is seen in the distant horizon ; she ap proaches rapidly, till you clearly distinguish the crew upon the deck ; but, before you are near enough to hear their voices, she sinks, the waters close over her, and-the wreck can never be raised. " The total extinction of the Pictish language renders any fur- ther inquiry impossible." 124. THE TUB OF DIOGENES. Diogenes, a famous Greek philosopher, was born in Asia Minor, 412 B.C. When he first visited Athens, he went to Antisthe- nes, the founder of a society of philosophers called "Cynics" (from a Greek word meaning "like a dog"), because they were a rude, snarling sect, who despised riches, the arts, and all the aestheticism of life. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. I49 Antisthenes tried to drive him away, and even threat- ened to beat him. "Strike me," said Diogenes, "but you will never get so hard a stick as to keep me from you while you speak what I think worth hearing." Diogenes dressed in a coarse robe, which was his cloak by day and his cover by night, and carried with him a wooden bowl and a bag in which to receive alms and food. One day he saw a boy drinking water from the hollow of his hand; and, thinking that he could do likewise, he threw his bowl away as a useless luxury. He accus- tomed himself to endure all kinds of hardships ; and, in order to be able to bear both heat and cold, he rolled himself in the hot sand in summer, and in winter embraced statues covered with snow. His home was a large tub discarded from the Temple of Cybele. This tub, or pithos, was a huge earthen jar that had been used for holding wine or oil, for the sacrifices of the temple. It was long and large enough for him to lie in at full length, and to satisfy his limited demands in the way of housekeeping, though cracked and patched. This whim of Diogenes was not without parallel, as it is said, that, during the Peloponnesian war, the Athenians lived in similar vessels ; and even after the time of Diogenes such vessels, when discarded, were used as dwellings by the poor. One day Alexander the Great saw Diogenes sitting in his tub in the sunshine. The king, surrounded by his courtiers, approached him, and said, " I am Alexander the Great." The phi- losopher replied in a surly way, " I am Diogenes the Cynic." Alexander asked him if he could do him any CURIOUS QUESTIONS. service. "Yes," said Diogenes: "don't stand between me and the sun." Surprised at this reply, Alexander said, " If I were not Alexander, I would be Diogenes." Diogenes used often to walk out in the daytime with a lighted lantern, peering around as if looking for some- thing; and when questioned, he would answer gravely, " I am searching for an honest man." He was once taken by pirates, and offered for sale as a slave in the market in Crete ; and, being asked by some one what he could do, he replied, " I can govern men ; therefore sell me to some one who needs a master." He died at Corinth 323 B.C., aged eighty-nine years. It may be that the story of Diogenes has been some- what factitiously dressed in the later history ; but, even if this be so, the lessons it teaches are of great value, and have a thought for us, too, in this latest age of his- tory, when there is so much prodigality and pride in living, so little of the true philosophy of life, and so much dishonesty in public service and private business. 125. THE HOHENSTAUFENS. The German princely house of Hohenstaufen kept possession of the imperial throne from 1138 to 1254. The founder of the family was Frederick von Buren, who lived in the eleventh century : he assumed the name of Hohenstaufen from a castle of that name, the ruins of which still stand. His son, Lord Hohenstaufen, steadfastly supported Henry IV., and in return received the Duchy of Swabia. This duke left two sons, — Frederick II., the one- eyed, and Konrad. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. Henry V. confirmed the former in his Duchy of Swa- bia, and in 1112 gave Konrad the Duchy of Franconia. After the death of Henry V. his family estates fell to the house of Hohenstaufen. Lothaire of Saxony was elected emperor; and he revoked the grants to the Hohenstaufens, and thus gave rise to a furious war : in 1 135 the brothers were compelled to beg forgiveness of the emperor, and then had their estates restored. In 1 138 Conrad was elected Emperor of Germany, and was succeeded by Frederick I., Henry VI., Philip I., Frederick II., and Conrad IV. 126. LEGEND OF THE GOLDEN CAVE. Scobellum was a fruitful land ; but the inhabitants exceeded the cannibals in cruelty, the Persians in pride, the Egyptians in luxury, the Cretans in lying, the Ger- mans in drunkenness, and all the nations of the earth together in a generality of vices. In vengeance, the gods turned all the inhabitants into beasts, to be restored to human form again, only when the fire of the Golden Cave should be quenched. The Golden Cave contained a cistern guarded by two giants and two centaurs : the waters of the cistern were good for quenching the fire of the cave ; and when this fire was quenched, the inhabitants of Scobellum should return to their original forms. 127. ARUNDELIAN MARBLES. Arundelian, or Oxford, Marbles is a name given to a collection of inscribed and sculptured marbles discov- ered by Mr (afterwards Sir William) Petty and John 152 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. Evelyn, who were employed by the Earl of Arundel to collect marbles, books, statues, and other curiosities, in Italy, Greece, and Asia Minor. Some of these marbles have very important inscriptions on them, such as the "Parian Chronicle," so called because it is supposed to have been made in the island of Paros, about 263 B.C., which gives Greek dates from 1582 B.C. down to that time, a series of 1,318 years. They reached London in * the year 1627, and were placed in the gardens of the Arundel House. Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel, the founder of the collection, was born in 1586, and died in Padua in 1646. He resided for many years of his early life in Italy, and there acquired a strong taste for works of art, and began his collection, which consisted not only of the marbles in the Oxford Museum which bear his name, but also of coins, busts, statues, and* gems. During the turbulent reign of Charles I. the house of Arundel was often deserted, and the fine art-collection suffered : some of the marbles were defaced, some stolen, some broken, and some even carried away for architectural purposes. After the death of the collect- or, what remained was divided among his family. This collection when entire consisted of 37 statues, 128 busts, and 250 inscribed marbles, besides altars, sar- cophagi, fragments, and gems. In 1667 Henry How- ard, grandson of Thomas Howard, presented what are now called the Arundelian Marbles to the University of Oxford. These marbles excited great curiosity in England among literary men. Selden published a small volume including thirty-nine inscriptions with translations. His researches were continued by Prideaux (1676), Maittaire (1732), and Chandler (1763). CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 153 128. THE CLERKS OF THE REVELS. The Clerks of the Revels were an incorporated so- ciety in Paris, whose duty it was to regulate the public festivities. As the " Fraternity of the Passion " had obtained a royal license to represent the Mysteries, they were compelled to invent a new set of plays, which they called the Moralities. These were taken from the parables or the historical parts of the Bible. To the Clerks of the Revels we owe the invention of modern comedy. They mingled with the Moralities a number of farces, the sole object of which was to excite laughter, and in which the gayety and vivacity of the French character were well displayed. Some of these plays still retain their places upon the French stage. 129. WILLIAM THE FIRST, SECOND, THIRD, AND FOURTH OF HIS NAME AT THE SAME TIME. William IV. of England was the third son of George III., and the brother to George IV. whom he succeeded. The Princess Charlotte, only child of George IV., died in 1817, leaving no child; so the Duke of York, next brother to the king, became the heir-presumptive. He also died before the king, 1827, leaving no heir ; and William, Duke of Clarence, became the heir-presump- tive to the crown. Mark the distinction between the heir --apparent and the h.€\x-presumptive. The king's oldest son is an heir- apparent, because nothing but his own death can come between him and the crown ; but if the king has no child, then the nearest relative to the king becomes the heir-presumptive, so called because his right may be 154 CURIO US . Q UES TIONS. defeated by the birth of a child to the king. On the death of George IV., the Duke of Clarence ascended the throne as William IV., and was at the same time the first William of Hanover, the second of Ireland, and the third of Scotland. He was nearly sixty years of age when he came to the throne, 1830. His reign of seven years was a very peaceful one. The celebrated Reform Bill was passed, which gave to the middle classes a larger representation in Parliament ; the chief power having been up to this time in the hands of the landholding nobility. One of the most important acts of the Reform Parlia- ment was the abolition of slavery in the British colonies. The merit of this was mainly due to William Wilber- force, who for many years had devoted himself to the question of emancipation. For the 800,000 slaves who received their freedom, a compensation of ^20,000,000 was paid by the English Government to their masters, to indemnify them for their loss. The names of two great political parties — the Whigs and the Tories — disappeared in this reign. These names originated in the reign of Charles II., succeeding the terms Cavaliers and Roundheads of the Common- wealth. The Tory party were in favor of the divine right and absolute authority of the king, while the Whig party insisted upon the rights and privileges of the people. After the Reform Bill was passed, the Tories changed their name to Conservatives, and the Whigs became known as Liberals. The Conservatives wish but few changes in the government, while the Liberals are still clamoring for reform. William IV. died at Windsor, when seventy-two years old (June 20, 1837), and was succeeded by his niece, the CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 155 present Queen Victoria. She also was an heir-presump- tive, being the daughter of his brother Edward, Duke of Kent, who had died in 1820; but she reigns in undis- puted right. By referring to the table of the kings of England, it will be seen that Victoria is an immediate » descendant of Egbert, who, in the year 827, united the Saxon Octarchy, and became the first king of England. Her ancestors have, therefore, with but little interrup- tion, occupied the throne for more than a thousand years. Her title is Alexandria Victoria, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, and Empress of India. She was born May 24, 18 19, proclaimed Queen of England June 20, 1837, and married to her cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg Gotha, Feb. 10, 1840. The present heir- apparent to the throne is her son, Albert Edward, Prince of Wales. 130. THE LITERARY ORACLE. It has been said of Dr. Samuel Johnson, that "he sat in his easy-chair, and was for twenty years the lit- erary oracle of the world." He was a famous English writer, born in Lichfield, 1709. In 1755 he completed his dictionary, after eight years of solid labor upon it. It was the first large dictionary of the English lan- guage ; and the research upon all subjects which this one work required, entitled him to be looked upon as an oracle. Besides his dictionary, he published many other works. His " Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia," a story, is said to have been written in the evenings of a single week, to defray the expenses of his mother's funeral. i 5 6 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. In 1762 he emerged from the poverty which had sur- rounded and hampered him, as it did most of the lit- erary men in his time ; Lord Bute having conferred upon him a pension of three hundred pounds a year. His " Lives of the Poets " was his last literary work of importance. He died Dec. 13, 1784, and was buried in St. Paul's Cathedral. 131. "LA PIETA." The principal work of Michael Angelo's youth — "that work by which he suddenly passed from being an esteemed artist to the most famous sculptor in Italy" — is at present in St. Peter's, Rome, but in such a poor light that it is almost impossible to obtain a sight of it. Michael Angelo was only twenty-four years old when he completed his "La Pieta." ("La Pieta" is the name given by Italians to the group consisting of the dead Christ and the mourning Mary.) Condivi says, "He was the first master in Italy, the first in the world from henceforth." He is said to have taken as his models for the group, subjects of the Court of the Inquisition. Grimm says of this group, " Our deepest sympathy is awakened by the sight of Christ ; the attitude of the whole human form lying there, as if by death he had again become a child whom the mother had taken in her arms." The Cardinal of San Dionigi, a Frenchman, commis- sioned Michael Angelo to execute this work. The position of the two figures with regard to each other was not an unusual one at that time. Many CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 157 painters before Michael Angelo had so represented Mary and Christ, but Michael Angelo in his "Pieta" has far surpassed them all. "La Pieta " was finished in 1499. Grimm says, — " Whatever previously to this work had been produced by sculptors in Italy passes into shadow, and assumes the appearance of attempts in which there is something lacking, whether in idea or in execution. Here both are provided for. The artist, the work, and the circumstances' of the time, combine together; and the result is something that deserves to be called perfect." 132. THE SUNDAY STONE OF THE OXFORD MUSEUM. This is a large stone taken from a colliery-drain, and is remarkable in that it constitutes a perfect calendar of Sundays and holidays. The stone is composed of carbonate of lime. When the miners were at work, the water running through the drain left a deposit colored black by coal-dust ; but when they were not at work, the water ran clown clear, and left a white deposit. In time these black and white layers made a stone of considerable thickness, which constitutes quite a calendar. Each day of work has left a black streak, which is followed by a white streak left during the night. Wide white streaks mark the Sundays and other holidays, and from this circumstance the stone is called "The Sunday Stone." 133. THE MASSAGET^E. The Massagetae, an offshoot of the Scythians, were a nomadic people inhabiting the eastern shores of the Caspian Sea. Herodotus says that "they had a community of wives ; 158 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. that they sacrificed and devoured their aged people ; that they worshipped the sun, and offered horses to him ; that they lived on the milk and flesh of their herds, and on fish ; that they fought on horseback and on foot, with lance and bow and double-edged axe." An unfortunate campaign against this uncivilized, well-mounted nation brought the hitherto victorious career of Cyrus the Great to a close. He had just completed his conquest of Babylon, and was preparing to march against Egypt, when, in an engagement with the Scythians, or Massagetae, he was defeated and slain. In a previous engagement with them he had been entirely victorious, taking prisoner their leader, a son of Tomyris, queen of the Massagetae. This had caused such vexation to the royal commander, that after Cyrus loosened his bonds he killed himself. When Tomyris heard of the death of her son, fired with revenge and grief she gathered all her remaining forces, and marched against the Persians, and, at the river Jaxartes, obtained a complete victory over them. Cyrus was taken pris- oner, and the flower of his army perished, 530 B.C. The Scythian queen, it is said, caused the great Cyrus to be put to death in the most cruel manner, and his head severed and cast into a leathern bag filled with the blood of the Persian soldiers, saying, " Now mayst thou take thy fill of blood, since in life thou couldst not get enough." His body was afterwards conveyed to Persia, and buried at Pasargadae. There a splendid tomb of white marble marks the sepulture of this powerful king, who ruled from the Mediterranean to the Indus, or over the whole of civilized Asia. One is reminded that human nature is the same in CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 159 all ages, when we read the stories of Jael and Sisera, of Judith and Holofernes, in which conquerors were put to death by women. There are besides these, nu- merous similar instances in Roman history. 134. LONGFELLOW'S SONNET, "THREE FRIENDS OF MINE." This sonnet is a beautiful tribute of friendship to the memory of — I. Cornelius Conway Felton, President of Harvard College, who was born at Newbury, Mass., Nov. 6, 1807, and died at Chester, Penn., Feb. 26, 1862. Presi- dent Felton was a very old friend of the poet, and was one of the first classical scholars of his time. II. Louis John Rudolph Agassiz, a noted naturalist. He was born in Motiers, Switzerland, May 28, 1807, and was educated at the universities of Zurich, Heidel- berg, and Munich. When forty years old he came to the United States, and was made professor of zoology and geology in Harvard College. He died in Cam- bridge, Mass., Dec. 14, 1873. III. Charles Sumner, an American statesman, born in Boston, Mass., Jan. 6, 181 1. Slavery had no more bitter enemy than he, and during his whole public life he waged a continual warfare in the cause of freedom. He died in Washington, D.C., March 11, 1874. 135 THE ESCURIAL. The Escurial is a famous edifice of New Castile, Spain, thirty miles north-west of Madrid. It is at once a palace, a church, a monastery, a museum, and a burial- place. i6o CURIOUS QUESTIONS. This solid pile of granite has been called the eighth wonder of the world, and at the time of its erection it surpassed every building of its kind in size and magnifi- cence. It owes its origin, it is said, to a vow made by- Philip II. during the battle of St. Quentin. On that occasion he implored the aid of St. Lawrence (on whose day the battle was fought, Aug. 10, 1557), and vowed, that, if victory were granted him, he would dedicate a monastery to the saint. The Escurial is built in the form of a gridiron, in allu- sion to the instrument of St. Lawrence's martyrdom. The building is seven hundred and forty-four feet by five hundred and eighty feet, divided into long courts which indicate the interstices of the gridiron-bars. The towers at the corners of the Escurial represent the feet of the gridiron, which is supposed to be lying upside down : and from the centre of one of the sides a range of buildings abuts, representing the handle ; these form the royal residences. The Escurial was commenced in 1563, and finished in 1584, and was intended to serve as a palace, a monastery, and a mausoleum : the latter, called the Pantheon, is a magnificently decorated octagonal-shaped chamber, thirty-six feet in diameter, and thirty-eight feet high. In the eight sides of it are numerous black marble sarcophagi, in which only kings, or the mothers of kings, are buried. The Escurial contains fourteen thousand doors, and eleven thousand windows, and cost six million ducats. Its library contains thirty thousand printed books, and forty-three hundred manuscripts. In 1872 the Escurial was struck by lightning, and partly burned. The Escurial is saved from going to ruin by grants of public money which are occasionally made. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 161 136. THE TOWERS OF SILENCE. In Persia stand two towers called by the Parsee the " Towers of Silence." According to their religion, they never bury their dead, but have the body exposed on the top of one of these towers, until the sun and the rain and the fowls of the air have cleaned the bones of all flesh. The bones are then collected, and placed in the other tower. These Parsees, who are followers of Zoroaster, and very devout, have almost disappeared as a people, there being only about eight thousand of them at the present time. 137. THE GUELPHS AND GHIBELLINES. The Guelphs and the Ghibellines were the two great political parties whose conflicts make up the history of Italy and Germany from the eleventh century to the fourteenth. Guelph is the Italian form of "Welfe," and Ghibelline of " Waiblingen ; " and the origin of these words is this : — At the battle of Weinsburg, in Swabia, in 1140, Conrad, Duke of Franconia, rallied his followers with the war-cry, " Hie Waiblingen ! " and Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony, rallied his with " Hie Welfe ! " (the family names of the rival chiefs). The Ghibellines were the supporters of the emperor's authority in Italy; while the Guelphs were Anti-Imperialists, or supporters of the supremacy of the Pope. In 1334 Benedict III. proscribed, under penalty of the censure of the Church, the further use of these once CURIOUS QUESTIONS. stirring words which had been for so long the rallying- words of a sanguinary warfare. From the fourteenth century, therefore, we hear no more of the Guelphs and Ghibellines. 138. CLASSIC AND ROMANTIC LITERATURE. The term " classic " has, ever since the second cen- tury, been applied to writers of the highest rank, from the Latin word classicus, originally applied to Roman citizens of the first rank as divided by Servius Tullius. The classes were called classicus primus, classicus secundus, tertius, etc. : after a while classicus alone im- plied the class, meaning the first class. Since the great productions of writers and artists of antiquity have continued to be looked upon as models of perfection, the term " Classics " has come to designate the best writers of ancient Greece and Rome ; while " Classical " means much the same as ancient. The " Romantic School " was a term first assumed in Germany, about the beginning of the present century, by a number of young poets and critics who wished to indicate that they sought the essence of art and poetry in the wonderful and fantastic, — elements which char- acterized the romance literature of the Middle Ages. Some twenty or thirty years later a similar school arose in France, and had a long struggle with the older Classic School ; but, with the exceptions of Lamartine and Victor Hugo, they rushed into such literary and moral excesses, that it is now stamped rather as a revolutionary than as a reformatory school. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 163 139. IL BAMBINO. Bambino (Italian for little boy) is a term applied to the swaddled figure of the infant Saviour, which, carved or painted, forms the subject of many altar-pieces in Roman-Catholic churches. The most celebrated of these is the Santissimo Bam- bino of the Church Ara Cceli at Rome. The " Chapel of the Presepio " (manger) is closed except during the Epiphany season, when the whole of this side-chapel is devoted to an exhibition of the Bam- bino. Mary, with Joseph at her side and the miraculous Bambino in her lap, is represented as seated in a grotto: immediately behind are an ass and an ox. The shep- herds and kings kneel in adoration at one side. In the middle ground is a crystal fountain of glass, near which sheep, made of real wool, are feeding, tended by figures of shepherds carved in wood. Still nearer are women bearing baskets of real fruit on their heads. All the figures are full sized, carved in wood, painted and dressed appropriately. The Bambino, swaddled in a white dress, is crusted over with magnificent diamonds, emeralds, and rubies. The Virgin also wears in her ears diamond pendants. In the background is a scenic representation of a pas- toral landscape, in which much skill has been expended, and with good results. The festival of the Bambino (Jan. 6) is very largely attended : crowds flock to it, and press about the chapel all day long. At other times the Bambino is kept in the sacristy, except when it drives out with its special attendants, in its own carriage, to visit the sick, among whom it is 164 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. believed to work miracles. It is never left alone. The Church Ara Cceli is full of interesting monuments of ancient date. The interior of the church is vast, solemn, and highly picturesque. It is here, as Gibbon tells us, that on the 15th of October, 1764, as he sat musing, while the barefooted friars were singing vespers, the idea of writing the " Decline and Fall " of the city first came to his mind. 140. JOUSTS AND TOURNAMENTS. The jousts, tilts, and tournaments, in which knights were frequently engaged, were military exercises, gen- erally performed at courts of princes, or at the castles of great feudal lords. Jousts were single combats between two knights, and were of two kinds : the joute a F outrance, or mortal combat; and the joute a plaisance, or the jousts of peace. Tilts were exercises on horse- back in which the combatants attacked each other with lances. The tilting-armor was of light fabric. When the tilt was over, the prize was bestowed upon the victor by the Queen of Beauty chosen by the ladies. Tourna- ments were performed between two parties of cavaliers. The description of a tournament in Sir Walter Scott's " Ivanhoe," called " The gentle passage of arms of Ashby de la Zouche," has, probably never been ex- ceeded in graphic beauty by any writer : the reader can scarcely believe that he has not the scene before him. These exhibitions were a favorite amusement during the days of chivalry, and drew together large assem- blies of the rank and beauty of the times. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. I6 5 The great expense of organizing and attending them, caused them frequently to be prohibited by the princes. They gradually went out of use as chivalry declined, and the art of warfare was changed by the introduction of gunpowder. 141. THE JANIZARIES. The Turkish military force known as the Janizaries { Yeni Askari, new soldier) was originally made up by Sul- tan Orkhan, about the year A.D. 1330, of Christian cap- tives, who were compelled to embrace Mohammedanism. They were not regularly organized until 1362, when Amurath I., after conquering the southern Slavic king- dom, claimed one-fifth of the able-bodied young cap- tives, to be converted to Islamism, and educated as soldiers. This was done with extraordinary care ; and they soon became a formidable means of defence, and the body-guard of the Sultan. Originally they numbered 1,000, but Amurath in- creased the number to 10,000; and in the seventeenth century there were about 100,000 of them serving in the line throughout the empire. Under Solyman the Magnificent, the Janizaries formed the best disciplined force in Europe, and were noted for the wild impetuosity of their attack ; but after the death of Solyman they began to decline. The history of the Janizaries abounds in conspiracies, assassinations of Sultans, and atrocities of every kind ; so that they finally became more dangerous to the Sul- tan than his foreign enemies. The lowest officer of this force was the cook, for whom the soldiers manifested the greatest reverence. They never appeared without a wooden spoon in their CURIOUS QUESTIONS. turbans, and on great occasions always assembled around their kettles ; their revolts were always proclaimed by reversing the kettles ; and to lose one of these utensils in battle was as much of a disgrace as it is in our day to lose the colors. The attempts of the Sultans to reform or dissolve the Janizaries were always unsuccessful until Mahmoud II. came to the throne, in 1826. He matured a plan for ridding himself of them, and published a decree that one hundred and fifty of every regiment should become regularly disciplined soldiers. This, as was expected, led to a revolt ; but, the Sultan .being prepared for it, the Janizaries were beaten on every side. Burned alive in their barracks, cannonaded in the Atmeidan where they made their most desperate stand, and massacred singly in the streets, they were, in three months, entirely destroyed as a force. Fifteen thousand of them were executed, twenty thousand 'condemned to exile; and in July, 1826, the Sultan issued a proclamation declaring the Janizary forces forever dissolved. In the arsenal of the ancient palace of the Sultans at Constantinople are to be seen some wax effigies of the Janizaries. At the taking of Constantinople by the Turks (May 29, 1453), the Janizaries played an important part. The Sultan had promised double pay to his victorious troops ; and, according to Gibbon's " Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," he had said, in addressing the military chiefs of his army, " Many are the provinces of my empire : the intrepid soldier who first ascends the walls of Constantinople shall be rewarded with the govern- ment of the fairest and most wealthy, and my grati- CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 167 tude shall accumulate his honors and fortunes above the measure of his own hopes." The history goes on to relate, "The first who deserved the Sultan's reward was Hassan the Janizary, of gigantic stature and strength. With his cimeter in one hand, and his buck- ler in the other, he ascended the outward fortification : of the thirty Janizaries who were emulous of his valor, eighteen perished in the bold adventure. Hassan and his twelve companions had reached the summit : the giant was precipitated from the rampart ; he rose on one knee, and was again oppressed by a shower of darts and stones. But his success had proved that the achievement was possible ; the walls and towers were instantly covered with a swarm of Turks : and the Greeks, now driven from the vantage-ground, were over- whelmed by increasing multitudes. ... It was thus, after a siege of fifty-three days, that Constantinople, which had defied the power of Chosroes, the Chagan, and t the caliphs, was irretrievably subdued by the arms of Mahomet the Second." 142. THE "ILIAD" AND "ODYSSEY." The " Iliad," written during the early life of Homer, is one of the earliest, and considered the finest, of epic poems. It relates the adventures of the Greek heroes during the last year of the Trojan war. The "Odyssey," written during the old age of Homer, relates the adventures of the hero Ulysses while re- turning from the Trojan war. It is, in point of charac- ters and story, a sequel to the " Iliad." These poems were the ultimate standard of appeal on all matters of religious doctrine and early history CURIOUS QUESTIONS. among the Greeks. In the time of Socrates, there were Athenians who could repeat both poems by heart. Long after the Greeks lost their independence, the " Iliad" and the " Odyssey" continued to maintain an undiminished hold upon their affections. In two legends of the Trojan war, "The Anger of Achilles" and "The Return of Ulysses," Homer found the subjects for the "Iliad" and the "Odyssey." In late years there has been much controversy as to the existence of Homer : many scholars regard the poems as the development from early recitals, and many others think the two had different authors. The period of Homer's life is unknown, and the siege of Troy took place a long time antecedent to it. 143. THE REBUILDING OF THE TEMPLE OF JERUSALEM. The Emperor Hadrian issued an edict which allowed no Jew to approach Jerusalem except on the anniversary of the capture of the city by Titus, when, on payment of a large sum, they were admitted to the city to mourn over the site of their fallen greatness. This edict was still in force in the reign of Julian the Apostate. Julian the Apostate, to disprove the prophecy of Christ, attempted to rebuild the temple of Jerusalem. It is said that he summoned some of the most emi- nent Jews into his presence, and asked them why they did not offer sacrifices according to their lawgiver's command. Upon their answering that it was not law- ful to sacrifice except in the temple of Jerusalem (a privilege of which they had long been deprived), the emperor gave them leave to rebuild the temple, and appointed one of his own officers to superintend the CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 169 work. The dispersed Jews assembled from all quarters, in eagerness to forward the undertaking by means of their labor and of their hoarded wealth. Women gave their ornaments toward defraying the cost, and themselves carried burdens of earth in their silken dresses. Even tools of silver are said to have been used in the work. The long-depressed people loudly proclaimed their expectations of a triumphant restoration, when the attempt was terribly defeated. The newly laid foundations were overthrown by an earthquake ; and balls of fire burst forth from the ground, scorching and killing many of the workmen. Their tools were melted by lightning ; and it is added by some writers, that the figure of a cross surrounded by a circle appeared in the sky, and that the garments and bodies of the workmen were marked with crosses which it was impossible to efface. The truth of some of these phenomena is attested by heathen as well as Christian writers ; but the question remains, how much of the story ought to be regarded as fabulous embellishment, and how far the occur- rences, which produced the impression of miracle, may have been the result of ordinary physical causes. It has been supposed that some portions of Julian's work may yet be distinguished among the ruins of the temple. At present the Mohammedan mosque of Omar occu- pies the site of the original temple of Jerusalem. 144. WHY PENNSYLVANIA IS CALLED "THE KEYSTONE STATE." There are several theories advaneed as to the manner in which this appellation was received. The one most i7o CURIOUS QUESTIONS. generally accepted, and the most dear to all who own Pennsylvania as their native State, is that Pennsylvania decided the great issue of American Independence. At the meeting of the Continental Congress in Phila- delphia, July. 4, 1776, the vote adopting the Declaration of Independence was taken by States. Of the thirteen original States, six had already voted in the affirmative, and "six in the negative : when the delegation from Pennsylvania came in, John Morton cast the deciding vote in the affirmative. Thus Pennsylvania, by her vote, decided the great issue, and was named the Keystone State. Another reason advanced is, that in constructing a bridge between Pennsylvania Avenue and Georgetown, Washington, D.C., a single arch was erected of stones left from building the walls of the Capitol. On the thirteen vonssoirs, or arch-stones, the names of the thirteen States were engraved. Pennsylvania, falling in the keystone of the arch, became still more widely known as the Keystone State. 145. ZENOBIA. Zenobia Septimia was the daughter of an Arab chief and the wife of Odenatus, King of Palmyra. She was remarkable for great beauty and learning : she spoke the Latin, Greek, Syriac, and Egyptian languages, be- sides Arabic, and was the friend and protector of learned men. She accompanied her husband in his wars ; and it is said that the success of some of his greatest battles with the Persians was owing to her counsel, prudence, and bravery. Gallienus, the Roman emperor, acknowledged Ode- CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 171 natus his partner on the Roman throne ; and on the death of Odenatus (A.D. 266), Zenobia took the title of Queen of the East, and reigned as regent for her infant children, who were honored with the title of Caesars. She assumed the title of Augusta, and appeared in im- perial robes. For five years she ruled with firmness and success, though the Romans tried to take away her power. When Aurelian became emperor of Rome he imme- diately marched to the East, determined to punish the pride of Zenobia. He was well aware of her valor, and of her successes in war. Egypt acknowledged her power, and all the provinces of Asia Minor were subject to her command. When Aurelian approached Syria, Zenobia appeared at the head of seven hundred thou- sand men. She bore the hardships, and performed the labors of the field, like the meanest of her soldiers, and walked on foot fearless of danger. Two battles were fought, in which the queen was vic- torious ; but an imprudent evolution of the Palmyrean cavalry ruined her cause, and defeat was inevitable. She fled to Palmyra, and endured a siege ; but when she found the city could hold out no longer, she escaped from it by night, but was overtaken and captured (A.D. 273). She was brought into the presence of Aurelian ; and although the soldiers were clamorous for her death, he decided to reserve his fair and celebrated captive to adorn the triumph of her conqueror. As she was led through the streets of Rome, she almost fainted beneath the weight of the jewels and gold chains with which she was adorned. Aurelian treated her with great humanity, and gave her a handsome residence near Tivoli, where she passed the rest of her life in comfort and luxury as a Roman matron of high rank. She compiled an abridgment of the history of the Oriental 172 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. nations and of Egypt, which was greatly commended by the ancients. Her children married into families of high distinction at Rome. 146. SANSKRIT LITERATURE. The Sanskrit is the language of the ancient Hindoos : it is not now spoken, and is understood only by "the Brahmins, and by scholars who have made special study of it. It was the opening up of this tongue to the knowl- edge of European scholars at the close of the last cen- tury, that led to the grouping of all the languages of Europe under the Aryan family. It was found that Sanskrit, both in its words and grammar, bore a remarkable likeness to the Greek, Latin, German, Celtic, and Slavonic languages ; and though Sanskrit is not regarded as the parent of these dialects, it is looked upon as the language nearest to the original speech of the undivided Aryans. Among the oldest writings in this language are the Vedas, which are believed to be as old as 2000 B.C. They form part of the sacred books of the Brahminic religion. In addition to the Vedas, the Hindoos possess a very extensive literature in both prose and poetry. A large number of these works have been translated by modern scholars. 147. CHORAGIC MONUMENTS. 1 These monuments were memorials erected by private persons in honor of a victory obtained by them in public musical contests. 1 Called Choragic from Choragus, a chorus-leader. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 173 The motive of the design in these buildings was to obtain a support for the tripod, which had been re- ceived as the reward of victory, and which, in the true Greek spirit, was to be placed in public view as a consecrated gift. For this purpose, either a column was used, the capi- tal of which supported the Tripod, or a more extensive substructure was formed for it. The richest and most beautiful of these monuments is that of Lysicrates, erected in honor of a victory ob- tained in the year 334 B.C. : also may be named the so-called "Tower of the Winds," or the "Lantern of Diogenes." On one of the streets of Athens there were so many of these monuments, that it was called the " Street of the Tripods." 148. THE "SEVEN WISE MEN OF GREECE." The so-called " Seven Wise Men of Greece " were Pittacus of Mitylene, Bias of Prienne, Solon of Athens, Chilon of Lacedaemon, Cleobulus of Lyndus, Periander of Corinth, and Thales of Miletus. The origin of the title " Seven Wise Men " was as follows : Some fishermen of Miletus sold a draught of fishes to some by-standers before the net was drawn in. When the draught came in, there was also in the net a golden tripod. The fishermen claimed that they had sold only the fish : the buyers claimed that they had bought the whole draught. To settle the dispute, they referred the matter to the Oracle of Delphi. Being ordered to adjudge the tripod to the wisest man in Greece, they offered it to their fellow-citizen Thales ; but he modestly replied that there was a wiser 174 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. man than he, and sent it to Bias. He also declined the honor, and sent the tripod to another ; and thus it passed through the hands of seven individuals, who were ever after called the " Seven Wise Men of Greece." The tripod was finally placed in the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. These seven men met together but twice, — once av Delphi, and once at Corinth. The chief maxim of each was as follows : — ■ " Know thy opportunity." — Pittacus. "Most men are bad." — Bias. " Know thyself." — Solon. " Consider the end." — Chilon. "Avoid excess." — Cleobulus. "Nothing is impossible to industry." — Periander. "Suretyship is the precursor of ruin." — Thales. 149. THE LAST OF THE GLADIATORS. The first gladiatorial show which we read of in Roman history was about the year of the city 490 (263 B.C.), given by Marcus and Decius Brutus (called the Bruti) at the funeral of their father. Afterwards these exhibitions were given by the magistrates at regular periods, and at length they became the chief means of obtaining the favor of the people. The emperors exceeded all others in the extent and magnificence of these cruel spectacles. Julius Caesar gave a show of three hundred and twenty couples. Titus gave a show of gladiators with wild beasts for one hundred days ; Trajan for one hundred and twenty- three days, in which twenty thousand gladiators, chiefly Dacian prisoners, and eleven thousand wild beasts, are said to have been slain for the amusement of seventy CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 1 75 thousand Romans, patricians and plebeians, the highest ladies and the lowest rabble, assembled in the Coliseum. The gladiators consisted chiefly of slaves, captives, and condemned malefactors ; but sometimes free-born citizens became gladiators for hire. Even persons of high birth were induced to display their skill and cour- age before the people in these combats. The gladiators were trained and sworn to fight to the death. If they showed cowardice, they were killed after torture. When one of the combatants was disarmed or upon the ground, the victor looked to the emperor if pres- ent, or to the people, for the signal of death. If they raised their thumbs, his life was spared : if they turned them down, the victor executed the fatal mandate. A gladiator who had conquered was rewarded with a branch of palm or with his freedom. The Emperor Constantine prohibited these contests of gladiators (A.D. 325), but they could not at once be abolished. In the reign of Honorius, son of Theodosius the Great, the retreat of the Goths from Rome, under their chieftain Alaric, was celebrated with great rejoicing in the city, and with the revival of the gladiatorial con- tests. In the midst of the games in the Coliseum, Telemachus, a Christian monk, sprang into the arena, and, raising the cross above his head, commanded the gladiators, in the name of their crucified Lord, to cease from their inhuman sport. The enraged multitude stoned him to death ; but a little later, overwhelmed with remorse for the act, they proclaimed him a martyr. The Emperor Honorius took advantage of this occa- sion to prohibit gladiatorial combats forever within the amphitheatre at Rome (A.D. 404). They ceased through- out the empire about the year A.D. 500. i;6 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 150. WHAT IS THE PLOT OF THE OPERA "LA TRA- VIATA " ? ("THE LOST ONE"). The scene of this opera is in Paris, and the time is about the year 1700. The first act takes place in August, the second in January, the third in February. The first act commences with a gay party in the house of Violetta (the heroine), a young and beautiful creature, thrown by circumstances and the loss of her parents in childhood, into a course of voluptuous living. She is surrounded by a circle of gay and thought- less beings, who, like herself, devote their lives to pleasure. Amongst the throng who crowd to her shrine, is Alfred Germont, a young man, who becomes seriously enamored of Violetta. Touched by the sincerity of his passion, she yields to his influence, a new and pure love springs up in her heart, and for the first time she becomes conscious of the misery of her position, and the hollowness of the pleasures in which she has basked. In the second act, three months after the events nar- rated in the first act, we discover her living in seclusion with her lover in a country-house near Paris. Alfred accidentally discovers that Violetta has been secretly selling her houses and property in Paris, in order to maintain this establishment ; and, revolting at the idea of being a dependant on her bounty, he leaves hurriedly for Pans, to redeem his honor from this dis- grace. During his absence, his father, who has discov- ered his retreat, arrives. He represents to Violetta that his son's connection with her is not only lowering him in the opinion of the CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 177 world, but will be ruinous to his family, inasmuch as his sister was betrothed to a wealthy noble, who had, however, declared his intention of renouncing her, un- less Alfred would give up Violetta. The generous girl resolves to sacrifice her affection and happiness for her lover's sake, and returns alone to Paris, whither Alfred, overwhelmed with despair on discovering her flight, follows her. In the next scene we are transported to a salon in the hotel of Flora, one of Violetta's former friends, during a festival given by the fair mistress of the man- sion. There Alfred again meets Violetta, now under the protection of the Baron Douphol ; and being una- ware of the generous motive which made her desert him, he overwhelms her with reproaches, and flings the miniature she had given him at her feet, in the pres- ence of the company. Degraded and heart-broken, the unfortunate Violetta returns home to die ; and in the last act we find the sad romance of her life drawing to its close. Alfred learns the truth of the sacrifice she has made to secure his happiness. Overwhelmed with grief and shame, he hastens, with his father, to comfort and con- sole her, and to offer her his hand and name in repara- tion of the wrong he has done her ; but too late ! One gleam of happiness, the purest and brightest she has known, gilds the closing moments of her life. She dies, exclaiming, " I have returned to life ! O happi- ness ! " The original story, by Alexandre Dumas the younger, from which the opera is taken, is entitled " La Dame aux Camelias." It has been also dramatized under the name of " Camille." 1 78 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 151. MICHAEL ANGELO'S MASTERPIECES. Michael Angelo's masterpiece in painting is consid- ered to be the cartoon of a battle designed for the great hall of the Palazzo Vecchio, where Leonardo had been already engaged in painting. It is called "The Instant before the Battle;" and the scene represents the soldiers, who are bathing in the Arno without a thought of impending danger, suddenly summoned to arms by the trumpet-call. The unexpected surprise and the varied efforts of the men to hurry on their clothes, to seize their arms, and to hasten to the fight, are brought out in such a mas- terly manner, that, when the picture was completed, it excited the admiration of all the artist's contemporaries, and quite cast Leonardo's work into the shade. Michael Angelo had just completed his twelve years' study of anatomy, and over this cartoon showed more enthusi- asm than over any succeeding work, exclaiming with wild energy, " I have triumphed ! " This cartoon was stolen or destroyed between the years 15 12 and 15 17. Bandinelli is accused by Vasari of the crime of having maliciously cut Michael Angelo's cartoon when the Duke Giuliano was in a dying state ; and, as no one had time to take note of it, the pieces were lost. Condivi simply says the cartoon was lost, it is not known how. This cartoon and several works of sculpture exe- cuted the same year, 1505, so added to Michael Ange- lo's fame, that he was invited to Rome by Pope Julius II., and shortly after received the order to paint the Sistine Chapel. The ceiling of this chapel, completed in 15 12, is the most complete of all the works extant of this CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 179 master, and the grandest monument of painting of any age. In sculpture Michael Angelo's masterpiece is his " Moses." Grimm says, "The 'Moses' is the crown of modem sculpture." . . . "Whoever has once seen this statue must retain the impression of it forever." It is one of the colossal figures designed by Michael Angelo for the mausoleum of Julius II., and is now to be seen in the Church of St. Pietro in Vincoli. It stood in Michael Angelo's workshop for over forty years ; and a crack in one knee is thus accounted for, — that the master, so deeply impressed himself with the lifelike appearance of the statue when completed, rushed up, and, striking it vehemently with his hammer, ex- claimed, " Speak to me ! " thus in one moment marring the crowning work of a lifetime. 152. CONVERSION OF LIGHT INTO SOUND. The invention of the photophone is based upon a property recently found to exist in selenium. The ac- tion of light upon that substance causes certain molecu- lar changes that affect the ear as sound : in brief, it causes the conversion of light into sound. The most simple photophone used consists of a small mirror of silvered mica, suspended vertically. Upon the front of this mirror is thrown, by means of a lens, a concentrated beam of sunlight ; and by means of a second lens the ray is reflected upon a piece of sele- nium at a distance of seven hundred feet. Here the curious property of selenium comes into play. Its re- sistance varies with the intensity of the light ; and this i So CURIOUS QUESTIONS. changeable resistance produces sound, which can be conveyed along the beam of light by placing a speaker behind the mirror. All motions may be transmitted along the beam of light, and will then affect the ear as sounds, even though the movements themselves are inaudible. In still other forms of the photophone, even a silent motion or the burning of a candle will -act as sounds. The shadow of any object in the light of the candle will produce an audible effect. The photophone is in only its experimental stage, but there is no doubt of its being used eventually to convey information by means of a beam of light. 153. TARA'S HALL. In the year A.D. 544 the ancient hall of Tara saw for the last time the kings and nobles of Ireland assem- bled within its walls. For many centuries the Triennial Councils of the nation of Ireland had been held there, and the cause of the desertion of the time-honored seat of legislation shows to what an enormous height the ecclesiastical power had risen. A criminal, who had fled to the sanctuary of the monastery of St. Ruan, was forcibly dragged thence to Tara's Hall, and put to death. The holy abbot and his monks cried aloud against the sacrilegious violation ; and, proceeding in solemn procession to the palace, they pronounced a curse upon its walls. " From that day," says the annalist, " no king ever again sat at Tara." A striking memorial of the Church's triumph on this occasion was preserved in the name of distinction given CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 181 to the monastery, which was ever after, in memory of this malediction, called " The Monastery of the Curses of Ireland." Thomas Moore, the famous Irish poet (i 779-1 852), in one of his "Irish melodies," alludes to it thus : — "The harp that once through Tara's halls The soul of music shed, Now hangs as mute on Tara's walls As if that soul were fled. So sleeps the pride of former days, So glory's thrill is o'er, And hearts, that once beat high for praise, Now feel that pulse no more. No more to chiefs and ladies bright The harp of Tara swells : The chord alone, that breaks at night, Its tale of ruin tells. Thus Freedom now so seldom wakes, The only throb she gives, Is when some heart indignant breaks, To show that still she lives." 154. "UTOPIAN SCHEMES." Any schemes, whether of national improvement or of social operation, founded on impractical or visionary views, are termed Utopian. Sir Thomas More, in writing his curious philosophi- cal work, " Utopia," added a new word to the English language, and delineated his ideas of a perfect common- wealth. Utopia, from the Greek, means "no place." On the imaginary island of Utopia in the Atlantic Ocean, he places a people governed on the principle that no one shall have a right to separate property. Here all are contented with the necessaries of life, all 182 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. are employed in useful labor, and no man desires in clothing any other quality than durability. Since wants are few, and every individual engages in labor, there is no need for them to work more than six hours per day. Neither laziness nor avarice finds a place in this happy region ; for why should the people be indolent when they have so little toil, or greedy when they know there is an abundance for all ? It is, however, difficult to determine whether the opinions expressed in " Utopia " are to be considered as More's real sentiments. The book is written in Latin, and was first published at Louvain in 1516: it has been translated into English by Robinson, Bishop Burnet, and A. Cayley. 155. THE PORTLAND, OR BARBERINI, VASE. This vase, now in the British Museum, was discovered about the middle of the sixteenth century. It was found enclosed in a beautiful marble sarcopha- gus within a sepulchral chamber. This chamber is supposed to be the tomb of the Emperor Alexander Severus and his mother, Julia Mammoa : it is under the Monte del Grano, two and one-half miles from Rome, on the road to Frascati. The vase was deposited in the palace of the Barberini family in Rome, and remained there until 1770, when it was purchased by Byers the antiquarian, and sold by him to Sir William Hamilton, who carried it to England. The vase was purchased from Sir William Hamilton by the Duchess of Portland for the sum of eighteen hundred guineas, and was placed in her museum at the Priory Gardens, Whitehall, London. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. In 1810 the Duke of Portland deposited it in the British Museum. On Feb. 7, 1845, the vase was wantonly dashed to pieces by William Lloyd, a mechanic visiting the mu- seum, who is supposed to have been drunk or insane at the time. He took for his missile one of the Baby- lonian bricks then on exhibition. He was tried for the offence, but, on account of a defect in the law, was fined only three pounds for destroying the glass shade covering the vase, which belonged to the trustees of the museum. The pieces of the vase were gathered up, and so skil- fully rejoined by Mr. Doubleday, that the vase is almost as perfect as ever. A drawing of the fractured pieces hangs near the vase, which is now (1873) kept in the centre of what is called the Gold Room, a small room lighted by a glass dome. In order to give visitors a view of both sides of the vase, it is made to revolve by means of a key in the hands of a special guard, who has constant charge of the vase, and receives a salary for this alone. The Portland Vase is 9.75 inches in height, and 7.25 inches in diameter, and has two handles. It is made of indigo-colored glass, ornamented with opaque white figures. The dark ground of the vase, below the welding of the handles, has been covered with white enamel, out of which the figures were sculptured in the style of a cameo. The Portland Vase proves that the manufacture of glass was carried to a high state of perfection in early times. It is supposed to be the work of a Greek artist residing in Rome, and some antiquarians date its pro- duction several centuries B.C. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. While this beautiful work of art was in the posses- sion of the Barberini family, a mould of it was taken by Tassie, who afterwards destroyed the mould. Cipriani and Bartolozzi made engravings of the vase in 1786. The Barberini, or Portland, Vase will always be close- ly connected with the name of Wedgwood, as showing what the potter's art can effect. When this vase was put up at auction by Sir William Hamilton, Wedg- wood was very desirous of buying it as a pattern from which to manufacture copies. The Duchess of Port- land bid for it ; but Wedgwood bid against her with such pertinacity, that it attracted the duke's attention, who, when he knew the cause of Wedgwood's solici- tude, offered him the loan of the vase for an indefinite period if he would terminate his biddings. He did so, and the vase became the property of the Duchess of Portland. , Wedgwood thereupon employed the finest modellers, including Flaxman the great sculptor, also the most talented workmen in every branch, through whose aid he produced fifty copies of the vase, which were sold to subscribers at fifty guineas each. Sir Joshua Reynolds bore testimony to the beautiful execution of these copies. One of these stands in a case near the Gold Room in the British Museum. Although the house of Wedgwood has made many vases resembling the Portland Vase, yet these exact copies, called " original copies," are very expensive, and very difficult to procure. Mr. Benjamin Jones of Pittsburg obtained one of these original Wedgwood copies through James K. Kerr & Bros, of Philadelphia in 1871, for a hundred and fifty dollars. In 1874 Mr. Kerr wrote, offering CURIOUS QUESTIONS. I8 5 three hundred and fifty dollars for the vase ; and in 1876 he offered five hundred dollars for it, to resell to some person who desired an original copy ; but it is still in Mr. Jones's possession. In 1877 another reproduction of the celebrated vase was accomplished by Mr. John Northwood. Extract from "Art Journal," April, 1877. " One of the most exquisitely beautiful achievements, not only of the glass-cutter's, but the glass-maker's, art ever accomplished in this country, is the magnificent reproduction of the Portland, or Barberini, Vase just completed by Mr. John Northwood. To this it is with special and genuine pleasure we desire to call attention. "Of the history of the original Portland Vase, dating back, as it does, to about the time of Christ, and confessedly standing out as the most valuable and perfectly unique of its particular art extant, it is not our intention to speak : we desire only to place on record our opinion of the modern production of this priceless gem, and to congratulate our own nation on having produced an artist capable of so vying in every intricacy of the process with the most famous workers of glass in ancient Greek or Roman times. "The vase, which, thanks to its liberal-minded owner, Mr. Philip Pargeter, we have had the opportunity of carefully examining, is decidedly a chef-d" oeuvre of art, and is without a fault, even in its simple and unimportant parts. It is literally a reproduction of the Portland Vase, of the same size, and in the same material (glass), and effected in the same manner, actual hand-cutting in every part. Every leaf and stem, each detail of figure, and every minute por- tion of the original, have been literally copied in hard glass, cut by the graver, not by the wheel; and the result is satisfactory in the highest degree. "The vase was itself manufactured by Mr. Pargeter, who after numberless trials, and much patient thought, succeeded in imitat- ing the full rich blue of the original. This he coated to a sufficient and considerable thickness with opal glass, closely and faultlessly welded to the body. This was a matter of great difficulty ; but Mr. Pargeter's indomitable energy and skill overcame all obstacles, and the vase was at length ready for Mr. Northwood to operate upon. His mode of proceeding was to cut away by hand, with chisels and CURIOUS QUESTIONS. gravers, the opal, and carve upon it the entire designs of the origi- nal. This, there is no doubt, was the process employed on the original by the ' verrier ' nearly two thousand years back ; and it was only by closely following this mode of operation patiently, slowly, and surely, that Mr. Northwood could hope to succeed in his self- imposed task. For the entire ground of the design, the opal has been chiselled away, and the surface of the blue-black glass pol- ished ; while the figures, trees, etc., composing the design, are left in relief in the opal, and carved with consummate skill and unap- proachable delicacy. In the higher, and, of course, thicker, parts, the opal retains its intense whiteness, while in others only a thin film is allowed to remain ; and thus the softest and most delicate graduations of color are obtained. Mr. Northwood has devoted three entire years with unceasing daily work to the production of this inestimable treasure, and he has had the advantage of special facilities granted by the museum authorities for actually carving the glass in front of the original. It is, as we have said, a perfect masterpiece of art, as unique and as valuable as its ancient proto- type. We know of nothing in modern times that will compare with it." 156. THE ERAS B.C. AND A.D. This system of chronology was invented by Diony- sius Exigisus about A.D. 532. It was ordered to be adopted by the bishops assem- bled at the Council of Chelsea in 816, but it was not generally used until several centuries later. Charles III. of Germany was the first who added "In the year of our Lord" ("Anno Domini") to his reign (879). It is now held that Christ was born four years earlier than the era A.D. Christmas, or the festival of Christ's nativity, was first observed in the year A.D. 98. January 1st of the year A.D. 1 corresponds to the middle of the 149th Olympiad, the 753d year of the building of Rome, Anno Urbis Conditae (A.U.C.), and the year 4714 of the Julian period since the creation. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 18/ 157. THE AMAZONS. The ancients enumerate three nations of Amazons, or female warriors. First, the African, under their queen, Myrina, extir- pated by Hercules. Second, the Asiatic, the most famous nation of all, who founded an extensive empire along the shores of the Euxine, or Black Sea. Themiscyra was their capital. About the year 330 B.C., their queen, Thalestris, made a visit to Alexander of Macedon, soon after which time the Asiatic Amazons disappear from history. Third, the Scythian Amazons, a distinct branch of the Asiatic. They attacked the neighboring Scythians, but soon after married among them, and lost their iden- tity as a separate nation. As a nation of warlike women, the Amazons appear in legend as early as the time of Homer. They are frequently represented in Greek art. Pliny relates that a prize was offered to that one of four celebrated sculptors — Phidias, Polycletus, Phrad- mon, and Cresilas — who should represent the most beautiful Amazon. The Amazon of Polycletus won the prize. It was of bronze, and stood in the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus. The Amazon of Phidias was represented as resting, or leaning, upon her spear. Cresilas represented a wounded Amazon. Phradmon represented an Amazon resting after a battle, and laying aside her bow, shield, battle-axe, and helmet. We still possess a number of Amazon statues, of which some are supposed to be marble imitations of the 188 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. renowned statues of Polycletus and of Cresilas. One is to be seen in the Vatican collection, and one in the Berlin Museum. 158. LEGEND OF "THE ISLAND OF SEVEN CITIES.'' This legend was one of the popular traditions current at the time of Columbus. It relates, that, at the conquest of Spain and Portu- gal by the Moors, the inhabitants fled in every direction to escape from slavery. Seven bishops, followed by a large number of people, took ships, and abandoned themselves to their fate upon the high-seas. After tossing about for some time, they landed on an island in the midst of the ocean. The bishops burned the ships, to prevent desertion on the part of their followers, and founded seven cities on the island. This mysterious island is said to have been visited by navigators, who, however, were never permitted to leave it. It was said to abound in gold, and to have had many magnificent houses and temples and high towers, which shone at a great distance. 159. KIT-CAT PICTURES. This name is applied to portraits (half-length figure) painted on canvas, thirty-six by twenty-three inches, called kit-cat size. The term originated in the fact that Sir Godfrey Kneller, a celebrated painter of the early part of the eighteenth century, executed forty-two portraits of mem- bers of the Kit-Cat Club in this uniform size. Accord- CURIOUS QUESTIONS. ing to Defoe, the name of this club was derived from Kit (or Christopher) Cat, in whose house the Club held its meetings. This association was instituted in Lon- don in 1703, and consisted of noblemen and gentlemen favorable to the succession of the House of Hanover, but whose ostensible object was the encouragement of literature and the fine arts. • Among its members were Addison, Steele, Walpole, Marlborough, Sir Godfrey Kneller, etc. The club was dissolved in 1720, previous to which each of the mem- bers presented his portrait, as above mentioned, to Jacob Tonson, an eminent publisher, who was the founder and secretary of the club. These interesting portraits are now in the possession of Mr. W. R. Baker, Hertfordshire, England. 160. NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI. This greatest of Florentine statesmen was born in Florence in 1469, of an ancient though not wealthy family. He was through life a zealous Republican, and suf- fered imprisonment and torture in the cause of lib- erty. In 1532, after the death of Machiavelli, was pub- lished the book which has clothed his name with oblo- quy. "The Prince" was not written for publication, but for the private study of the Medici, and to commend Machiavelli to them by proving how thoroughly he was master of the art and craft of Italian statesmanship, which was exhibited in the absolute and tyrannical rule of the Prince over the people. "The Prince" was published under the sanction of 190 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. Pope Clement VII. ; but a few years later, at the Council of Trent, it was accounted "an accursed book." It is a code of policy ; yet honesty, as the best policy, was un- known to a diplomatist of the fifteenth or sixteenth cen- tury. Hence, to be a " true disciple of Machiavelli," is an epithet for a knave ; and Butler says in " Hudi- bras," — " Nick Machiavel had ne'er a trick, Though he gave his name to our old Nick." 161. THE QUEEN OF ENGLAND WHO DIED OF A BROKEN HEART. The death of Caroline of Brunswick, wife of George IV. of England, has been attributed to a broken heart ; although there were many other things which conspired with this to bring her to her end. As Prince of Wales, the king had married her under the pressure of debt, having never seen her before the contract, made at the instigation of his father, George III. He immediately conceived, and steadfastly maintained, a great aversion for her. He had her name erased from the liturgy of the Established Church, and then attempted to obtain a divorce, which was refused him by Parliament. The Prince had been regent several times during the seclusion of his father, George III., and finally for several years before he succeeded to the throne as king in 1 82 1. When the day of his coronation arrived, his wife, although she had received no summons, went in state to Westminster Abbey, to be crowned with him, but was forcibly refused admission : she returned home, and died within a month, partially at least of a broken heart, Aug. 7, 1821. She had previously ordered that her body should be CURIOUS QUESTIONS. I 9 I taken to her native country, and deposited in the tomb of her ancestors, with the inscription, — "HERE LIES CAROLINE OF BRUNSWICK, THE MURDERED QUEEN OF ENGLAND." Although we cannot admire the conduct and life of Queen Caroline, her husband treated her from the be- ginning in a brutal manner, and left her, unprotected and uncounseled, to a vagrant life, which was full of temptations and desperate defiance. 162. THE HEROES OF THE " NIBELUNGENLIED." The " Nibelungenlied," called the German Iliad, has for its heroes some of the most universally popular per- sonages of the semi-historic myths of mediaeval German folk-lore; viz., Siegfried, King of the Netherlands; Gunther, King of Burgundy; Brunhild, Queen of Ice- land; Kreimhild, sister of Gunther, and wife of Sieg- fried; E[agan of Norway; Dietrich (Theodoric the Great), King of the Ostrogoths ; Etzel (Attila), King of the Huns. The name of this epic poem of Germany is derived from Nebelungen, a mythical king of Norway; from Nebel (darkness), and means the children of mist or darkness. There are two versions of this strange story, — a Northern one made in heathen times, and a German one in Christian days. The story is divided into two parts, the first ending with the death of Siegfried, the second with the death of Kreimhild his widow. There are twenty or more existing manuscripts of this poem, the earliest dating A.D. 1 2 10. 192 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. The author is unknown ; but to Heinrich von Ofter- dingen, a minnesinger of Austria, is ascribed the credit of putting ancient lays into the form of a continued story „ The loves and feuds and stormy lives of these national heroes are made to centre around what is called "The Nibelungen Hoard," a mass of gold and precious stones which Siegfried carried off from Norway, and gave as a marriage dower to his wife, and which is said to have filled thirty wagons. After the murder of Siegfried, Hagan, his murderer, is said to have secretly buried this vast treasure beneath the Rhine, expecting later to remove and use it. Hagan, however, being murdered by Kriemhild in re- venge for the death of her husband, "The Hoard '* was never recovered. This tale kept a firm hold upon the imaginations of the German people from the thir- teenth to the sixteenth century, when the Reformation caused this and many other of the folk-lore to be lost sight of and almost forgotten. It was not until the nineteenth century that the value of it in an historical point was recognized. Longfellow, in his "Poets and Poetry of Europe," says, — " This great romantic epic is a poem well calculated to rouse the enthusiasm of a people like the Germans. Nothing can exceed the delight with which that old poem was studied, when, within the memory of man, the new-born nationality of German feeling rose to an unexampled pitch, and led to an excess of admiration for every thing that belonged to German antiquity, which is, perhaps, without a parallel in modern times. The enthusiasm of the Ger- mans for this singular poem was perfectly natural. They did not hesitate to compare it with the Iliad, and some of the more extrav- agant worshippers of the Middle Ages ventured to place it even higher than the old Greek epic. This, however, is a claim which the cooler opinions of the present time reject. With all its ex- CURIOUS QUESTIONS, 193 traordinary merits of impersonation and description, its fiery utter- ances of passion, its elaborate arrangement and combination, its genuine epic sweep of incident and language, it falls far below the Iliad in variety, consistency, just proportion, and completeness, and in melody of verse. The German language of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries is not to be compared with the richness, grace, and plastic beauty of the Greeks, as it flowed from the harmonious lips of Homer." 163. THE VATICAN. The Vatican at Rome is a collection of buildings erected at various times and for different purposes, consisting of the papal residence, a library, and a mui seum. The first residence of the popes was erected by St. Symmachus (498-514). This ancient palace, having fallen into decay during the twelfth century, was rebuilt in the thirteenth by Innocent III., and greatly enlarged by Nicholas III. (1277-1281) ; but the Lateran contin- ued to be the papal residence ; and the Vatican palace was used only on state occasions, and for the reception of any foreign sovereigns visiting Rome. While the popes resided in Avignon, France, 1309 t0 I 377> tne Lateran palace fell into decay: and, for the sake of greater security afforded by the vicinity of the fortress of St. Angelo, it was determined to make the pontifical residence at the Vatican ; and the first conclave was held there in 1378. The length of the Vatican palace is 1,151 English feet; its breadth, 767 feet. It has eight grand staircases, twenty courts, and is said to contain eleven thousand apartments of differ- ent sizes. The small portion of the Vatican inhabited by the Pope is never seen except by those who are admitted to 194 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. a special audience. Two hundred and fifty-five popes are reckoned from St. Peter to Pio IX. inclusive. The library of the Vatican was founded by the early popes, but greatly augmented in modern times. It is the oldest and most celebrated library in Europe. The noble hall is of splendid architectural propor- tions, surrounded by an immense double gallery, the whole adorned with frescoes, busts, statues, and col- umns ; but no books or manuscripts are to be seen, — they are all enclosed in cabinets of painted wood. The number of printed books does not exceed thirty or forty thousand ; but the collection of manuscripts is the finest in Europe, and is said to amount to upwards of twenty- five thousand. The Museum of Art is the finest in the world. Among its paintings are several of the most famous paintings of the old masters : it contains also ten thou- sand pieces of statuary, yet so ample is the space that it nowhere appears crowded. 164. RELICS EXHIBITED EVERY SEVEN YEARS AT AIX-LA-CHAPELLE. The treasury of the cathedral at Aix-la-Chapelle is rich in relics, which are divided into the Greater and the Lesser. " Les Grandes Reliques," which are ex- hibited only cnce in seven years, from the 10th to the 24th of July, were presented to Charlemagne by the Patriarch of Jerusalem, and by Haroun-al-Raschid. They are deposited in a rich shrine of silver gilt (the work of the artists of the ninth century), and are, — First, The robe worn by the Virgin at the Nativity : it is of cotton, five feet long. Second, The swaddling-clothes of the infant Saviour. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 195 Third, The cloth on which the head of John the Baptist was laid. Fourth, The scarf worn by the Saviour at the cruci- fixion. Intermingled with these are many curious antique gems and some Babylonian cylinders, and this is con- sidered by the faithful the richest collection of relics to be seen anywhere. The Lesser relics are, — the skull of Charlemagne, his arm or leg bone, and his hunting-horn, which are enclosed in a casket of gold and silver ; also a locket containing some of the Virgin's hair ; a piece of the true cross ; the leathern girdle of Christ ; the cord with which he was bound ; a nail of the cross ; the sponge which was filled with vinegar ; some of the bones of St. Stephen; some manna from the wilderness ; and a piece of Aaron's rod. It was upon these relics that the emperors of Ger- many swore at their coronation until 1558, after which the emperors were crowned at Frankfort. 165. "MOTHER GOOSE." " Mother Goose" was a real character, and not an imaginary personage as has been supposed. Her maiden name was Elizabeth Foster, and she was born in 1665. She married Isaac Goose in 1693, and a few years after became a member of the Old South Church, Bos- ton, and died in 1757, aged ninety-two years. The first edition of her songs, which were originally sung to her grandchildren, was published in Boston in 1 716 by her son-in-law, Thomas Fleet. 196 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. The house in which a great part of her life was spent, was a low, one-story building, with dormer windows, and a red-tiled roof, looking something like an old English country cottage. 166. AN UNSUBDUED PROVINCE IN TURKEY. Montenegro is a little principality of Turkey, on the eastern shore of the Adriatic, the independent spirit and heroism of whose people have won the admiration of the whole world. It contains about a hundred and thirty thousand inhabitants. The territory is healthy ; and the people are famous for their simple manners, vigorous constitution, and resolute character. In 1476, when the Byzantine Empire and the Greek Church were falling on all sides before the power of the conquering Turks, Montenegro resolved that she would never surrender her liberty. A law was enacted at that time, and has ever since been in force, that any Montenegran who should in war turn his back to the Turks, should be dressed in woman's clothes, be whipped by the women, and then sent beyond the territory, never to return. The Turks have never been able to subdue Montene- gro. At the close of the war of 1876-78, it was declared a sovereign principality with an absolute hereditary monarch. 167. HYPATIA. Hypatia, the heroine of Charles Kingsley's novel, was the daughter of Theon, an astronomer and mathema- tician of Alexandria, and head of the Neo-Platonic school. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 197 She was born in the latter part of the third century, and was equally remarkable for her beauty, her wisdom, and her tragic fate. She succeeded her father in the Chair of Philosophy at Alexandria, and the fame of her lectures drew around her students from all parts of the East. Her teaching was Christian in spirit, though heathen in form and limitation. The citizens of Alexandria were proud of her; and such reliance was placed upon her judgment, that the magistrates of the city used frequently to consult her upon important cases. At this time Cyril was Bishop of Alexandria, a fierce hater of heathen and heretics. He soon cast an evil eye on Hypatia, whom he re- garded as a satanic enchantress. His hatred communi- cated itself to the lower clergy, and especially to certain savage monks from the Nitrian desert, who, headed by one Peter, a reader, attacked Hypatia in the street as she was returning from her lecture-room. The maiden was dragged from her chariot, and hurried to the Cesa- rean Church, where she was murdered with tiles, after which she was torn to pieces, and her limbs were carried to a place called Cindron, and there burned to ashes, A.D. 415. With her the Alexandrian school perished, and Ath- ens became the seat of learning. 168. ORATORIO. An oratorio is a composition of sacred music, the term being derived from the Latin word oratorium (an oratory or cell for prayer), the place where such sacred compositions were originally performed. igS CURIOUS QUESTIONS. The music consists of recitatives, arias, duets, trios, quartets, and choruses, accompanied by instruments. Handel's " Messiah " and " Israel in Egypt," Men- delssohn's "Elijah" and " St. Paul," and Haydn's " Creation," are the grandest specimens of this style of music. Bach wrote five oratorios, called Passions. Of the five, only three exist ; and of the three, only two are printed and accessible ; viz., " The Passion according to St. John," and that " according to St. Matthew:" the latter is considered the author's greatest work. By a passion is meant an oratorio which has for its subject the occurrences of the last hours of the life of our Saviour. It has been the custom among Protestant churches in Germany to perform a piece of music on high festival days in keeping with the religious service of the day, a custom probably originating in the " Mysteries," or Miracle Plays (q.v.), common in mediaeval times. On Good Friday the History of the Passion and Death of the Saviour was chosen as the subject, and the narrative of one of the evangelists was taken. In these compositions, the narrative was delivered con- tinously in recitative by a solo voice ; and the story was interrupted by verses, sung by the congregation, set to those Chorales which form so rich and interesting a part of German musical literature. This is exactly the method followed in the earliest Passion known, the date of which is 1573. Changes were gradually introduced by the great mas- ters of the German school, all of whom tried their highest flights in Passion music. But the Matthew Passion of Bach far excels any of these works in dramatic power ; and it would be perhaps CURIOUS QUESTIONS. I 99 impossible for any thing to be acted with more effect, if the solemn nature of the subject did not forbid such u performance. 169. THE MOST CELEBRATED MECHANICIAN OF ANTIQUITY. Archimedes, the most celebrated mechanician of an- tiquity, was born in Syracuse, Sicily, 287 B.C., and died 212 B.C. He was so far in advance of his age, that his princi- ples did not become established until the fifteenth cen- tury. He invented the Archimedean screw applied to drainage and irrigation, and also explained the theory of the lever. He discovered what is known as the law of specific gravity, or the truth that any body weighs just as much less when held under water as the weight of the water which it crowds out of place. Hiero, King of Syracuse, having suspected a gold- smith of putting some other metal than gold in his crown, asked Archimedes to ascertain if it were so. Archimedes, while thinking over the matter one day, got into his bath, which chanced to be full to the brim ; and he saw at once, that as much water must run over the edge of the tub as was equal to the bulk or size of his body. He then saw, that if he put the crown into a vessel, and weighed the water which overflowed, and then tried a piece of pure gold equal in weight to the crown in the same way, the water overflowed by the pure gold ought to equal in weight that of the crown if it also were of pure gold. He was so overjoyed at this discovery, that he ran home without waiting to put on his clothes, crying through the streets, " Eureka! Eureka ! " (" I have found it ! I have found it ! ") 200 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. He defended his native Syracuse against the Romans with great mechanical skill, inventing machines which lifted their ships out of the water, and let them drop with so much force that they sunk. He also burned their ships by concentrating on them the rays of the sun with mirrors. The most celebrated of his mathematical works are those of the sphere and cylinder, which he requested should be inscribed upon his tombstone. When Syracuse was taken, a Roman soldier entered his studio, and found him so busily at work, that he did - not even know that the enemy had entered the gates. Marcellus, the Roman general, had given strict orders to his soldiers not to hurt Archimedes, and had offered a reward to whoever should bring him safe to him. The soldier ordered Archimedes to come with him ; and, upon his refusing to do so, he killed him, to the grief of Marcellus, who ordered for Archimedes an honorable burial, and built a monument over his grave inscribed as he had desired. It was Archimedes who declared, that if he could ■find a lever long enough, and a prop strong enough, he could, single-handed, move the world. 170. FIRST AND LAST KING OF JERUSALEM. Godfrey de Bouillon, the hero of the first Crusade, and the first Christian king of Jerusalem, was elected in 1099. He, however, refused to be crowned, saying, " I cannot wear a crown of gold where my Saviour wore a crown of thorns ; " and he insisted upon taking simply the title of duke. This man is the hero of Tasso's " Jerusalem Deliv- ered," and figures as the leader of Robert and Tancred CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 201 and Bohemond. He died in noo: his tomb is still pointed out in Jerusalem, near the Holy Sepulchre, which he was the first to deliver from the Saracens. Godfrey de Bouillon was the founder of a dynasty of thirteen Latin kings, nine of whom, ending with Guy of Lusignan, reigned in Jerusalem until it was taken by Saladin, Oct. 2, 1 1 87. The capture of the city by Saladin led to the third Crusade, but it was never retaken by the Christians. The remaining kings of the series were only titular monarchs, residing elsewhere in Palestine. 171. SACRED BOOKS. The books of other nations corresponding to the Bible are as follows : — _ (The Kings. Chinese, | The Four Books The Vedas. East Indians, \ The e P ic P oems Rama >' a ' la and Mahabharata. The Puranas. Eastern Asiatics, Pitikas. Persians, Zend Avesta, — a liturgy. The four books of Kings. % The Book of the Dead. Ancient Greeks (The works of the poets Homer and Romans, \ and Hesiod. Scandinavians, The Eddas. ( The Old Testament. Jews, | XheTalmucL Arabians, Turks, and all other Mohammedans, Egyptians, The Koran. 202 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 172. GENRE PICTURES. The French word genre signifies "kind," and is there- fore employed to designate a special kind or variety of pictures. Genre painting occupies an intermediate position between the historical picture and the land- scape. In the historical picture, either the character or the situation must be real. In genre painting, both charac* ter and situation may be invented, but must have his- torical significance. It originated in the Netherlands. Joachim Patenier (1490-1550) was the first to work out the background on which the Holy Family was painted into an elaborate landscape. The novelty found so much favor, that, in the next generation, Henri de Bles could place an unbiblical event in the landscape with the Holy Family, and yet sell the picture. But with Jacopo da Ponte (15 10-1592), a disciple of Titian, genre painting was born with all its principal characteristics ; viz., figures and landscape combined. It is the prevail- ing style of the French school of the present day; and its influence has been felt in this country, where, since the middle of the century, American painters have, for the most part, devoted their attention to landscape and genre. Inman was the first to attempt it with suc- cess. The chief productions of Hogarth, a famous English painter; of Wilkie, a famous Scotch painter; of Mul- ready, a famous Irish painter, — are genre pictures. "The Village Politicians," "Chelsea Pensioners," "Reading News of the Battle of Waterloo," are among Wilkie's most celebrated genre paintings. He was ap- pointed painter to the king in 1836, and was afterwards knighted. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 203 In genre painting, the picturesque is as important an element as is the historical significance. Historical and genre paintings, therefore, stand in the same relation to each other as tragedy does to comedy. 173. END OF ALCHEMY. Alchemy, among scientific men (at least in England), came to an end with the last act of a tragedy ; while in Germany, contrary to what might have been expected, it disappeared amidst the hilarious laughter of a comedy, James Price, a distinguished amateur chemist, and Fellow of the Royal Society of England, imagined that he had at last succeeded in compounding a powder that would, under certain circumstances, convert mercury, or any other of the baser metals, into gold or silver. He hesitated before making public this extraordinary discovery; but having communicated it to a few friends, and the matter becoming a subject of doubtful discus- sion among chemists, he determined to put an end to cavil by conducting a series of experiments in the pres- ence of a select assemblage of men of rank and science. The experiments, seven in number, were commenced on the 6th of May, 1782, and ended on the 25th of the same month. They were witnessed by peers, baronets, clergymen, lawyers, and chemists ; and, in all of these experiments, gold and silver were apparently produced. Some of the gold was presented to the reigning mon- arch, George III., who received it with gracious conde- scension. The University of Oxford bestowed upon Price the degree of M.D. ; and his work, containing an account of his experiments, ran through two editions in the course of a few months. 204 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. A fierce paper conflict ensued, however, on the publi- cation of the experiments ; and the Royal Society felt bound to interfere. It accordingly called upon Price, as a fellow of the society, to prove to his fellow-brothers the truth of his transmutations by repeating his experi- ments in their presence. From this time Price seems to have lost confidence, and for a long time he tried in various ways to evade the responsibility. He declined to renew his experi- ments, on the ground that although it was a valuable discovery in science, yet it was not of practical value, since the cost of gold manufactured in this manner was greater than the value of the gold obtained ; that it would cost seventeen pounds sterling to make only one ounce of gold. These excuses were of no avail ; Sir Joseph Banks, president of the society, reminding Price that not only his own honor, but the honor of the first scientific body in the world, was implicated in the affair. Yielding at last to the entreaties of his friends, Price consented to make some more of the powder of projection, and to satisfy the Royal Society. For this purpose, as he stated, he left London in January, 1783, for his labo- ratory at Guildford, faithfully promising to return in a month, and confound, as well as convince, all his oppo- nents. Arriving at Guildford, he shut himself up in his laboratory, where his first employment was to distil a quantity of laurel-water, the quickest and deadliest poison then known. He next wrote his will, and after these preliminaries he commenced the preparation of his promised powder of projection. After six months he re-appeared in London, and invited as many members of the Royal Society as could make it convenient, to meet him at his laboratory CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 205 at Guildford on the 3d of August. Three members only accepted his invitation. Price received them with cor- diality, though he seemed to feel acutely the want of confidence implied by their being so few. Stepping to one side for a moment, he hastily swallowed the con- tents of a flask of laurel-water. The visitors, seeing a sudden change in his appearance, though then ignorant of the cause, called for medical assistance ; but in a few moments the unfortunate man was dead. It can never be fully ascertained whether he was himself deceived, or whether he wilfully deceived oth- ers ; but alchemy in England thus ended in tragedy. Contemporary with Price, there lived at the univer- sity of Halle, Germany, a grave and learned professor of theology, named Semler, — a clergyman who used to relieve his severe mental labors by performing a few chemical experiments in a small private laboratory. When Semler was well advanced in years, a Baron Hir- schen discovered, as he announced, a universal medi- cine or panacea, which he called the Salt of Life. Semler tried some of it, and, fancying that it benefited his health, sat down, and wrote three treatises on its astonishing virtues. While studying the virtues of the Salt of Life, Sem- ler did not fail to remember the ancient notion of the alchemists, that the Philosopher's Stone, when found, would also be a panacea. Here, he thought, is a universal medicine that can change all disease into perfect health : why may it not be liable to convert an imperfect metal into pure gold ? He determined to fit up his laboratory once more, and in the mean time placed an earthen jar, containing a solution of the Salt of Life in pure water, near a 206 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. stone, to see the effect of moderate heat. On examin- ing this jar a few days afterwards, to Semler's surprise, he found that it contained some thin scales of a yellow- ish metal, which, being tested, proved to be pure gold. Here was a discovery ! He repeated the experiment several times with the same result, until he became perfectly convinced that gold could be generated. Semler thought it his duty to publish his discovery to the world, which he accord- ingly did. All Germany was astounded. Salt of Life came into universal demand, and there were few houses where a jar of it might not be seen beside the stove; but fewer still were the houses in which it produced gold — only one, and that was Semler's. The professor, in a lengthy article, attempted to ex- plain how his solution produced gold. It was owing to the perfect regularity of temperature which was neces- sary to produce the gold. But Klaproth, the most emi- nent chemist of the day, having analyzed the Salt of Life, found it to be a mixture of Glauber's salts and sulphate of magnesia, and utterly incapable of producing gold under any circumstances. The bitter controversy which ensued, turned princi- pally upon the veracity of the respective leaders ; and so hard did theology press upon' science, that Klaproth condescended to analyze some of Semler's solution in the presence of the king and other distinguished per- sons in Berlin. The result was surprising. He found the gold, but not combined with the other ingredients, as it could be removed by the mere process of washing. Still, Semler's known probity was his stronghold. An- other analysis was still more surprising ; Klaproth find- ing a metal not gold, but a kind of brass called " Dutch CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 207 Metal." This new discovery created shouts of laugh- ter; but the government, interfering, instituted a legal inquiry, and the police soon solved the mystery. Sem- ler had a warmly attached old servant, who, for the sim- ple purpose of gratifying his beloved master, used to slyly slip small pieces of gold-leaf into the professor's chemical mixtures ; and, having once commenced this course, the servant had to keep it up. Being a pen- sioner, he had to report at headquarters once a year. He intrusted the secret to his wife, giving her money to buy the gold-leaf ; but she bought the Dutch Metal instead, expending the balance of the money for brandy, her favorite beverage. When this laughable discovery was made, Semler fairly confessed his error; and no pretensions to alchemy were ever again listened to in the German states. Alchemy is to modern chemistry what astrology is to astronomy, or legend to history. Tradition points to Egypt as the birthplace of the science : at a later period it was taken up by the Arabs, and it is to them that European alchemy is directly traceable. Many important inventions are the result of this ancient science. It was in searching for the Philosopher's Stone, that Botticher stumbled on the invention of Dresden porce- lain manufacture ; Roger Bacon on the composition of gunpowder ; Geber on the properties of acids ; Von Helmont on the nature of gas, etc. 20S CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 174. VALERIAN. This Roman general was proclaimed Emperor of Rome, A.D. 254. He was of noble birth and unblemished character, and was in every way worthy to reign. In an expedition against Persia in A.D. 260, he was defeated, and taken prisoner ; and when he asked for a private conference with the Persian king, Sapor, the king seized him, and carried him in triumph to his capital. Valerian was exposed in all the cities of Persia to the ridicule and insolence of the people ; and, when Sapor mounted his throne, he used Valerian as his footstool. After every insult had been heaped upon Valerian, by the monarch's order he was flayed alive, and salt thrown'over his quivering flesh, so that he died in the greatest agony. His skin was then stuffed, and painted scarlet ; and, that the ignominy of the Roman Empire might be last- ing, the effigy was nailed up in a Persian temple. Vale- rian died after a reign of seven years, aged seventy- one. 175. t£l£maque. " Telemaque " was written by Francois Fenelon, Arch- bishop of Cambray. It is a French prose epic, in twenty-four books, and contains the adventures of Tele- machus, the only son of Ulysses and Penelope, while in search of his father who had been absent twenty years from his home. Telemachus is accompanied by the god of wisdom under the form of Mentor. There CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 209 is perhaps no book in the French language which has been more read, and it is a class-book in almost every European school. Fenelon was suspected of favoring the doctrines of the Quietists ; and, upon his refusing to condemn them, Bossuet denounced him to the king as a heretic. He, however, signed a recantation, and would have been restored to royal favor had not this celebrated romance of "Telemaque" (which he had written some years be- fore, to train the mind of his young pupil — the Duke of Burgundy, a grandson of Louis XIV. — "in the princi- ples of virtue") been published, against his will, through the treachery of a servant, who sold a copy without telling the name of the author. It was considered a sarcasm on the reign of Louis XIV. ; and it caused Fenelon to be banished from court, and to spend the rest of his life in exile. He died in Cambray, aged sixty-three years, Jan. 7, i 71 5. 176. TRIO OF MODERN GREEKS. First, Asmus Jacob Carstens, an eminent German painter (A.D. 1754 to 1798). His chief work, "The Fall of the Angels," contains two hundred figures. From this work he obtained the means to reach Rome. His numerous studies there from Greek subjects, distin- guished for purity of style, beauty of form, and fine distribution of light, obtained for him the title of " A Modern Greek." Second, Bertel Thorwaldsen, one of the greatest modern sculptors (A.D. 1770 to 1844), was born in Co- penhagen, Denmark. The date of his birth is supposed to be November, 1770; but, when questioned on the subject, he always 2IO CURIOUS QUESTIONS. replied, "I entered Rome on the 8th of March, 1797," reckoning his existence from the commencement of his career as an artist. His subjects were chiefly classical and mythological. His fame became so great, that, when he revisited his native city, his reception was triumphant. He died suddenly of heart-disease, in the theatre at Copenhagen, in 1844. He bequeathed all his works remaining in his posses- sion to the city of Copenhagen, to be preserved in a museum bearing his name : for the maintenance of the museum he left the bulk of his property. This magnificent and unique collection is now the glory of the capital of his native country. Third, Karl Friedrich Schinkel, a celebrated German architect (1781 to 1841). He designed a great number of houses, castles, churches, and public buildings. He was a man of powerful and original genius ; and his designs are remarkable for vigor, beauty, harmony of details, and unity of idea. He also was called a "modern Greek." These three obtain the title of "Greeks of later days," because they succeeded in re-animating the Greek ideal, with a simplicity, depth, and grandeur, hitherto unattained by any artists attempting classical subjects. Best specimens of the work of all three are to be seen in the museum at Weimar. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 211 177. THE CITY OF THE VIOLATED TREATY. The city of Limerick, the capital of Limerick County, Province of Munster, Ireland, is often spoken of as "The City of the Violated Treaty." At one end of Thomond Bridge is the famous treaty- stone, shaped like an arm-chair, upon which the treaty of Oct. 3, 1691, was signed. When the Irish and French garrison of James II. surrendered to De Ginkel, one article of the treaty stipulated that Roman Catholics should take the oath of allegiance to the King of England, and should then be preserved from any disturbance on account of their religion. This provision was adhered to by William III., but was broken by Queen Anne ; and since that day the city of Limerick has received the sobriquet above mentioned. 178. ANTIQUITY OF THE HOHENZOLLERNS. The dynasty of the Hohenzollerns of Prussia has a greater antiquity than any other family reigning in Europe. This dynasty received their sceptre at the hands of Sigismond, in the fifteenth century, and have transmitted it without dispute to the present time. While the family has never had much dominion, it was brought into historic prominence by being con- nected with the origin of the Franco-Prussian war in 1870-71. The Prince Hohenzollern was invited to take the Spanish crown. As he is a near relation of the reigning family of Prussia, France objected, and prop- erly, to finding herself placed between "two Prussias." Although the prince declined the crown, France intem- perately demanded of Prussia that she would never put 212 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. a Prussian prince upon the throne of Spain. The Prus- sian king felt insulted, refused to make such a promise, and the war ensued. 179. THE HALF-TOLD TALE. " Call up him that left half told The story of Cambuscan bold ! " The lines quoted are by Milton in his "II Penseroso." Spenser finished the untold tale. " Cambuscan " is the hero of the "Squire's Tale," one of the "Canterbury Tales "of Chaucer, "the father of English poetry." Chaucer was born in London in 1328, and died in 1400. The " Canterbury Tales " are eighteen in number, told by a company of pilgrims on their way to visit the shrine of " St. Thomas a Becket " at Canterbury. There were twenty-nine pilgrims. They assembled at the Tabard, an inn in Southwark, a suburb of Lon- don, and there agreed to tell one tale each, both going and returning; and the person who told the best tale was to be treated by the rest to a supper at the Tabard on their return. The whole number of tales should have been fifty- eight ; but only eighteen were told, not one being nar- rated on the homeward journey. " In these tales, English life as it then existed is wonderfully portrayed, — when the king tilted in tourna- ment ; when the knight and the lady rode over the down, with falcon on wrist ; when pilgrims bound for the tomb of St. Thomas passed on from village to vil- lage ; when friars, sitting in taverns over wine, sang songs that formed a remarkable contrast with the ser- CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 213 vices they so piously and sweetly intoned in church and chapel. "All that stirring and gayly apparelled time — so dif- ferent from our own — is seen in Chaucer's work : as in every other, when the superficial tumults and noises that so stun the contemporary ear have faded away, leaving behind that which is elemental and eternal, the poet is found to be the truest historian." Geoffrey Chaucer died on the 25th October, 1400, aged seventy-four, and was buried in Westminster Abbey, the first of that long line of English poets who make the " Poets' Corner " a spot of such world-wide interest and renown. Cambuscan was a rich and powerful king who lived at Sarra, in Tartary. He excelled in all the qualities which belong to a wise and good king. Twenty years after Cambuscan had been in posses- sion of the crown, he celebrated his birthday by a splen- did festival. The story is based upon the events of this feast, dur- ing which a knight rode into the court, with presents from the king of Arabia and India, sent to Cambuscan on his natal day, and to the Princess Canace. The presents were, a horse of brass, a broad glass mirror, a ring of gold, and a naked sword. These all possessed a magic power. " This steede of bras, that easily and wel Can in the space of o day naturel Beren your body into every place To which your herte wilneth for a pace. This mirrour eke that I have in myn hand Hath such a mighte, that men may in it see When ther schal falle eny adversite 214 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. Unto your regne, or to yourself also, And openly who is your frend or fo ; The vertu of this ryng, if ye wol heere, Is this, that whoso lust it for to were Upon hir thomb, or in her purs to bere, Ther is no 'foul ' that fleeth under the heven" whose language she shall not understand, and also to answer the bird in its own speech. It also bestowed the knowledge of the healing properties of — " Every gras that groweth upon roote. This naked swerd that hangeth by my side Such vertu hath, that what man that it smyte, Schal never be hool, till that you lust of grace To strok him with the 'flat' in thilke place." Most critics agree with Milton, in his declaration that Chaucer left this tale " half told." Spenser finishes the story in his own inimitable style, first stepping aside to speak of — " Dan Chaucer, well of English undefyled On Fame's eternal beadroll worthie to be filed." 180. THE LAOCOON. The most famous work of the Rhodian school of art extant is the celebrated group of the Laocoon, executed by Agesander of Rhodes, with his son Athenodorus and his pupil Polydorus, who lived after Alexander the Great. It was discovered in Rome near the Setti Sale, on the Esquiline, in 1506, while Michael Angelo was at Rome, and is now one of the chief treasures of the Vatican collection. Laocoon, the son of Priam, was a priest of Apollo CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 215 during the siege of Troy. He endeavored to persuade the Trojans that the wooden horse was not, as they thought, a palladium sent by the gods ; and he tried to dissuade them from bringing it into the city, going so far as to throw a javelin at it. On his returning to the temple to offer a sacrifice to Neptune, two enormous serpents are said to have come from under the altar, and destroyed him and his two sons. The Trojans, attributing this to the anger of the deity, at once drew the wooden horse inside of the walls : consequently Troy was taken. " This group represents Laocoon and his two sons in their death- agony. The two serpents have just wound themselves in unyield- ing and inexorable folds about the three figures. Laocoon, power- less, is pressed against the altar, at the foot of which the younger son is breathing out his life with a last sigh under the serpent's cruel bite. The father cannot help him ; for he is himself struck in the side by the deadly fang of the second serpent, so that he thrusts himself upward, convulsed by a spasm of pain. . . . Overcome with the agony of death, . . . his right hand, with an expression true to nature, grasps the back of his head; and the left, with a convulsive, instinctive clutch, seeks to tear off the monster. The elder son, at his left, gazes up in horror at his father, while he vainly seeks t6 free his foot from the coils of the serpent, to whose rage he, too, is in a moment to fall a victim. The whole pathos is concentrated in the powerful figure of the father." The upraised arms of the three are restorations. Pliny says, — " The Laocoon . . . which stands in the palace of Titus, is a work which may be considered superior to all others, both in painting and statuary. The whole group, the father, the boys, and the awful folds of the serpents, were formed out of a single block." But the lapse of two thousand years has revealed a 2l6 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. joint so nice as to be almost imperceptible. From this, it appears that the elder of the two sons was not wrought out of the same block of marble as the father and the younger son. Winckelmann says, — " Among the many thousand productions of the most celebrated artists which have been brought to Rome from all parts of Greece, this statue was esteemed as the highest effort of art : it therefore certainly deserves so much the greater attention and admiration from later posterity, which is unable to produce any thing worthy of being compared with it, even remotely. The wise man finds it an inexhaustible subject of inquiry; and the artist, of instruction: and both may rest satisfied, that, though the eye discovers some- what in this image, yet far more remains undiscovered, and that the understanding of the master was much loftier even than his work." As to Virgil's beautiful description, we do not know which is first in point of time, the statue or the poem, they describe each other so perfectly (see ^Eneid, lib. ii., 201-222). 181. THE EXPRESSION "WINDFALL." The origin of "windfall," in the sense of "good luck," dates from the time of William the Conqueror. It was then a criminal offence to cut timber in the forests. Only such could be gathered as the wind had blown down : hence a heavy windstorm was hailed by the peasants as so much good luck, and from this comes its modern application. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 217 182. THE MACCABEES. Jewish history, between the end of the Old Testa- ment and the beginning of the New, falls into two di- visions, the Grecian and the Roman. The Maccabees were heroes of the first of these periods. Greek influence was brought into Judaea by Alex- ander. After Alexander's death his power was divided among his generals. The centre of one wing was Alexandria in Egypt : the centre of the other was Antioch in Syria. They who ruled at Alexandria were the Ptolemies ; they who ruled at Antioch were the Seleucidae ; Judaea lay midway between. Thus the Grecian period of Jewish history between the Testaments also falls into two divisions. The Ptol- emies ruled first : the Maccabees lived and fought in the days of the Seleucidae. The chief among the Greek kings of Syria, the Seleu- cidae, was Antiochus. Antioohus is known by two names, — " Epiphanes," which means "The Brilliant," and " Epimanes," which means "The Madman." These names describe his character. It was the aim of Antiochus to bring Greek customs into Judaea. In accordance with this, the keeping of the Sabbath, the rite of circumcision, and the distinctions between clean and unclean food, were strictly forbidden. The king emphasized, his laws by the capture of the Holy City, and the pollution of the altars of the temple. Altars were everywhere built, on which Jews were required to sacrifice to Greek gods. Among the faith- ful Jews who preferred to die rather than to blaspheme 2l8 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. God, was a family bearing the name of Asmon. The father of the family was Mattathias. He had five sons, — John, Simon, Judas, Eleazar, and Jonathan. The men of this family were those whom we know as the " Maccabees." The name "Maccab" is the Hebrew word for hammer. The Maccabees were the hammer of the Greeks, even as Charles Martel was afterward given the same name of hammer, — " Martel," the hammer of the Moors. Led by their father, this brave family headed a popu- lar revolt. Weak in numbers, but strong in indomitable zeal, and brave in the help of the Lord, they conquered the multitudes of the enemy in several battles, and recaptured Jerusalem. The festival of the new consecration of the restored temple under Judas Maccabaeus was annually observed among the Jews, and was that feast of the dedication to which our Lord went at Jerusalem. The greatest victory of Judas was over the Syrian general, Nicanor. The hand of Nicanor was nailed to "The Beautiful Gate " of the temple. In the oratorio of "Judas Maccabaeus," written to celebrate the return of the Duke of Cumberland from the battle of Culloden in 1745, occurred the chorus " See the Conquering Hero Comes : " it was the hymn of victory over the conquest of Nicanor. Judas was killed in battle. Eleazar also died fighting, being crushed by an ele- phant, which he had stabbed, thinking that the Syrian general was on his back. Jonathan and Simon carried on the conflict. Simon coined the first national Jewish money. The sons of Simon kept the leadership until the time of Hyrcanus CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 219 • IL, whose granddaughter, Mariamne, became the un- happy wife of Herod the Great : thenceforth the ruling family was Herodian. Among the Old-Testament apocryphal books are four books of the Maccabees. Only the first two books were received in the Vulgate, and declared canonical by the councils of Florence and Trent. They were translated by Jerome. The third and fourth books seem to have been alto- gether unknown to the Western Church, while the fifth is considered spurious. The accepted apocryphal books of the Old Testament were written during the four hundred years intervening between the Old and New Testaments ; but most, if not all, of them bear internal evidence of having been composed as late as the first and second centuries B.C. The word Apoc- rypha originally meant secret or concealed, and in the early Christian centuries was applied with different sig- nification to a variety of writings. Sometimes it was applied to writings whose authorship was unknown ; sometimes to writings containing a hidden meaning ; sometimes to those whose public use was unadvisable. Since the time of Jerome (A.D. 340-420) the term has been applied to sacred writings which the Greek or Septuagint version of the Bible had circulated among Christians, but whose inspired authority was considered doubtful. The Greek Church at the Council of Lao- dicea (A.D. 360) excluded them from the canon of Scripture. The Latin Church at the Council of Trent (1545-63) placed them on an equality with the rest of the Old Testament. The Church of England uses them in part for edification, but not for the "establish- ment of doctrine." All other Protestant churches in England and America reject their use in public wor- 220 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. ship. The precise origin of all these writings can never, perhaps, be fully ascertained. There are fourteen Old-Testament apocryphal books. The New-Testament apocryphal writings are not without interest and instruction. They throw light upon the workings of the early Christian Church ; and, above all, both the Old and the New enable us to appre- ciate the great superiority of those Scriptures which have canonical authority. 183. THE BUONARROTI PAPERS. These papers are the archives of the Buonarroti fam- ily, and contain very valuable historical information, covering a period of six hundred years, from 1250 to i860. In the year i860 Count Buonarroti died, be- queathing these valuable papers to the city of Florence on condition that they should never be made public : fortunately, however, the whole contents of the Buo- narroti bequest was not doomed to eternal seclusion, as a part of the heritage came by purchase into the posses- sion of the British Museum. In this small portion are to be seen one hundred and fifty letters of Michael Angelo in his own handwriting, while two hundred of them lie hidden in Florence. A perfect account of Michael Angelo and his times cannot be written until the Florentine papers are accessible. The Buonarroti family, to which Michael Angelo be- longed, was one of the most distinguished Florentine families : Beatrice, sister of the emperor Henry II., was the ancestress of this family. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 221 184. THE PYRAMID OF CAIUS CESTIUS. This famous monument was erected about the year 30 B.C., and marks the spot near which St. Paul suf- fered martyrdom. The pyramid is built of brick, and coated with marble ; is a hundred and twenty-five feet high, a hundred feet square at the base ; and the old Protestant cemetery, now closed, surrounds it. In the interior is a small sepulchral chamber painted in ara- besques. Two inscriptions on ^he exterior show that the Caius Cestius buried here was a praetor, a tribune of the people, and one of the " Epulones " appointed to provide the sacrificial feasts of the gods. Caius Cestius died about 30 B.C., leaving Agrippa as his executor. " St. Paul was led to execution beyond the city-walls on the road to Ostia. As he issued forth from the gate, his eyes must have rested for a moment on that sepulchral pyramid which stood beside the road, and still stands unshattered amid the wreck of so many centuries upon the same spot. " That spot was then only the burial-place of a single Roman ; it is now the burial-place of many Britons. " The mausoleum of Caius Cestius rises conspicuously among humble graves, and marks the spot where Papal Rome suffers her Protestant sojourners to bury their dead. . . . Among the works of man, that pyramid is the only surviving witness of the martyr- dom of St. Paul; and we may thus regard it with yet deeper inter- est as a monument unconsciously erected by a pagan to the memory of a martyr." 185. THE CRESCENT. In the year 340 B.C., when Philip of Macedon was besieging the city of Byzantium, — now Constantinople, — a light suddenly appeared, in the shape of a crescent, enabling the Athenian garrison to see and thwart the intended assault of the besiegers. In commemoration 222 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. of this event, the Athenians erected a statue to Diana, goddess of the moon ; and the crescent became the sym- bol of the state. The Turkish Empire adopted it imme- diately after the conquest of Constantinople in A.D. 1453- The crescent is often used as an emblem of progress and success. It is seen at the present day on churches at Moscow, and elsewhere in Russia, surmounted with a cross to mark the Byzantine origin of the Russian Church, or, as some say, to symbolize the triumph of Russia over Turkey, the cross over the crescent. 186. THE LOLLARDS. The Society of Lollards was formed in Antwerp about the year 1300, to undertake the spiritual care of the sick and the dying, and the burial of the dead. By their kind offices they greatly won the affections of the people. They were very much persecuted by the clergy and the begging friars until Gregory XI. took them under his protection, in 1374. Female Lollard societies were formed about the same time. The origin of the name " Lollard ". has been much disputed : Webster derives it from a German word signifying " to sing." A Lollard, therefore, meant one who sang the praises of God. In England the Lollards warmly espoused the cause of Wickliffe ; and in derision, all of Wickliffe's followers were called "Lollards." In the reign of Henry V. they had become a formid- able power against the Roman Catholics, so that the king was forced by the monks and clergy to resort to severe measures for their suppression. Lord Cobham, being their leader, was ordered to be roasted alive ; and this was followed by a severe perse- CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 223 cution of all the Lollards. To this they exposed them- selves by a wild separation from all authority, which really endangered both Church and State. This was the first instance in English history of persons being put to death on account of religious opinions. Soon after this they seem to have become merged into the great body of Reformers, and to have lost their identity as a distinct society. 187. PLOT OF THE OPERA " IL TROVATORE." The plot of the opera "II Trovatore " ("The Trouba- dour") is very romantic, but it has the merit also of being both connected and intelligible. The mother of Azucena, an old gypsy, has been burned as a witch by the father of the Count de Luna ; and Azucena, to revenge her mother's death, steals the younger brother of the count, and brings him up as her son under the name of Manrico. He becomes a trouba- dour, and gains the love of Leonora, who is also beloved by the count. The first act shows Manrico and the count in pursuit of Leonora, and it ends with a challenge and a duel. In the second act, the gypsies are introduced, Man- rico being wounded. He learns that Leonora is about to take the veil ; and in the convent the rivals again meet, Manrico's followers overcoming those of the count, and Manrico bearing off Leonora. In the third act, the lovers are about to be united : but Manrico learns that Azucena is in the power of the count, and condemned to be burned ; and in his attempt to release her, he is also captured. The last act shows Leonora offering to marry the 224 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. count, as the condition of Manrico's freedom, but poi- soning herself to prevent the count's possession of her. The count sends Manrico to the scaffold ; and only after the death-blow has been struck, does he learn from Azucena that he has sacrificed his own long-lost brother. The scene is laid partly in Biscay, and partly in Ara- gon, the time being the early part of the fifteenth century. The author of this grand opera is Guiseppe Verdi. He was born in the Duchy of Parma, Italy, Oct. 9, 18 14. His first opera was a failure; but in 1842 he brought out " Nabuco," which at once made him famous. He has since written many beautiful operas, — "Ernani," " Rigoletto," "II Trovatore," "La Traviata," and "Aida." At one time, when one of his operas was to be per- formed in Venice, he was escorted to and from the theatre by a triumphal procession, and offered a golden crown. At present he is a senator of the kingdom of Italy. 188. ANCIENT BASILICAS. Courts of justice in Rome were held in basilicas, and the edifices thus named were subsequently used as Christian churches. The plan on which they were all constructed, no mat- ter how great their size, was nearly uniform ; and they were often characterized by great splendor. They had a central nave much longer than wide : on each side of this nave was a row of columns, which separated it from the side-aisles. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 225 At the end of the edifice farthest from the entrance was a circular arch, and behind it a semicircular space which was used as a court of law and justice ; the cen- tral portion of the building being devoted to business, and often used as an exchange. When Christianity supplanted heathenism in Rome, these basilicas were used as places of worship. The heathen temples had not been built for the ad- mission of large bodies of people, and had been pol- luted by sacrifices to heathen gods. The basilicas were free from this reproach : hence, from the beginning of the fourth to the eighth century, they were appropriated to the uses of divine worship. The oldest basilica is St. John Lateran in Rome, built 289 B.C., which became the first Christian church in that city. In front of this church stands the obe- lisk of the Lateran, one hundred and fifty feet high, the oldest object in Rome, being referred by transla- tions of hieroglyphics to the year 1740 B.C. It was brought from the Temple of the Sun at Heliopolis to Alexandria, by Constantine, and removed by his son to Rome, where it was used to ornament the Circus Maxi- mus, and was removed to its present site by Fortana, for Sixtus V. 189. THE BRAVEST MAN IN ENGLAND. Rev. Mr. Narcross of Framlingham willed the sum of five hundred pounds to the bravest man in England. The Duke of Wellington, being applied to by the executors of the estate, replied, " It is generally thought that the battle of Waterloo was one of the greatest battles ever fought by the English. The success of the battle turned upon the closing of the gates of Hou- 226 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. gomont. These gates were closed in the most coura- geous manner, at the very nick of time, by Sir James Macdonnel ; and he is the man to whom you should pay the five hundred pounds." When Sir James was informed of their decision, he replied, " I cannot claim all the credit of closing the gates of Hougomont. My sergeant, John Graham, seeing with me the importance of the step, rushed for- ward to help me ; and by your leave I will share the legacy with him." His request was granted. 190. THE FOUNDER OF MORMONISM. The founder of a religion is one who gives it form and character among men merely, claiming always a divine right, or inspiration. Through all the ages of the world's history, in every land, there have arisen false prophets ; and the United States of America and the nineteenth century form no exception. Joseph Smith, the founder of the religious and social system of the Mormons, or, as they call themselves, " Latter-day Saints," was born in Sharon, Windsor County, Vt., Dec. 23, 1805. On Sept. 21, 1823, Smith claimed to have a revelation from heaven, informing him of various important particulars, as, "that his sins were forgiven, and his prayers heard ; that the cove- nant which God made with ancient Israel was at hand, to be fulfilled ; that the preparatory work for the Sec- ond Coming of the Messiah was speedily to commence ; that the time was at hand for the gospel to be preached in its power and fulness to all nations ; and that Smith was chosen to be an instrument, in the hands of God, to bring about some of His purposes in this glorious CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 227 dispensation." Besides all this, he claimed that the angel gave him a brief sketch of the history of the abo- riginal inhabitants of America, — "of their righteous- ness and of their iniquity, and of the blessing of God being finally withdrawn from them." He was also in- formed where to find certain gold plates containing an abridged record of the ancient prophets that had existed on the American continent. These records, he said, contained the primitive history of America, from its first settlement by a colony that came from the Tower of Babel, at the confusion of languages, to the beginning of the fifth century of the Christian era. A prophet called Mormon had been commissioned by God to write an abridgment of all their prophecies, histories, etc., and to hide it in the earth until God should see fit to bring it forth, and "unite it with the Bible, for the accomplishment of His purposes in' the last day." At length, after due probation, the angel of the Lord, on Sept. 22, 1827, was said to have placed in Smith's hands the wonderful records. This is the famous "Book of Mormon," or "Golden Book," believed by the followers of Smith (hence called Mormons) to be of equal authority with the Jewish and Christian Scriptures, and to be an indispensable sup- plement to them. In A.D. 420 the gold plates, eight inches long, and six inches wide, and forming a book six inches in thickness, bound together with three rings, were sealed up in a stone box, and secreted until found, as alleged, under divine guidance, by Mr. Smith. The inscriptions on the plates were in the reformed Egyptian tongue, and were translated by means of a 228 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. pair of mystical spectacles which accompanied the vol- ume, called Urim and Thummim, so that Mr. Smith found no difficulty in deciphering the text. The " Book of Mormon " appeared before the public in print in 1830. Attention was soon drawn to the newly pub- lished work, and a controversy arose as to its real authorship. Evidence was soon brought forward to show, that, with the exception of certain illiterate inter- polations, the so-called " Book of Mormon " was really borrowed or stolen nearly verbatim from a manuscript romance written by Solomon Spalding, who died in 1 8 16. Undeterred, however, by exposure, ridicule, and hos tility, Smith, armed with this book as the basis of his teaching, began to preach in 1830, and soon found fol- lowers ; so that on April 6, 1830, the " Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints " was organized in the town of Manchester, N.Y. They were fiercely attacked by orthodox Christians, and were obliged to turn their steps westward. In 1832 Brigham Young joined the society. They were driven from place to place, farther and farther west, but rapidly gaining in numbers, until finally, in 1844, Smith, who had been incarcerated in a jail in Illinois, was murdered by a mob. After this disaster to the new sect, Brigham Young was elected " prophet," and a new emigration was decided upon. Under his guidance, about sixteen thousand persons crossed the prairie desert to Salt-Lake valley, involving a journey of two years, and founded Salt-Lake City. This city has grown steadily in importance, and is now the capi tal of Utah Territory. It is estimated that the new sect now comprises two hundred thousand members, including about fifty thousand living in other countries; # CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 229 for their missionaries have traversed all lands, and re- ceived large accessions to their numbers in almost every country of Europe. The Mormons are noted for their frugality and thrift. Polygamy was originally condemned by the "Book of Mormon," but in 1843 Smith claimed to have received a revelation recommending the adoption of the custom. Many Mormons, however, are not polygamists. THE MORMON CREED. I. God is a person with the form and flesh of man. 11. Man is a part of the substance of God, and will himseli become a god. in. Man was not created by God, but existed from all eter- nity, and will never cease to exist. iv. There is no such thing as original or birth sin. v. The earth is only one of many inhabited spheres. vi. God is president of men made gods, angels, good men, and spirits waiting to receive a tabernacle of flesh. VII. Man's household of wives is his kingdom, not for earth only, but also in his future state. VIII. Mormonism is the kingdom of God on earth. 191. THE EPIC POEM OF SPAIN. The first monument of the Spanish, or, as it is some- times called, the Castilian tongue, and the oldest epic in any of the romance languages, is the poem of the "Cid." This poem, consisting of three thousand lines, is valuable as a living picture of the manners and customs of the eleventh century. It celebrates the achievements of the most romantic hero of Spanish tradition, — the Cid, or my Lord. Perhaps no hero of any country has been so honored 230 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. by his country, and he is still so sacredly dear to his countrymen that to say " By the faith of Roderigo " is considered the strongest vow of loyalty. The author of the poem is unknown ; but it cannot have been written later than the twelfth century, and consequently about fifty years after the death of the hero whose name and achievements it celebrates. The poem throughout is striking and original, and breathes the true Castilian spirit. Dr. Henry Coppee, in his " Conquest of Spain by the Arab Moors," says of the " Poema del Cid," — "Based upon history, although without dramatic form, it is essentially dramatic in character, and presents to us the events in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries with the rarest local coloring. " By the aid of these documents, we discern the colossal figure of a warrior and a statesman, who although noble by birth, like thousands of others, owed his promotion and his fame to his own good sword, wielded mostly against the infidel, as a champion of the Spanish king and of Christian Spain ; sometimes as the ally of one Moorish chief against the encroachments of another; sometimes as an exile from royal envy and injustice, striking out 'for his own hand,' and carving a realm for himself. There are, in this changing history, so many dissolving views, that baffled historians have held high controversy, not only as to the deeds ascribed to him, but as to his very existence. The final and logi- cal acknowledgment of the ' Cid ' is probably due to the decision of the learned Niebuhr." Southey, in his "Chronicle of the Cid" (1808), has collected all that is known of this extraordinary hero. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 231 192. THE LARGEST STATUE IN THE WORLD. The largest statue in the world is that of " Liberty Enlightening the World," to be erected on Bedloe's Island, in New- York Harbor. This statue was a gift to the people of the United States from the people of France, and was intended to foster the friendly feeling existing between the two countries. The statue, which represents a female figure stand- ing upright, and holding a torch high above her head (signifying the light cast by the broad rays of liberty), is made of repousse copper, one-eighth of an inch in thickness, which is kept in position by iron plates and braces. The dimensions of the statue are, — From bottom of plinth to top of torch . . 151. 41 feet. From heel to top of head . . . .111 " Height of head 13^ " Width of eye 28 inches. Length of nose . . . . • . 45 " Length of forefinger feet. The statue stands on a pedestal eighty-nine feet high. The head will easily accommodate forty persons ; and the torch, which is reached by a spiral staircase, will hold twelve persons. The total cost of the statue, including gifts, gratui- tous work, and losses sustained by those who gave valu- able assistance, is about two hundred thousand dollars. The cost of the statue proper is about forty thousand dollars. It was designed and executed by M. Bar- tholdi, a French architect and sculptor, and was for- mally received in New York, June 19, 1885. The heights of other famous statues of the world are as follows : — 232 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. Jupiter Olympus 43 feet. Memnon (about) 60 " Borromeo at Lake Maggiore . . . 66 " Arminius in Westphalia (about) • . 92 " Colossus at Rhodes " . 105 " Nero 118 " 193. GOG AND MAGOG. The tutelary deities of London have a vague tradi- tional connection with the Gog and Magog of the Scriptures. In the Book of Genesis, Magog is spoken of as the son of Japheth. Ezekiel speaks of Gog, prince of Magog. Gog and Magog are spoken of in the Book of Revelation (Rev. xxii. 8). Magog is fabulously consid- ered by some the father of the Scythians and Tartars. The Persians also claim to be descendants of Magog, and the Goths of Gog. The famous figures of Gog and Magog in Guildhall, London, were carved in 1708 by Richard Saunders. They are made of wood, and are about fourteen feet high, and take the places of two similar effigies de- stroyed in the London fire of 1665. According to Caxton's account, Gog and Magog are the legendary survivors of a race of giants who for- merly inhabited the country of Albion (Britain). According to one legend, they were found in Britain by Brute, a younger son of Anthenor of Troy, who invaded Albion, and founded the city of London, at first called Troy-novant, three thousand years ago. The Trojans took them captive, and chained them to the gates of a palace on the site of Guildhall, and kept them there as porters. When they died, their effigies were set up in their places. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 233 There is another legend concerning them ; but, what- ever the facts may be, the two giants have been the pride of London from time immemorial. On London Bridge they welcomed Henry V. in 141 5 ; they welcomed Henry VI. to London in 1432 ; and in 1554, Philip and Mary. In 1558 they stood by Temple Bar when Elizabeth passed through the city gate to take possession of her kingdom. The ancient effigies, which were made of wicker-work and pasteboard, were carried through the streets in the Lord Mayor's shows ; and copies of the present giants were in the show of 1837. Formerly other towns in England had their giants, and there are some famous and some very large ones in several Continental cities. The Antigonus of Ant- werp is forty feet high, and was formerly carried in the most solemn religious, as well as civic, processions. Though it is now impossible to ascertain the facts, there can be little doubt that all these civic giants are exaggerated representatives of real persons and events. 194. THE MOUND-BUILDERS. In the central part of North America, along the val- leys of the Mississippi and the Ohio rivers, from the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Lakes, there are remains of the works of an extinct race of people, now known as the " Mound-Builders." Very little is known of their history, except that they were a people akin to those who settled in Mexico and Central America, and that they were a very different race of people from the North-American Indians. They are generally considered the aborigines of this 234 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. continent, which is fast proving itself to be as old, if not older, than the eastern continent. At what time these people made their appearance in North America, and erected the mounds from which they are named "Mound-Builders," is uncertain, and can never, perhaps, be fully ascertained ; but antiquari- ans who have investigated these wonderful monuments, assure us that they have full proof that the builders enjoyed a high state of civilization, were expert agri- culturists, good mathematicians, adepts in the arts, and devotees of some form, or of different forms, of reli- gious faith. Of these mounds, or tumuli, it is said that ten thou- sand are found in the State of Ohio alone. Some of these have evidently been built as mausoleums, others for defence, still others as altars on which to offer sac- rifices ; but it is difficult to assign a reason for those built in the shape of various animals, such as alligators, buffaloes, eagles, serpents, etc. Several of these mounds cover many hundred acres of ground. One near Newark, O., forms a perfect cir- cle a mile in circumference, and twenty feet high. It is large enough to accommodate the county fair of the Agricultural Society ; and upon it, beech, maple, and hickory trees have grown luxuriantly, showing, it is believed, that the erection of this mound far antedates the time of Columbus. In the same county is the "Alligator Mound," which is two hundred and fifty feet long, and fifty feet wide. The famous " Serpent Mound," on Brush Creek, Adams County, O., is more than one thousand feet in length : the embankment is five feet high, and has a base of thirty feet at the centre of the body, diminishing slightly toward the head and tail. In West Virginia, there stands a sepul- CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 235 chral mound, which is seventy feet in vertical height, and has a circumference of nine hundred feet. In the mounds of Ohio, there is frequently a com- bination of a square and two circles ; and, wherever found, they correspond in this respect, that the sides of the squares measure exactly one thousand and eighty feet, and the adjacent circles have a circumference of seventeen hundred and eight hundred feet respectively. In the construction of the military mounds, still greater mathematical skill is shown. They are erected on high ground, and often in groups extending several miles, and all connected one with another. Such of the sepulchral mounds as have been exca- vated are found to contain human bones ; but they crumble into dust when exposed to the air, so that no estimate of the size or national characteristics of the race can be formed. In the figures of heads on the pottery, and especially on clay pipe-bowls found in the mines, there is a strong resemblance to the sculp- tured heads found in the ruins in Yucatan. It is thought that the Aztecs, found in Mexico by Cortez ; and the ancient Peruvians, whose empire was destroyed by Pizarro, — may have been remnants of the Mound-Builders, who were driven south by invading hordes (such as our Indian tribes) from the other conti- nent across Behring's Strait ; but this is all conjecture. In the Mississippi valley, the mounds are very nu- merous ; and it is said that some of them, as is shown by the growth of trees and by the excavation of antique articles, cannot be less than two thousand years old. One of these represents a man with two heads ; the body being fifty feet long, and twenty-five feet across the breast. Who the Mound-Builders were, remains to be an- 236 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. swered ; yet, so long as the mounds exist, they testify to the fact, that, at a very remote age, a race of people, now extinct, was in possession of this country, from the frozen lakes of the North to the Gulf of Mexico, and from Vermont to the Rocky Mountains. For further information, see "Prehistoric Times," Lubbock ; " The Recent Origin of Man," Southall ; " Primitive Man," Figuier ; " Prehistoric Races of the United States," Foster. 195. "A DREAM OF FAIR WOMEN" (TENNYSON). In his "Dream of Fair Women," Tennyson has not introduced his characters by name, but by some lead- ing event in the life of each. Thus, in verses 21 to 24: — "At length I saw a lady within call, Stiller than chiselled marble, standing there; A daughter of the gods, divinely tall, And most divinely fair. Her loveliness with shame and with surprise Froze my swift speech ; she turning on my face The star-like sorrows of immortal eyes, Spoke slowly in her place. ■ I had great beauty ; ask thou not my name : No one can be more wise than destiny. Many drew swords and died. Where'er I came I brought calamity.' " Helen of Troy is readily recognized. According to the poet, she was the daughter of Leda and Jupiter, and the most beautiful woman of her age. She had suitors from all parts of Greece, but accepted Mene- laus, King of Sparta. Three years after her marriage CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 2tf she eloped with Paris (son of the King of Troy) : this brought on a war between the Greeks and the Trojans, which lasted for ten years, ending in the destruction of Troy. This series of events forms the subject of Homer's Iliad, and the return of the Greeks from Troy his Odyssey. " And turning I appealed To one that stood beside." "'My youth,' she said, ' was blasted with a curse : This woman was the cause.' " Iphigenia is here introduced. She was the daughter of Agamemnon, King of Argos. Her father having offended the goddess Diana, he had sworn to propitiate her by offering as a sacrifice the most beautiful thing that should come into his possession during the year : this was an infant daughter. He deferred, however, the payment of his vow until Iphigenia had grown to womanhood. When the Greeks were ready to sail for Troy, they were detained by contrary winds ; and Cal- chis the seer said that Diana was angry because Aga- memnon had not paid his vow. This he prepared at once to do ; but, just as Iphigenia was about to be sac- rificed, Diana came to her rescue, substituted a hind in her place, and carried Iphigenia away to Taurus, where she became her priestess. Her story is the sub- ject of three tragedies, by Euripides, Racine, and Goethe, and has been a favorite theme for poets. " I turning saw, throned on a flowery rise, One sitting on a crimson scarf unrolled ; A queen, with swarthy cheeks and bold black eyes, Brow-bound with burning gold." 2 3 8 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. Cleopatra, the last Queen of Egypt (69-30 B.C.). ..." So stood I, when that flow Of music left the lips of her that died To save her father's vow ; The daughter of the warrior Gileadite, A maiden pure." Jephtha's daughter. (See Judg. xi. 30). u * Alas ! alas ! ' a low voice, full of care, Murmured beside me : ' Turn and look on me : I am that Rosamond, whom men call fair, If what I was I be.' " "Fair Rosamond" was Jane Clifford, daughter of Lord Clifford, loved by Henry IP., who kept her con- cealed in a labyrinth at Woodstock. She was poisoned by Henry's queen, the " angered Eleanor," in the year 1 1 77. References to Rosamond are found in two of Sir Walter Scott's novels, — "The Talisman " and "Wood- stock." Her sad story has been also a favorite theme with poets. "Morn broadened on the borders of the dark, Ere I saw her, who clasped in her last trance Her murdered father's head." This was Margaret Roper, daughter of Sir Thomas More, a famous English statesman, and the author of "Utopia" (q.v.). When Henry VIII. of England as- sumed the title of "Head of the Church," More refused to take the oath to him under that title. He was tried, condemned for treason, and executed in the Tower of London (July 6, 1535); and his head was exposed to CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 239 public view on London Bridge. His daughter Marga- ret, devotedly faithful to her father through his perse- cution, succeeded in obtaining possession of his head. She guarded it with great care during her lifetime, and requested that at her death it should be placed in her arms, and buried with her. ..." Or Joan of Arc, A light of ancient France." Also called the " Maid of Orleans." She was born at Domremy, Lorraine, about 141 1. She restored Charles VII. to the throne of France, but was finally, in 143 1, taken prisoner, and burned in Rouen by order of the English, on a charge of witchcraft. " Or her, who knew that Love can vanquish Death, Who kneeling, with one arm about her king, Drew forth the poison with her balmy breath." Eleanor of Castile, the first wife of Edward I. of England, is here referred to. The incident took place previous to the accession of Edward to the throne. Alfred Tennyson, the author of this poem, was born in Lincolnshire, England, in 1809. His first poems were published when he was eighteen years of age ; but it was not until he was thirty-three years old that he wrote "Morte d'Arthur," "Locksley Hall," and the "Two Voices," which made him famous. In 1850, on the death of William Wordsworth, he became poet-laureate, or poet to the crown. His "Idyls of the King," consisting of a series of poems taken from legends about King Arthur, is considered the finest epic poem the English language has produced for two hundred years. Lord Tennyson's home, in the Isle of Wight, is called Farringford. 240 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 196. THE CENTRAL-PARK OBELISK. The history of the obelisk in Central Park, New York, dates back (according to Dr. Brugsch Bey, the great Egyptologist) to the time of Thutmes III., 1600 B.C. Some authorities maintain that he is the Pha- raoh, who, with his host, was overthrown in the Red Sea. The obelisk bears three separate sets of hiero- glyphic inscriptions (translated by Dr. Brugsch Bey), marking three important epochs in the history of Egypt; viz.,— I. Thutmes III., "the Alexander the Great of the Pharaonic period," or Egypt in the height of her prosperity. II. Rameses II., the epoch when Egypt had ceased to conquer, and was merely defending herself against Asiatic preponderance. III. Usorkon I., the epoch of the decline of the ancient Egyp- tian Empire. Thutmes III., wishing to honor the solar divinity at On (Heliopolis), caused two obelisks to be erected in front of the Temple of the Sun at that place, as a thank- offering for the protection this divinity had afforded him in his campaigns in Central Africa and Mesopo- tamia. His inscriptions form the middle perpendicular lines of each face of the obelisk. Three centuries later Rameses II. had these two obelisks removed to Alexandria ; and when his wars were ended he caused his name and titles to be in- scribed upon the obelisks on each side of the inscrip- tions of his renowned ancestor, Thutmes III. King Usorkon I. (933 B.C.) is supposed to have visited Alexandria, and to have ordered his name also to be inscribed upon the obelisk of his ancestors, the two greatest Pharaohs of Egyptian history; for we see them on the extreme edges in small characters. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 241 In 1877 Ismail Pasha, father of the present Khedive of Egypt, signified his wish to present an obelisk to the United States. After the selection had been made, the entire control of the operations attending its re- moval was intrusted to the late Lieut. -Commander Henry H. Gorringe, U.S.N., who conducted the whole affair in a most satisfactory manner, from the taking- down of the obelisk at Alexandria, to the re-erecting of it on its present site. The time occupied in its removal was exactly one year and four months : the removal of the obelisk of Luxor to Paris occupied six years' time. The whole cost of transportation, about $105,000, was defrayed by Mr. William H. Vanderbilt of New York. The machinery for moving this great monolith was all made in this country : it consisted simply of a pair of iron trunnions and a pair of steel derricks. The stone was carried overland seven miles to the government dock at Alexandria, and was then put in the hold of the steamship " Dessoug" (a vessel of six- teen hundred tons), which reached New York, July 20, 1880. The work of moving it across the city was skilfully managed ; and exactly at noon on the 22d of January, 188 1, this stranger from the banks of the Nile was placed on the site prepared for it in the New World, in the presence of about five thousand people. The height of the obelisk, including the base on which it stands, is 80 feet, 1 1 inches. The weight, with pedestal and foundation, is 712,000 pounds. The total elevation from mean high water to the top of the obelisk is 194 feet, 6 inches. This monument of antiquity is an inestimable treas- ure to our country. We can hardly appreciate that 242 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. we have, standing in New York, a column upon which Moses and Aaron looked, and whose hieroglyphics they could doubtless read ; that Darius, Cambyses, Alexan- der the Great, the Ptolemies, Julius Caesar, Cleopatra, Mark Antony, and Augustus were familiar with it. Grave fears are entertained that it will not stand our Northern climate. Some evidences of its beginning to crumble are already noticeable. This obelisk is red granite of Syene, and bears the name of "Cleopatra's Needle." The other of the two obelisks erected by Thutmes HI., was removed to London, and placed on the Thames embankment, in 1878. 197. THE BONE SAID TO BE THE NUCLEUS OF THE RESURRECTION BODY. " God formed them from the dust, and He once more Will give them strength and beauty as before." "The Emperor Adrian — the sceptic whose epigram- matic address to his soul in prospect of death (trans- lated by Byron) is well known — asked Rabbi Joshua Ben Hananiah, in the course of an interview following the successful siege of Bitter, ' How doth a man re- vive again in the world to come ? ' He answered, and said, 'From the bone Luz, in the backbone.' Saith he to him, ' Demonstrate this to me.' Then he took Luz, a little bone out of the backbone, and put it in water, and it was not steeped ; he put it into the fire, and it was not burned ; he brought it to the mill, and that could not grind it ; he laid it on the anvil, and knocked it with a hammer, but the anvil was cleft, and the hammer broken. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 243 " Butler, in his * Hudibras,' erroneously traces to the Rabbinic belief, the modern name, os sacrum; its origin really being due to the custom of placing it upon the altar in ancient sacrifices." "The learned Rabbins of the Jews Write, there's a bone, which they call Luz. No force in nature can do hurt thereto ; And therefore, at the last great day, All th' other members shall, they say, Spring out of this, as from a seed." 198. DYING WORDS OF POPE GREGORY VII. (HILDEBRAND). " I have loved justice, and hated iniquity ; therefore I die an exile." These were the last words of Pope Gregory VII. (Hildebrand), one of the most illustrious men of the Middle Ages, born about A.D. 1020. He was called to Rome in 1049 by Pope Leo IX., to assist in the papal councils as chancellor and cardinal ; and he held this office for twenty years, under five suc- cessive popes, over whom he exercised the influence of a great mind. In 1073 Hildebrand rose to the papal throne, under the title of Gregory VII. : he was the first Pope elected by the College of Cardinals. Until his time, the title of Pope was given to all bishops alike : he, however, in 1076, decreed that thenceforth it should be applied only to the Roman "papa," or pontiff, prefixing, at the same time, sanctus, whence the modern title, " His Holiness the Pope." Pope Gregory's first act was to strike a blow at what was called the "right of investiture," claimed by the 244 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. emperors. This was the right of bestowing on abbots and bishops the ring and crosier, which were the sym- bols of their office, and which declared them to be the feudal vassals of the emperor. Pope Gregory caused it to be ordained by a council, that, if any one should accept "investiture" from a layman, both the giver and the receiver should be excommunicated, claiming that this right belonged exclusively to the Vicar of Christ. The emperor, Henry IV., of Germany set this decree at defiance, and, assembling the nobles and prelates at Worms, deposed the Pope ; whereupon the Pope sol- emnly excommunicated the emperor (1076), and ab- solved his subjects in Germany and Italy from their oath of allegiance to him. Henry, enraged at this, prepared for war, and entered Italy to subdue his pow- erful foe. He was soon made to feel, however, that unseen power that had arisen to sway the minds of men. In every part of his empire, monks and friars preached against him; and insurrections arose on every hand, until at last Henry was forced to become an humble suitor for mercy at the hands of Gregory. On the 2 1st of January, 1077, the emperor, Henry IV., the most powerful sovereign of Europe, proceeded to the Castle of Canossa, Italy, a fortress belonging to the Countess Matilda, to seek pardon and absolution from the Pope. He was made to suffer the deepest humiliation ; and only after the most abject confession of his error, and standing for three days in an outer court of the castle, amid the cold of winter, barefoot, and clad only in a woollen shirt, was he absolved, and the interdict re- moved. Henry was no sooner released than he renewed the CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 245 war, and Gregory was forced to flee from Rome. He died in exile at Salerno, A.D. 1085. The successors of Gregory adhered to his policy, until at length the German emperor, Henry V., yielded ; and by a treaty signed at Worms, A.D. 1122, he for- mally resigned all claim to investitures. The temporal power of the Pope reached its zenith in the latter part of the twelfth and the early part of the thirteenth centuries, under Pope Innocent III. He claimed to be sovereign of Europe, — an earthly king of kings. After the thirteenth century the papal power de- clined ; but it was not until 1606, during the reign of James I. of England, that the famous Oath of Alle- giance was drawn up, which asserted the supremacy of the sovereign in ecclesiastical matters, denying the right of the Pope to depose him, or to absolve his subjects from their allegiance to him. 199. THE ORIGINAL BLUEBEARD. The tale of Bluebeard was written by Perrault in the time of Louis XIV., and has been translated from the French into nearly all the languages of Europe. It is supposed that the idea of the story was sug- gested to Perrault by the life of a very wicked and atrocious man named Giles de Laval. Giles de Laval, Seigneur de Retz, better known in French history as Marshal de Retz, was born in France in or about the year 1396. He entered the service of Charles VII., and proved himself a brave and skilful soldier. He inherited, at different times, three large estates, 246 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. and in 1432 was considered the richest subject in France. This immense fortune was the grand cause of his ruin. He plunged into a course of profligacy and de- bauchery which rapidly diminished his estate. Yet, withal, he affected great pomp and splendor in religious ceremonies. He was compelled by the parliament of Paris to stop disposing of his estates ; and, craving for wealth, he had recourse to alchemy. Failing to dis- cover the art of changing the baser metals into gold, he next turned to magic, and is reported to have made a contract with Satan to give him every thing except his own soul and life for boundless wealth. It was at this time that he began to immolate children. The poor creatures were decoyed into his power, and made the victims of his iniquities in various ways, and were finally put to death, and their blood and hearts used as charms in diabolical rites. The number of children who disappeared became so large, that the authorities took steps to investigate the matter. In 1440 Laval was arrested, and under threats of torture confessed his misdeeds. In most cases he burned the bodies, but sufficient remains were found to indicate forty-six victims at his castle of Chantoce and eighty at Machecoul. He was convicted, and exe- cuted in December, 1440. Probably on account of some personal peculiarity, Giles de Laval became remem- bered as Barbe-blene, whence our Bluebeard, which speedily became a name of terror. The propensity of Bluebeard in the children's " Blue- beard " of Perrault is not to kill children, but to marry wife after wife, and to kill them in succession, and deposit them in a fatal closet. Each young wife was CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 247 intrusted with all the keys of the castle, with strict injunctions, on pain of death, not to open one special room ; but woman's curiosity in each case cost her life, until finally, as the story goes, his last would-be victim was saved by the timely arrival of her brothers. She had, during the absence of her lord, opened the for- bidden door, and found the closet filled with the dead bodies of his former wives. She dropped the keys in her terror, and could by no means obliterate the stain of blood. Bluebeard, on his return, commands her to prepare for death ; but by the arrival of her brothers her Jife is saved, and Bluebeard put to death. Ludwick Tieck brought out a drama in Berlin on the story of Bluebeard. The incident about the doors and the keys is similar to that mentioned by "The Third Calender" in "The Arabian Nights;" and, in- deed, the origin of the story might be relegated to the beginning of "The Arabian Nights," where the deceived Sultan kills wife after wife, until the story-telling wit of one checks his murders by exciting his curiosity. 200. THE HIGHEST MONUMENT IN THE WORLD. The monument erected in the city of Washington, D.C., to the memory of George Washington, first Presi- dent of the United States, is the highest in the world. Soon after the death of Washington, Congress recog- nized the propriety of erecting a monument to his mem- ory, and passed resolutions to that effect; but no funds were appropriated, and for years no further steps were taken. In the year 1833 the National Washington Monu- 248 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. ment Society was formed, to take the matter in hand. The plan adopted by the founders was to unite the efforts of the people of the whole country to erect a suitable monument to President Washington. At first, contributions were limited to a dollar annually from any one person, contributors to become members of the society. In 1836 advertisements were published, in- viting designs from American artists, the cost of the monument being estimated at $i,ooo,*ooo. The award was given to Robert Mills, the architect of the Interior Department. In January, 1848, Congress granted to the society a site for the monument, to be chosen in any of the unoc- cupied public grounds ; and the spot chosen is one that affords a fine view of it from both land and water, and overlooks Washington, Georgetown, Alexandria, Arling- ton, and Mount Vernon. The corner-stone was laid by President Polk, July 4, 1848 ; and the work was then pushed until, in 1854, the shaft reached the height of 150 feet. Not long after this the funds of the society gave out, and a memorial was presented to Congress asking for assistance from that body ; but no visible results were obtained until 1876, when the sum of $200,000 was appropriated, payable in annual instalments of $50,000 each. The work was pushed with all possible rapidity to completion, and was dedicated Feb. 21, 1885 (the anniversary of Washington's birth, the 22d, falling on Sunday). The monument, as it stands to-day, differs materially from the original plan. There is no colonnade, but only the mound of earth covering the foundations ; and the marble shaft rises, in the dignity of unadorned sim- plicity, 555 feet in the air. The base of the shaft is CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 249 55 feet square ; and it tapers gradually, until, at the 500 foot point, it is 34 feet 5^ inches square. Here the pyramidal top begins, and is run to an apex 55 feet above the square masonry. The size of the well of the shaft is twenty-five feet to the height of 150 feet, when it increases to 31 feet 5i inches, and continues so to the top. The marble used for the completion of the monument came, for the most part, from Maryland quarries : it is said to contain eighteen thousand blocks of marble two feet thick. The work was very simple until the last courses for the apex were reached. It consisted in laying blocks of marble for the outside, and granite for the inside, each block being two feet in height. The exterior surface of the blocks has an upward slant of an inch for each course, giving a decrease of one foot in the width of each of the four sides of the monument in every twenty-four of the rise. The stones were lifted on an elevator run by steam, suspended in an interior framework of iron, that was built up at intervals, thirty or forty feet at a time, in advance of the surrounding masonry. When the five hundred and fifty feet level was reached, and it became impossible to carry the iron framework for the elevator any higher, a skeleton structure was built to support the slanting marble sides of the apex. These stones were lifted into place by means of a windlass set at the point to be finally occu- pied by the capstone. A platform was built oyt from the doorway on the east side of the five hundred and fifty feet level, and the stones were run out upon this platform, and then hoisted. When all but the last nine had been set, a temporary platform of wood was built 2$0 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. around the apex, and the nine stones were hoisted upon this platform. Then the windlass was taken down, and four masts set up for use in laying the last stones. The pyramidal top terminates in an aluminum tip, which is nine inches high, and weighs a hundred ounces. The capstone was set in position Dec. 6, 1884, just thirty- six and a half years after the laying of the corner-stone. The door at the base, facing the Capitol, is eight feet wide, and sixteen feet high, and enters a room twenty- five feet square. At one side begin the stairs, of which there are fifty flights, containing eighteen steps each. Five hundred and twenty feet from the base, there are eight windows, 18X24 inches, two on each face. The area at the base of the pyramidal top is i,iSyl feet, — space enough for a six-room house, each room to be 12 X 16 feet. Externally the monument is complete, but it will take two years to complete the interior. When done, the total cost will amount to $1,500,000. 201. OLD STYLE AND NEW STYLE CALENDARS. About forty-five years before Christ, Julius Caesar having, by the help of Sosigenes, an Alexandrian phi- losopher, come to a more accurate measurement of the year> or the time of one revolution of the earth around the sun, decreed that every fourth year should be held to consist of three hundred and sixty-six days, in order to absorb the odd hours ; one revolution, strictly ex- pressed, being 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, 49^0 sec- onds. \ The Julian arrangement was, that one day in Feb- ruary of every fourth year, the sixth before the Calends of March (sextilis), should be bissextile, or as if the CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 251 23d of February, in every fourth year, should be reck- oned twice. But as a whole day every fourth year was 11 minutes and io t 3 q seconds too much, the natural time fell behind the reckoning ; and the vernai equi- nox, which in the year 325 fell on the 21st of March, in 1582 fell on the nth of March, making a difference of ten days. To correct this error in time, Pope Gregory XIII. decreed that the 5th of October of that year, 1582, should be reckoned as the 15th; and, to keep the year right in future, he ordered that every hundredth year, that could not be divided by four, should not be bissex- tile. The Pope made use of his power to secure the adop- tion of the new or Gregorian style in all Catholic countries of Europe ; but England, Sweden, and Russia still retained the old or Julian style. In 1752 the dis- crepancy between the Julian and Gregorian calendars amounted to eleven days. The English merchants found it a great inconven- ience to use a different mode of computing time from their foreign correspondents ; and the hatred of the Pope, which led to the retention of this error for so long a time after it had been discovered, having greatly subsided, the British Parliament ordered the "new style " to be adopted in England. The eleven days were taken out of September of the year 1752, the day after the 2d being called the 14th instead of the 3d. The year ecclesiastical was reckoned to begin on the 25th of March, or lady-day, and the secular year on Jan. 1. So that, in many older writings, we find a date given thus, Feb. 1, 1601-2 ; meaning that it was in 1601 of the ecclesi- astical, and in 1602 of the secular, year. The former 252 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. computation was gradually disused, and is now never employed. In Russia alone, of all Christian countries, is the old style still retained ; wherefore it becomes necessary for one writing in that country to any foreign correspond- ent, to set his date thus : — March, or 2 24 9 Jan., 1885 202. THE WITCH OF ENDOR. The " Witch of Endor" was the woman consulted by King Saul when the hosts of the Philistines were ar- rayed against him. See I Sam. xxviii. 7-21. A tradition preserved by Jerome makes her the mother of Abner, therefore the aunt of King Saul. It is supposed to be on this account that she escaped from the wholesale slaughter of witches made by order of Saul. Abner was his first cousin and the command- er-in-chief of his armies. Abner and Amas are also named by tradition as the companions of Saul, and eye- witnesses of the facts recorded in the First Book of Samuel, chapter xxviii. Pope Innocent VIII. issued a bull against witchcraft in 1484. During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries an incredible number of persons were put to death for witchcraft. The laws against witchcraft in England were re- pealed in 1736, during the reign of George II. The last victims were Mrs. Hicks, and her daughter aged nine years: they were executed in 1716. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 253 203. "SNOW-BOUND" (WHITTIER). Who that has read that beautiful " Winter Idyl,"— "To the Memory of the Household it describes," — has not wanted to know whether it was an ideal, or a real picture of a " snow-bound " home ? A late letter from the poet says, " 1 Snow-Bound ' is dedicated to my own family, all of whom, save one brother, being then dead. My brother has since died." How much added interest this assurance gives to the lines, — "What matter how the night behaved? What matter how the north-wind raved? Blow high, blow low, not all its snow Could quench our hearth-fire's ruddy glow. O Time and Change ! — with hair as gray As was my sire's that winter day, How strange it seems, with so much gone Of life and love, to still live on ! Ah, brother ! only I and thou Are left of all that circle now, — The dear home faces whereupon That fitful firelight paled and shone. Henceforward, listen as we will, The voices of that hearth are still ; Look where we may, the wide earth o'er, Those lighted faces smile no more. Yet Love will dream, and Faith will trust (Since He who knows our need is just), That somehow, somewhere, meet we must. Alas for him who never sees The stars shine through his cypress-trees ! Who, hopeless, lays his dead away, Nor looks to see the breaking day Across the mournful marbles play ! Who hath not learned, in hours of faith, The truth to flesh and sense unknown, That Life is ever lord of Death, And Love can never lose its own ! " 254 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. The interest deepens as the home scenes are un- folded, — the share each has in the winter tale, — "Our father," "Our mother," "Our uncle," "The dear aunt," " Our elder sister," " Our youngest and our dearest," "The master of the district school." Then comes the forcible description of a character that forms the climax of the poem : — " Another guest that winter night Flashed back from lustrous eyes the light. Unmarked by time, and yet not young, The honeyed music of her tongue And words of meekness scarcely told A nature passionate and bold, Strong, self-concentred, spurning guide, Its milder features dwarfed beside Her unbent will's majestic pride. She sat among us, at the best, A not unfeared, half-welcome guest, Rebuking with her cultured phrase Our homeliness of words and ways. A certain pard-like, treacherous grace Swayed the lithe limbs and dropped the lash, Lent the white teeth their dazzling flash ; And under low brows, black with night, Rayed out at times a dangerous Jight ; The sharp heat-lightnings of her face Presaging ill to him whom Fate Condemned to share her love or hate, A woman tropical, intense In thought and act, in soul and sense, She blended in a like degree The vixen and the devotee, Revealing with each freak or feint The temper of Petruchio's Kate, The raptures of Siena's saint. Her tapering hand and rounded wrist Had facile power to form a fist ; The warm, dark languish of her eyes Was never safe from wrath's surprise. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 255 Brows saintly calm and lips devout Knew every change of scowl and pout ; And the sweet voice had notes more high And shrill for social battle-cry. Since then what old cathedral-town Has missed her pilgrim staff and gown, What convent-gate has held its lock Against the challenge of her knock ! Through Smyrna's plague-hushed thoroughfares, Up sea-set Malta's rocky stairs, Gray olive-slopes of hills that hem Thy tombs and shrines, Jerusalem, Or startling on her desert throne The crazy Queen of Lebanon With claims fantastic as her own, Her tireless feet have held their way; And still, unrestful, bowed, and gray, She watches under Eastern skies, With hope each day renewed and fresh, The Lord's quick coming in the flesh, Whereof she dreams and prophesies ! " We recognize "the guest" as Harriet Livermore ; ""the crazy Queen of Lebanon" as Lady Hester Stan- hope. Of Harriet Livermore, the author of the poem, in another letter, says, " As to Harriet Livermore of the ' Snow-Bound,' she was the daughter of Judge Liver- more of New Hampshire, a gifted, eccentric woman, who spent a year or two in my neighborhood when I was a boy. She was nearly thirty years in Europe and Asia, wandering about on what she regarded as a reli- gious mission, visiting convents and monasteries. She was an ill-regulated character, — devout, violent in temper, and perhaps at times almost insane. She spent some time with Lady Hester Stanhope on the slopes of Mount Lebanon. 256 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. But how beautifully the poet draws the veil of charity- over such a character as he goes on to say, — " Where'er her troubled path may be, The Lord's sweet pity with her go ! The outward wayward life we see, The hidden springs we may not know. Nor is it given us to discern What threads the fatal sisters spun, Through what ancestral years had run The sorrow with the woman born, What forged her cruel chain of moods, What set her feet in solitudes, And held the love within her mute, What mingled madness in the blood, A life-long discord and annoy, Water of tears with oil of joy, And hid within the folded bud Perversities of flower and fruit. It is not ours to separate The tangled skein of will and fate, To show what metes and bounds should stand Upon the soul's debatable land, And between choice and Providence Divide the circle of events ; But He who knows our frame is just, Merciful and compassionate, And full of sweet assurances And hope for all the language is, That He remembereth we are dust." 204. LADY HESTER STANHOPE. Lamartine, in his "Voyage en Orient," gives a fine description of his visit to Lady Hester Stanhope's retreat on the slopes of Mount Lebanon. " Lady Hester Stanhope, ni-ece of Mr. Pitt, after the death of her uncle, left England, and travelled over Europe. Young, beau- CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 257 tiful, and rich, she received everywhere the welcome due to her rank, her fortune, her intelligence, and her beauty. " But she refused constantly to unite her destiny to that of her most worthy admirers ; and, after a few years passed in the capitals of Europe, she started, with numerous followers, for Constantinople. The motive for this voluntary exile could never be fully determined. Some attributed it to the death of a young English general killed about that time in Spain ; others to a simple love of adventure, which the enterprising and courageous character of this young lady might well lead them to believe. But, whatever it might be, she started. After a few years spent in Constantinople, she started for Syria in an English vessel. She carried with her a large por- tion of her treasures, — immense wealth in jewels and presents of all kinds. " A storm assailed the vessel in the Gulf of Macri, on the coast of Caramime, opposite the island of Rhodes. The vessel grounded on a rock a few miles from the coast. It was almost instantly wrecked, and the treasures of Lady Stanhope were ingulfed in the waves. She herself narrowly escaped death, and was carried on a piece of the vessel to a small, deserted island, where she spent twenty-four hours without food and without assistance. At last some fishermen of Marmoriza, who were searching for debris of the shipwreck, discovered her, and took her to Rhodes, where she made herself known to the English consul. "This deplorable event did not weaken her resolution. She went to Malta, and from there to England. She gathered together the remains of her fortune, sold at a great loss a portion of her domains, laded a second vessel with rich presents for the coun- tries which she desired to pass through, and again set sail. The voyage was successful; and she landed at Latakia, the ancient Laodicea, on the coast of Syria, between Tripoli and Alexandria " She established herself in the neighborhood, learned the Ara- bic, surrounded herself with persons who could facilitate her rela- tions with the different tribes — Arabs, Druses, Maronites — of the country; and she prepared herself (as I was doing at the same time) to make voyages of discovery in the least accessible parts of Arabia, Mesopotamia, and the desert. When she had familiarized herself with the language, customs, and the usages of the country, she organized a numerous caravan, loaded camels with rich pres- ents for the Arabs, and travelled through the different parts of 258 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. Syria. She sojourned at Jerusalem, at Damascus, at Aleppo, at Baalbec, and Palmyra. It was in this last place that the numerous wandering Arab tribes, which had allowed her to visit the ruins, assembled around her to the number of about fifty thousand, and charmed with her beauty, grace, and magnificence, proclaimed her the Queen of Palmyra, and gave to her passports by which it was agreed that all Europeans protected by her could visit in safety the desert, the ruins of Baalbec and Palmyra, provided that he agreed to pay a tribute of a thousand dollars. This treaty still exists,, and would be faithfully executed by the Arabs if they could have positive proofs of the protection of Lady Stanhope. " On her return to Palmyra she was nearly captured by a numer- ous tribe of other Arabs, enemies of those of Palmyra. She was warned in time by one of her own, and owed her salvation and that of her caravan to a forced midnight march and the fleetness of her horses, which travelled in twenty-four hours an incredible space of the desert. She returned to Damascus, where she resided a few months under the protection of the Turkish Pasha, to whom the Porte had recommended her very heartily. " After a wandering life in all the countries of the Orient, Lady Stanhope fixed herself at last in an almost inaccessible solitude on one of the mountains of Lebanon, in the neighborhood of Sidon. "The Pasha of Abdalla, who had for her a great respect, — an absolute devotedness, — conceded to her the ruins of a convent and the village of Digioun, settled by the Druses. " Lady Stanhope was about fifty years of age. She had those features that years do not change. Freshness, color, grace, dis- appear with youth ; but when beauty is in the form, in the purity of the lines, in the dignity, the majesty, the expression of man or woman, beauty changes with the different epochs of life, but does- not pass away. " Such was that of Lady Stanhope." 205. A CLEPSYDRA. Among the valuable presents sent to the Emperor Charlemagne by Haroun al Raschid, which astonished the Western world by their rarity, and the ingenuity CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 259 displayed in their construction, was a clepsydra, or water-clock of metal. From the admiration this clock elicited, we are led to presume that the clepsydra — first used by the Romans — was a lost art to the Western people. The Romans had used the clepsydra to limit time in courts. That of Ctesilaus of Alexandria, 135 B.C., had a little figure which rose with the water, and pointed out the hours. But the more simple ones consisted of a vase filled with water, with a small opening at the bottom, through which the water escaped, drop by drop, into a vessel beneath, which was said by the Romans to steal the water, clepsydra meaning water- stealer. The sides of the vase were divided by lines, and the height of the water marked the time. But the clepsydra sent to Charlemagne, in its deli- cate and complicated machinery, showed what great progress mechanical art had made in the East. " It had twelve gates corresponding to the twelve hours. When the hour was striking on the clock, one of the gates opened itself, from which proceeded a regular number of small brass balls ; and these, falling in turn on a brazen vessel, marked the hour by the noise which they caused : the eye perceived the hour by the number of opened gates, and the ear by the number of falling balls. At the twelfth hour, twelve small horsemen is- sued out, each through its gate, and closed them all by their momentum in their course round the dial. The clepsydra, or water-clock, is still used in some countries ; but, the flow of water being affected by tem- perature and barometric pressure, the pendulum has superseded it in modern times. The invention of pendulum-clocks is, by some, as- cribed to Pacificus, Arch-deacon of Verona, in the ninth 26o CURIOUS QUESTIONS. century ; and by others to Boethius, in the early part of the sixth. The Saracens are said to have had clocks moved by weights in the eleventh century ; and, as Dante applies the term to a machine which struck the hours, clocks must have been known in Italy at the end of the thirteenth, or beginning of the fourteenth, century. The most ancient clock of which there is any certain record was erected in a tower of the palace of Charles V., King of France, in 1364, by Henry de Wyck, a German artist. A clock was erected at Stras- bourg, in 1370, at Courtray, about the same time, and at Speyer in 1395. The invention of the pendulum was suggested to Galileo by a circumstance somewhat similar to that which started Newton's mind to the discovery of the theory of gravitation. When Galileo was standing one day in the Metro- politan Church of Pisa, he observed a lamp, which was suspended from the ceiling, and which had been moved by accident, swing backwards and forwards. Thou- sands of people might have observed it before ; but Galileo, noticing the regularity with which it moved, reflected upon it until he was enabled to perfect the method of measuring time now in use by means of a wheel and pendulum. Watches are said to have been made at Nuremberg as early as 1477, but the watches of that early date bear a very small resemblance to those now in use. Some were immensely large, and some so small that they could be fitted into the top of a walking-stick. As time-keepers, they could have been of very little value until the application of the spiral spring, invented by Hooke, in 1658. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 206. STATUE OF ST. BRUNO. The famous statue of St. Bruno, at Rome, was ex- ecuted by that master of French sculpture, Houdon (1741-1828). At the invitation of Franklin, Houdon visited Amer- ica in the year 1785, and took casts for the statue of Washington (now at Richmond, Va.), which Lafayette declared to be the best likeness obtained of the "Amer- ican Patriot." St. Bruno belonged to the order of Trappists, whose chief law was silence. Pope Clement XIV., on seeing the statue, exclaimed, " He would speak did not the rule of his order forbid ! " St. Bruno founded the order of Carthusians, or Charter- house monks. 207. A KING THAT COULD NOT SPEAK THE LAN GUAGE OF HIS KINGDOM. George Lewis, Duke of Brunswick, Elector of Han over, came to the throne of England on the death of Queen Anne, 1 7 14, with the title of George I. He was not the nearest heir to the throne, but became king by an Act of Parliament, made some years previous, which secured the succession to the Protestant descend- ants of the electress of Hanover, in order to cut off the Roman-Catholic house of Stuarts. George I. never liked England, and the English peo- ple never liked him. He could not speak even one word of their language. He was very unkind to his son, and kept his wife in prison for thirty-three years, until her death. It was during his reign that the great monetary crisis took place, known as the South- sea Bubble. This was a scheme devised by Sir John Blunt, a 262 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. lawyer, by which it was intended to buy up the national debt of England by securing the sole right of trading in the South Seas. The bubble burst in 1720, ruining thousands of peo- ple. The term is now applied to any scheme which has a plausible promise, but whose collapse would be ruinous to all concerned in it. George I. died June 10, 1727, and was succeeded by his son, George II. His reign was made glorious by many great artists, authors, soldiers, and statesmen. Several important events occurred during his reign : the War of the Austrian Succession, the Seven Years' War, the con- quests in India, and a rebellion headed by Charles Edward, grandson of James II., in which the hopes of the Stuarts were forever crushed by the victory of Culloden (q.v.). In 1752 the new method of reckon- ing time was adopted in England (q.v.). George II. could speak only very broken English : he died in 1760, and was succeeded by his grandson, George III. He was the first of the Hanoverian line born on the soil of Great Britain. He reigned sixty years, the longest in the history of England ; and many very im- portant events occurred, such as the American Revo- lution, the French Revolution, etc. The King lost his reason in 1810: and his son, afterwards George IV., was appointed regent ; as such, he governed England for ten years. George III. was a man of high moral char- acter, and in his opening speech in Parliament is re- ported to have said, " I glory in the name of Briton ! " George IV. became King of England in 1820, and reigned ten years from that date. He was notedly immoral as Prince of Wales, and is said not to have mended his ways after he became king. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 263 He was very unkind to his wife, the Princess Car- oline of Brunswick (q.v.), bringing her to trial on charges of which the Parliament declared her not guilty. The death of his lovely daughter, Princess Charlotte, was a great grief to all England ; as she was the only heir-apparent to the throne. George IV. died in 1830, and was succeeded by his brother, William IV. (q.v.). William died in 1837, anc * was succeeded by his niece, the present Queen Victoria. The united reigns of the first three Georges cover a period of one hundred and sixteen years. When we say that George I. could not speak the English language, and that George II. spoke it very brokenly, we really mean that these German kings had nothing in common with the English people. What, then, ruled them so well for so many years ? The ex- cellent English "Constitution." 208. "TO ERR IS HUMAN, TO FORGIVE DIVINE.'* "To what base ends, and by what abject ways, Are mortals urged through sacred lust of praise ! Ah ! ne'er so dire a thirst of glory boast, Nor in the critic let the man be lost. Good nature and good sense must ever join ; To err is human, to forgive divine." The lines above quoted are from "An Essay on Criticism " by Alexander Pope, and have become almost universally used to express charity towards the failings and follies of others. The following well-known quotations are also from his writings : — "A little learning is a dangerous thing; Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring : 264 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain, And drinking largely sobers us again." " Worth makes the man, and want of it the fellow. " Honor and shame from no condition rise ; Act well your part, there all the honor lies." " A wit's a feather, and a chief a rod ; An honest man's the noblest work of God." The poetic endowments of Pope were of tr)$ first order ; and there occur in his works, short passages that are among the gems of English poetry, and ex- pressions that have become household words. In fact, no English poet has furnished so many brief quotations as he has. Alexander Pope was born in London, on May 21 or 22, 1688, and died May 30, 1744. He was the son of a retired tradesman, and, being a very sickly child, was thrown much upon the companionship of books, which he read with eagerness and delight. He commenced to write before he was twelve years old, and, before reaching manhood, had written many beautiful lines. He never became robust, and was very small, being only four feet tall. He was much perse- cuted and annoyed by some of his contemporaries, and many of his poems were very harshly criticised. He spent five years translating Homer's Iliad, by which he made five thousand pounds. He also translated the Odyssey. His chief works are "An Essay on Criti- cism," "Rape of the Lock," "Messiah," and "An Essay on Man." CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 265 209. HERALDRY IN ENGLAND. Armorial bearings are of ancient origin ; but they did not acquire a systematized form in England until the reign of Henry III., or at the end of the thirteenth century. Armorial bearings are also called " coats-of-arms." They are figurative marks of distinction assigned to individuals by certain courts, which are appointed by the sovereigns, and are known as The Herald's College, England ; The College of Arms, Ireland ; The Lyon Court, Scotland. The highest class consists of a shield with supporters and a crest along with a motto ; but only members of the peerage, or those particularly qualified, are entitled to supporters. A shield is a tri- angular figure with the point downwards, and its 'colors and emblematic devices are in some way significant of the history of the family bearing it. The tinctures (colors) are as follows : — Silver, termed Argent. Gold, termed Or. Fur, " Vair. Blue, " Azure. Green, " Vert. Red, " Gules. Black, " Sable. Purple, " Purpure. The surface of the shield is called the field. In Eng- land the assumption of arms by private individuals was first restrained by a proclamation of Henry V., which prohibited every one who had not borne arms at Agin- court to assume them, except in virtue of inheritance or a grant from the crown. The wrongful assumption of arms is an act for which the assumer may be sub- jected to penalties. The use of arms subjects the bearer of them to an annual tax. Besides individuals, countries and states are entitled to the use of arms. 266 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. Previous to the union of the crowns, the supporters of the shield of England were two lions, and those of Scotland two unicorns. After the union of the crowns, there was a lion on one side and a unicorn on the other. Before the union, the shield of England bore three lions passant (walk- ing) on a field of gold : the shield of Scotland bore a lion rampant, or standing on its hind-legs, on a field of gold. Scott, in " Marmion," refers to the royal banner of Scotland, — " The ruddy lion rampant in gold." The royal shield of the United Kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland, now quartered, bears the three lions of England in the first and fourth quarter, the lion of Scotland in the second, and in the third the harp of Ireland, — the whole significant of the union of the several countries under one sovereign. Henry VIII. was the first to assume the title of " King of Ireland." The title of " King of Great Brit- ain " was assumed by James VI. of Scotland when he became James I. of England, an event known in his- tory as "The Union of the Crowns," A.D. 1603. 210. CHLOROFORM. Chloroform is made by distilling proportions of chlo- ride of lime, alcohol, and water. The word chloroform is made up of chloros (grass-green) and formyle, a sub- stance named from the Latin formica (anant), because it was first found in ants. Chloroform was long known to the scientific chemist before its power as an anaesthetic or nerve-stupefier was CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 267 discovered. Dr. Simpson of Edinburgh was the first to introduce it into his practice in 1847. Dr. Morton, an American physician, was the first to put sulphuric ether to this use in 1846. The Greeks and Romans used mandragora to annul the pain attendant upon surgical operations, and the Chinese used hashish for the same purpose ; therefore, the administration of narcotic drugs was not unknown to the ancients, but they never attained to a knowledge of perfect anaesthetics. 211. TERRIBLE DEATH OF THE LAST OF THE KALIPHS. The kaliphs were successors of Mohammed, kaliph meaning successor. The first kaliph was Abu-beker, the father-in-law of Mohammed. This kaliph, when dying, offered the sceptre to Omar, who modestly ob- served that he had no occasion for the place. " But the place has occasion for you," replied Abu-beker, and died, praying that the God of Mohammed would ratify his choice. Omar commenced his reign A.D. 633 ; and nineteen kaliphs of the race of Omar, called Ommiades, ruled in succession until 656, after which began the dynasty of the Abbassides descended from Abbas, the uncle of Mohammed. The second of this race, Al- Mansor, built the city of Bagdad, and made it the seat of the Saracen Empire in A.D. 762. Bagdad is situ- ated on both sides of the river Tigris in Turkey, and was built partly from the ruins of the city of Babylon. While the kaliphs lived there, it was the city of the East (having, in 873, two million inhabitants), and was the chief seat of Arabian civilization and learning. The later kaliphs, in the decline of the Saracen Em- 268 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. pire, were not the warlike sovereigns their predecessors had been. They thought only of securing their ease and pleasure. Mastassem, the last of the kaliphs, exceeded all others in ostentation and pride. When he appeared in public he usually wore a veil, the more effectually to attract the respect of the public, whom he considered unworthy to look at him. On these occasions nothing could exceed the eager- ness of the multitude to see him, shown by their crowd- ing the streets, and hiring windows and balconies at enormous prices. When the Tartars, under the leadership of Halaki, took Bagdad, A.D. 1258, they ordered, that, as a pun- ishment for his pride, Mastassem should be confined in a leather bag, with his head exposed to the view of the same populace, and dragged through the same streets until he expired. The opera called " The Kaliph of Bagdad " was writ- ten in 1799, by Boieldieu. 212. "THE FAERIE QUEENE." "The Faerie Queene," by Edmund Spenser, is an allegorical poem of some length, and is one of the most beautiful poems in the English language. The purpose of the poem, and what the different characters represent, can best be explained in Spenser's own words, in a letter to Sir Walter Raleigh : — " In that Faery Queene I meane glory in my generall intention, but in my particular I conceive the most excellent and glorious person of our soveraine the Queene (Elizabeth), and her kingdome in Faeryland. And yet, in some places els, I doe otherwise shadow her. For considering she beareth two persons, the one of a most CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 269 royall Queene or Empresse, the other of a most vertuous and beautifull Lady, this latter part in some places I doe expresse in Belphcebe, fashioning her name according to her owne excellent conceipt of Cynthia (Phcebe and Cynthia being both names of Diana). So in the person of Prince Arthure I sette forth magnifi- cence in particular, which vertue, for that (according to Aristotle and the rest) it is the perfection of all the rest, and conteineth in it them all, therefore in the whole course I mention the deedes of Arthure applyable to that vertue, which I write of in that booke. But of the xii. other vertues, I make xii. other knights the pa- trones, for the more variety of the history : Of which these three bookes contayn three. " The first of the knight of the Red crosse, in whome I expresse Holynes : The second of Sir Gujon, in whome I set forthe Tem- peraunce : The third of Britomartis, a Lady Knight, in whome I picture Chastity. But, because the beginning of the whole worke seemeth abrupte and as depending on other antecedents, it needs that ye know the occasion of these three knights severall adven- tures. For the methode of a Poet historical is not such as of an Historiographer. For an Historiographer discourseth of affayres orderly as they were donne, accounting as well the times as the actions ; but a Poet thrusteth into the middest, even where it most concerneth him, and there recoursing to the thinges forepaste, and divining of thinges to come, maketh a pleasing Analysis of all. " The beginning therefore of my history, if it were to be told by an Historiographer, should be the twelfth booke, which is the last ; where I devise that the Faery Queene kept her Annuall feast xii. dayes; upon which xii. several dayes, the occasions of the xii. severall adventures hapned, which, being undertaken by xii. sev- erall knights, are in these xii. severall bookes severally handled and discoursed. The first was this. In the beginning of the feast, there presented him selfe a tall clownishe younge man, who falling before the Queene of Fairies desired a boone (as the manner then was) which during that feast she might not refuse, which was that hee might have the atchievement of any adventure, which during that feaste should happen : that being graunted, hee rested him on the floore, unfitte through his rusticity for a better place. " Soone after entred a faire Ladye in mourning weedes, riding on a white Asse, with a dwarfe behind her leading a warlike steed, that bore the Armes of a knight, and his speare in the dwarfe's 2/0 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. hand. Shee, falling before the Queene of Faeries, complayned that her father and mother, an ancient King and Queene, had bene by a huge dragon many years shut up in a brasen Castle, who thence suffred them not to yssew ; and therefore besought the Faery Queene to assygne her some one of her knights to take on him that exployt. Presently that clownish person, upstarting, desired that adventure : Whereat the Queene much wondering, and the Lady much gainesaying, yet he earnestly importuned his desire. In the end the Lady told him, that unlesse that armour which she brought, would serve him (that is, the armour of a Christian man specified by Saint Paul vi. Ephes.) that he could not succeed in that enterprise ; which being forthwith put upon him, with dewe furni tures thereunto, he seemed the goodliest man in al that company, and was well liked of the Lady. And eftesoones taking on him knighthood, and mounting on that straunge Courser, he went forth with her on that adventure." The first part of " The Faerie Queene " was published in 1590, and the second in 1595. He had intended twelve books, setting forth the twelve moral virtues which should be practised by a knight or gentleman : he wrote only six. Edmund Spenser, made famous among English poets by this one work, was born in London in 1553. He was, in point of time, the second great poet of England, — Chaucer being the first. Between the death of Chaucer and the birth of Spenser, there were one hun- dred and fifty years, during which time there was no great English poet. But little is known of his early life. His friend, Sir Philip Sidney, introduced him to Sir Walter Raleigh, who brought him to the notice of Queen Elizabeth. She gave him an estate in Ireland, and a castle called Kilcolman, where he resided for several years. He was appointed Sheriff of Cork ; but this office brought him into trouble with the Irish people, who did not wish to be governed by English rulers. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 271 During an insurrection in 1598 he was compelled to flee with his family to England ; and in three months after, — January, 1599, — he died in Westminster, aged forty-six years. Hallam says, " Spenser is still the third name in the poetical literature of our country ; and he has not been surpassed, except by Dante, in any other." And Keble calls him " pre-eminently the sacred poet of his country." 213. A STATUE SIX THOUSAND YEARS OLD. Probably the oldest and most remarkable statue in the world is one now in the Museum of Antiquities at Boolak, Egypt. It is a wooden statue of a man, and is supposed to be six thousand years old. It was discovered by Mariette Bey, the great French Egyptologist, at Memphis, and placed by him in its present situation. Nothing is known of its history, and it stands as a solitary monument of the handicraft of a people who lived and died thousands of years ago. Mr. Charles Dudley Warner, in the narrative of his travels in the East, thus describes this statue : " This image is one metre and ten centimetres high, — a little over three feet. It stands erect, holding a staff. The figure is full of life ; the pose expresses vigor, action, pride ; the head, round in form, indicates intellect. The eyes are crystal, in a setting of bronze, giving a startling look of life to the glance. It is, no doubt, a portrait. " 'There is nothing more striking,' says its discoverer, 'than this image — in a manner living — of a person who has been dead six thousand years.' He must have been a man of mark and a citizen of a state well civil- ized : this is not the portrait of a barbarian, nor was it 1 2J2 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. carved by a rude artist. Few artists, I think, have lived since, who could impart more vitality to wood." It may be added that it has a suggestion, if not more, of the Farnese Hercules. 214. NUMBER OF VICTIMS OF THE REIGN OF TERROR IN FRANCE. The Reign of Terror in France terminated with the execution of Robespierre, July 29, 1794. It is hard to realize the number of victims who perished during this terrible time when France was in the hands of a law- less mob. Sir Archibald Alison, in his " History of Europe," says, — "Thus terminated the Reign of Terror, — a period fraught with greater political instruction than any of equal duration which has existed since the beginning of the world. In no former period had the efforts of the people so completely triumphed, or the higher orders been so thoroughly crushed by the lower. The throne had been overturned, the altar destroyed, the aristocracy levelled with the dust: the nobles were in exile, the clergy in cap- tivity, the gentry in affliction. A merciless sword had waved over the state, destroying alike the dignity of rank, the splendor of talent, and the graces of beauty. All that excelled the laboring classes in situation, fortune, or acquirement, had been removed : they had triumphed over their oppressors, seized their possessions, and risen into their stations. And what was the consequence ? The establishment of a more cruel and revolting tyranny than any which mankind had yet witnessed, the destruction of all the chari- ties and enjoyments of life, the dreadful spectacle of streams of blood flowing through every part of France. The earliest friends, the warmest advocates, the firmest supporters, of the people, were swept off indiscriminately with their bitterest enemies. In the unequal struggle, virtue and philanthropy sunk under ambition and violence, and society returned into a state of chaos, where all the elements of private or public happiness were scattered to the CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 273 winds. Such are the results of unchaining the passions of the multitude , such the peril of suddenly admitting the light upon a benighted people. . . . The extent to which blood was shed in France during this melancholy period will hardly be credited by future ages. The republican, Prudhomme, whose prepossessions led him to any thing rather than an exaggeration of the horrors of the popular party, has given the following appalling account of the victims of the Revolution : — Nobles Noble women . Wives of laborers and artisans Religieuses . Priests . . by Common persons, not noble Guillotined by sentence of the revolutionary tribunals Women who died from illness produced and grief .... Women killed in La Vendue Children « " " Men slain in La Vendue . Victims under Carrier at Nantes Children shot Children drowned Women shot Women drowned . Priests shot . Priests drowned . Nobles drowned . Artisans drowned Victims at Lvons c Total 1,278 750 1,467 350 IJ35 13.623 18,603 excitement 500 1,500 264 500 300 460 1,400 5,3oo 18,603 3,748 15,000 22,000 900.000 32,000 31,000 1,022,351 " In this enumeration are not comprehended the massacre at Versailles, at the Abbey, the Cannes, or other prisons, on the 2d of September, the victims of the Glaciere of Avignon, those shot at Toulon and Marseilles, or the persons slain in the little town of Bedouin, of which the whole population perished. It is in an espe- cial manner remarkable, in this dismal catalogue, how large a pro- portion of the victims of the Revolution were persons in the 274 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. middling and lower ranks of life. The priests and nobles guil- lotined are only 2,413, while the persons of plebeian origin exceed 13,000! The nobles and priests put to death at Nantes were only 2,160; while the infants drowned and shot are 2,000, the women 764, and the artisans 5,300 ! So rapidly, in revolutionary convul- sions, does the career of cruelty reach the lower orders ! and so wide-spread is the carnage dealt out to them, compared to that which they have sought to inflict on their superiors." 215. AUTHOR OF "GOD SAVE THE KING." The author of the English national anthem, "God Save the King" (or Queen), was Dr. Henry Carey, born in London about 1696, and died 1743. The poem was written in honor of a birthday of George II., but it has undergone some changes as re- gards the words. The music was composed by Dr. John Bull. 216. "LAST OF ROMANS." Sir E. B. Lytton's noble romance of " Rienzi " has painted in the most attractive and glowing manner the life and actions of Nicola Gabrini Rienzi, commonly and not inappropriately called "the last of the Roman trib- unes." He was born in Rome about 1312. His father was an innkeeper, his mother a washerwoman : they, however, recognizing the natural abilities of their son, gave him a good education ; and he became a fine orator. His name — Cola di Rienzi — was but an abbreviation of his fathers name, Lorenzo. The assassination of his brother by a Roman noble, whom he found it impossible to bring to punishment, is considered to be the incident that determined him to deliver Rome, as soon as he was able, from the thraldom of the barons. During the CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 275 first half of the fourteenth century anarchy reigned in Rome : the pontifical residence had been removed to Avignon, in the South of France, where the popes resided from 1309 to 1377. A set of factious and tyran- nical nobles, living in fortified castles, had established, in their lawlessness, a perfect reign of terror over the unhappy citizens, who groaned under the oppression that every day became more intolerable. In 1343 Rienzi was appointed by the heads of the Guelph party, spokesman, or orator, of a deputation sent to the papal court at Avignon, to beseech Clement VI. to return to Rome in order to release and defend the citizens from the tyranny of their oppressors. Here he formed a close friendship with Petrarch, who in after- years, when Rienzi was condemned to death, interceded for him, and saved his life. After his return to Rome, he for three years loudly and openly menaced the no- bles, who took no steps to crush him, because they thought he was insane. At length, after a series of animated addresses to the people in the streets and in public places, when he thought he could rely upon their assistance, he summoned them together on the 20th of May, 1347; and, surrounded by one hundred horsemen and the papal legate, he delivered a magnifi- cent discourse, and proposed a series of laws for the better government of Rome. These were unanimously adopted : the aristocratic senators were driven out of the city, and Rienzi was invested with dictatorial power. He took the title of "Tribune of liberty, peace, and justice." The Pope confirmed the eloquent dictator in his authority ; and all Italy, for a time, rejoiced in his success. After one or two unsuccessful attempts of the two great factions of the exiled nobles (the Colonna and the 2/6 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. Ursini, or Orsini), who laid aside their mutual animosi- ties, to unite against a common foe, the dethronement of Rienzi was suddenly accomplished by the Count of Minorbino, who entered Rome at the head of one hundred and fifty soldiers. For seven years Rienzi remained an exile from his native city, wandering about from the court of one sovereign to another : he was at last made a prisoner by the Emperor Charles IV., who sent him as a captive to the papal court at Avignon. On the accession of Innocent VI. to the pontificate, Rienzi was sent to Rome as the representative of the court of Avignon, and was hailed with every appearance of triumph and rejoicing. But his relations with the court of Avignon led the people to regard him with suspicion ; and, being unfortunately compelled to levy a tax upon them, they were aroused to fury ; and on Oct. 8, 1354, they burst into the Capitol, and dragged him out, and despatched him with numerous wounds. His head was cut off, and his body ignominiously exposed to the dogs, and the mutilated remains committed to the flames. In the first part of his career he was an enthusiast in the cause of human rights. He took the style of tribune to recall the good old times, " the good estate," when the tribunes of the people checked the oppressions of the consuls and the caprices of the Senate. With power and fame, he became ambitious ; and like Crom- well and Napoleon, the " armed soldiers of democracy," he coveted a throne, and a prescriptive rule. Of him the Roman people might have said, as did Brutus of Julius Caesar, "as he was ambitious, we slew him." Lord Byron, in his " Childe Harold's Pilgrimage," speaks of Rienzi : — CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 2JJ " Then turn we to her latest tribune's name, From her ten thousand tyrants turn to thee, Redeemer of dark centuries of shame — The friend of Petrarch — hope of Ifaly — Rienzi ! last of Romans ! While the tree Of freedom's withered trunk puts forth a leaf, Even for thy tomb a garland let it be — The forum's champion, and the people's chief — • Her new-born Numa thou — with reign, alas! too brief." 217. THE OLDEST ART. Pottery is the oldest, the longest, and the most widely diffused, of human arts. Its history, if it could be recorded, would be as old as the history of man : its recorded history begins with the building of Babel. The oldest pottery known is Egyptian ; but every people, civilized or barbarian, has practised the art in one or another form. All study in every department of art begins at a period not long after the Mosaic deluge. All art-his- tory, when traced towards its beginning, is found to commence at a time less than five thousand years ago. There is no work of human hands, no result of human thought, now known, whose date is fixed at more than 3000 B.C., the earlier dates assigned by some able men to the Egyptian monuments of ancient dynasties being theoretical. The tombs at Beni Hassan in Egypt, which date from about 2000 B.C., contain pictures of various Egyptian trades and industries, including a pottery, in which appears the potter's wheel in use for forming cups. The Egyptians, therefore, made soft pot- tery in forms at this early period. They possessed also an art which belongs to the class of pottery, though not actually the baking of clay. They carved small articles 278 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. from steatite, or soapstone, which they covered with a vitreous substance, and baked in furnaces, producing a resemblance to« enamelled pottery. This art was of very early origin, and specimens are known bearing the names of kings who reigned before 2000 B.C. The ceramic art probably went eastward as well as westward from the Euphrates valley, but its course cannot be traced. Westward, the Phoenicians appear to have possessed the art at a period prior to 1500 B.C. The best period in the history of pottery was from 400 to 300 B.C. After the latter date the art declined, and before the date of the Roman empire was practi- cally abandoned. The Greeks imported into Italy, both the splendid works of their potteries and the potters themselves, who produced similar fabrics in that country. For a long time these works were attributed to the Etruscans, but it is now known that the Etruscans never excelled in the ceramic art. The Saracens possessed a knowledge of pottery as early as the eighth century A.D., and it was carried by them into Spain. Whether Germany derived knowl edge of the art from Saracen sources, it is impossible to affirm. But the first work in glazed pottery in Chris- tian Europe, of which we have any knowledge, is found at Leipsic, where the Convent of St. Paul, finished in 1207, had a frieze of glazed or enamelled bricks, with raised figures of Christ and the apostles. The most celebrated specimens of the potter's art are found in Henri Deux ware, or faience d'Oircn, which is very rare, and of which only fifty-three specimens are known ; Palissy ware, which is of French manufacture (q.v.) ; and Wedgwood, which was manufactured by the Wedgwood family in England. The importance of the ceramic art as an aid to ethnological research is CURIOUS QUESTIONS. not less than its importance as an aid to the historian, because it is frequently the bearer of historical facts, inscribed on it in lasting characters. - The Babylonian and Ninevite libraries were pottery : their books were tablets of clay, on which the letters were impressed ; and the tablets, being baked, became enduring pages of history, that, in the nineteenth century after Christ, we find as legible as when printed : and learned men of to-day are translating them into the modern lan- guages. The Arab-Moors of the mediaeval period excelled in beautiful tiling, made into dados and wainscoting, called azulejos, of which fine specimens filled with arabesque designs are perfectly preserved in the Alhambra of Granada. 218. THE WHITE HORSE OF BERKSHIRE. On the western boundaries of Berkshire, among the chalk-hills which form a continuation of the Wiltshire Downs, there is a remarkable memorial of by-gone times, — the renowned White Horse of Berkshire. The colossal representation which bears this name is an excavation on the side of a steep green hill two feet deep, showing the chalk of which the hill is composed. Though rudely cut, the figure, when viewed from the vale beneath, is easily recognized as a white horse in the act of galloping. Its length is about 374 feet, and the space which it occupies is said to be nearly two acres. The origin of this remarkable figure is involved in doubt ; but, according to tradition, it was carved to com- memorate the victory of King Ethelred and his brother Alfred, afterwards Alfred the Great, over the Danes at 280 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. Ashdown, in the year 871. The actual site of this great battle is not known, and has been a subject of much discussion ; but the strongest probability is in favor of White-Horse Hill, on the summit of which, at the height of 893 feet above the sea, is an ancient encamp- ment, consisting of a plain of more than eight acres in extent, surrounded by a rampart and ditch. Immediately beneath it is the stupendous engraving of the White Horse. The preservation of this time- honored memorial is due to a ceremony known as "The Scouring of the White Horse." The inhabitants of the neighboring district assemble once every year, and scour or clean out the trench so as to renew and preserve the figure of the horse. The festival which concludes their labors forms a fete of one or two days' duration, the rustics being entertained at the expense of the landlord. A most interesting and graphic description of one of these rural gatherings, which took place in September, 1857, is given in "The Scouring of the White Horse," from the spirited pen of Mr. Thomas Hughes, the author of "Tom Brown's School-Days." See " Book of Days." 219. JOHN ZISCA. This noted general of Bohemia took up arms in the year 1419 against the Emperor Sigismund of Germany, to revenge the deaths of John Huss and Jerome of Prague, who had been cruelly burned to death for their religious tenets. His army amounted to forty thousand men, and he defeated the emperor in several pitched battles. He CURIOUS QUESTIONS. gave orders that after his death (which occurred in 1424) his skin should be made into drum-heads, that he might still lead his troops against his enemies. His wish was religiously carried out ; and the skin of the enthusiastic Zisca long proved fatal to the emperor, for he did not recover Bohemia during a space of six- teen years. The Hussite war, as it was called, was for religious liberty, and was the beginning of the great Reforma- tion, John Huss having been the first martyr. Huss and Jerome of Prague were burnt by order of the Em- peror Sigismund, in 141 7. It required a hundred years of darkness and doubt, and study and hope, to bring about the appearance of Luther at the Diet of Worms. Sigismund violated his own safe-conduct as given to Huss. Charles V. kept his faith with Luther, but later in life regretted that he had. 220. VICTOR HUGO. Without exception, the largest funeral ever seen in France was that of Victor Hugo, poet, author, and dramatist, who died at Paris, May 22, 1885, and was buried in the Pantheon, June 1, 1885. The number of spectators estimated to have been present was placed at one million, of all classes and kinds, each striving with the other to pay the greatest honor to the dead poet ; while telegrams of condolence were sent from all parts of the world. At the head of the funeral procession were three large wagons filled with floral tributes : among others was a beautiful diadem of Irish lilies, with the inscrip- tion, "To the World's Greatest Poet," sent by Alfred Tennyson, Poet-Laureate of England. 282 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. Victor Hugo was born at Besancon, France, Feb. 26, 1802, and was tfre youngest of three sons of Gen. Hugo, who served with honor through Napoleon's cam- paigns in Italy and Spain. At an early age he entered a preparatory school in Paris, with a view later on to entering the Polytechnic College : he was but fifteen years of age when he aspired to the prize offered by the Academy for the best poem on the advantages of study ; and the prize was withheld, only because the dignitaries of that insti- tution took offence at one of the passages in the work, which they considered to be presumptuous. Two years later he carried off two prizes at the Academy of Floral Games; and in 1821 his first volume of lyrical poems appeared, which not only confirmed^ the high regard in which many of the most eminent men of France held his genius, but also obtained for him a pension of three hundred francs from Louis XVIII. He married Adele Foucher, a young girl for whom he had had a romantic affection from the time he was five years of age. In 1 841 he was received as a member of the French Academy, and soon after he was raised to the peerage of King Louis Philippe. In 1 85 1 Victor Hugo refused the amnesty offered by Napoleon III., and went into a voluntary exile for nineteen years : it was during this time that his most brilliant successes were achieved. On the fall of the Empire he hastened back to France, and entered heartily into the Republican Gov ernment : he was also returned to the National Assem- bly at Bordeaux, which he afterward quitted in disgust, going to Brussels. The Belgian Government, alarmed by his violent- CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 283 writings and his avowed sympathy with the Com- munists, expelled him from the country ; and he sought seclusion in Vianden in Luxemburg. He returned to Paris in July, 1 871, and lived a retired and quiet life until his death. Among his principal works are the tales " Notre Dame de Paris," " Les Miserables," " Quatre-vingt- treize," and " L' Art d'etre Grandpere ; " and the plays " Hernani," " Ruy Bias," and " Lucrece Borgia." 221. THE VOCAL MEMNON. Probably the most interesting and curious statue of antiquity is that known as the "Vocal Memnon," on the west bank of the Nile at Thebes, Egypt. This statue represents Amenophis III. (about 1500 or 1600 B.C.), and is the northernmost of two colossal sit- ting figures of black stone, forming a part of a row of statues leading to the gate of the palace of Amenophis. It is fifty feet high without the base, and must have stood sixty feet in the air before the soil of the Nile covered the desert on which it stands. The pedestal is a solid stone, thirty-three feet long, and twelve feet high. According to tradition, sounds resembling the twang- ing of a harp-string, or the striking of brass, were heard issuing from this statue every morning at sun- rise. On the lower part of the statue are seventy-two inscriptions in Greek and Latin, by the Emperor Ha- drian, the Empress Sabina, and also by several govern- ors of Egypt and other travellers, official and private, testifying that they have heard the sound. The "Vocal Memnon " was thrown down by an earth- 284 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. quake, 27 B.C., and lay undisturbed until A.D. 170. In the time of Roman occupation, during the reign of Septimius Severus, it was set up, and restored from the waist by brick-work and blocks of stone ; but it ceased to give out sounds. One theory advanced as to the sounds emitted by the statue was, that they were caused by the action of the sun's rays upon the dew that had fallen in the crev- ices of the broken figure ; and another was, that a priest was concealed in the lap of the figure, and struck a metallic stone. The Greeks of later ages confounded this statue with that of Memnon, the son of Aurora, and one of the defenders of Troy ; and they believed that the sound was his morning salutation to his mother : hence the statue is known as the vocal or singing statue of Memnon. As this sound was to be heard only as the first rays of the sun touched the statue, hundreds of persons, at different times, from all parts of Europe, have assem- bled, and lain all night at the base of it, that they might observe the phenomenon. Could an investigation be made now, since the discovery of converting light into sound, the mystery that puzzled the ancients might be satisfactorily solved. 222. THE TENEBRiE. A religious funeral service in the Church of Rome, held on Good Friday. It consists of, first, a brilliantly lighted church : at a signal, the lights are instantly extinguished ; and for some time total darkness and silence reign supreme, to commemorate the three hours of darkness. When the CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 285 church is lighted again, very dimly, a coffin is before the altar, studded with stars, and surrounded with can- dles. The altar is draped in black, and the place where the Host is kept is open and empty. The funeral service, called the Tenebrae, then begins, consisting of penitential psalms, and ending with the chanting of the Miserere, or fifty-first psalm. The service is very effective, and brings very viv- idly to the mind the death of Christ. The Pope always presides at this service, in St. Peter's, Rome. 223. ABANDONMENT OF SUNDAY DURING THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. During the French Revolution royalty was abolished, and France declared by the National Convention to be a Republic, Sept. 22, 1792. After the Convention had accomplished the judicial murder of Louis XVI., Jan. 21, 1793, the "Reign of Terror" began, under the leadership of Danton, Marat, and Robespierre. The infamous decree to abandon the Christian reli- gion in France, and to substitute for it the worship of Liberty, Equality, and Reason, was"passed at the insti- gation of Gobet, Archbishop of Paris. Churches were quickly despoiled of their ornaments, and civic feasts substituted for religious festivals. The Convention also enacted that time, instead of being reckoned from the birth of Christ, should there- after be reckoned from the birthday of the French Republic, the year to begin anew from that date ; and, that the Christian Sabbath might not be observed, months were to consist of thirty days each, a day of rest being granted only at the close of each decade 286 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. (ten days). Danton was guillotined ; Marat was assas- sinated by Charlotte Corday ; but the " Reign of Ter- ror" did not close until the axe of the guillotine fell upon the neck of Robespierre, July 28, 1794. In 1795 France received a new constitution, the third since 1789. The executive power was vested in five directors, — hence the name Directory given to this period of French government : each director was to be in turn president for three months. A re-ac- tion had set in, the people awoke as from a hideous dream, the laws of Robespierre were repealed, the churches were re-opened for Christian worship, and the decades of the revolution gave place to the ob- servance of Sunday. But the Directory lasted only four years (1 795-1 799), when the Consulate form of government was established, with Napoleon as First Consul. This change in the government was accom- plished without the interference of the people, and was, therefore, not revolutionary. Napoleon was now master of France. He made peace with foreign pow- ers, and applied himself to the internal government of the country. On the 18th of September, 1801, he made a treaty with the Pope, called " The Concordat," by which the Roman-Catholic religion was formally re-established in France, and the liberties of the Gal- lican Church were secured by a series of carefully pre- pared provisos. We know of no other instance where the observance of one day in seven as a holy day, or day of rest, has been abandoned since the command for its regular ob- servance was given to Moses on Mount Sinai. And it is a singular coincidence, that, by keeping this com- mand, there is at the present a perpetual Sabbath upon the earth, since the Greeks observe Monday ; the CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 2%J Persians, Tuesday ; the Assyrians, Wednesday ; the Egyptians, Thursday ; the Turks, Friday ; the Jews, Saturday ; and the Christians, Sunday. 224. DANTE'S "INFERNO." Dante is called the father of Italian literature : be- fore his time the poets of Northern Italy wrote in the Provengal language, which was the dialect spoken chiefly in Southern France. But Dante wrote in Ital- ian, and from his time the Italian became a real lan- guage. His great work is the " Divine Comedy" ("Divina Commedia"), an epic poem consisting of three parts, — "LTnferno" ("Hell"), "II Purgatorio" (" Purgatory "), and "II Paradiso" (" Paradise"). This poem is an alle- gory conceived in the form of a vision, which was the most popular style of poetry in that age. As a poem, it is of the highest order, and ranks Dante with Homer and Milton. The measure is called terza rima, con- sisting of three lines (eleven syllables each) so ar- ranged that the first and third rhyme together, the middle one with the first and third of the succeeding triplet. The whole work includes one hundred cantos. The poem was written during the nineteen years that Dante was an exile from his native city, Florence, under penalty of being burned alive should he ever return. In the year 1300 Dante supposes himself to be wan- dering near Jerusalem, and to be favored with means of access to the realms of shadows. He is met by Vir- gil, who offers to conduct him safely through hell and purgatory; while Beatrice, his "loved one," will con- 288 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. duct him through paradise. During these visitations he meets and talks with those who have been best known for good or evil on the earth, especially in Flor- ence. The allegory has been thus explained : — Dante is first represented as wandering in a wood (this life) : he comes to a mountain (fame), and begins to climb it. First a panther (pleasure), then a lion (am- bition), and then a she-wolf (avarice), stand in his path to stay him. The appearance of Virgil (human wis- dom) encourages him by telling the poet he has been sent by three ladies, Beatrice (faith), Lucia (grace), and Mercy, to conduct him through the realms of hell (Canto II.). They soon reach a gateway, the gate of hell, over which they find inscribed, " Who enters here leaves hope behind." They pass through, and reach the realm of "the praiseless and the blameless dead," — the spirits of those not good enough for heaven, not bad enough for hell. Charon (the old man in Greek mythology, whose duty it was to ferry the souls of the deceased across the river of death, — Styx, or Acheron, — and for which he always received a small coin, which was placed in the mouth of the dead) ferries them across the Acheron to Limbo (Canto III.). Here they meet the spirits of the unbaptized, " blameless of sin," but not members of the Christian Church. Homer, Horace, Ovid, Luc- can, are here, and enroll Dante "sixth of the sacred band," — Virgil being the fifth. On leaving Limbo he passes with his guide through the seven gates which lead to the inferno, — an enor- mous, funnel-shaped pit, divided into stages. In the outer or first circle is a vast meadow, in which roam Electra (mother of Dardanus, founder of Troy) ; Hector (one of the most valiant of the Trojan chiefs who fought CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 289 against the Greeks at the siege of Troy) ; ^Eneas, a Tro- jan prince, who, when the city was in flames, carried his aged father, Anchises, away on his shoulders, lead- ing his son, his wife following them ; and Julius Caesar, the greatest Roman ; Camilla and Penthesilea (a queen of the Amazons) ; Latinus and Junius Brutus, Lucretia, Marcia (Cato's wife), Julia (Pompey's wife), and Cor- nelia (mother of the Gracchi) ; and here, " apart re- tired," they see Saladin, the rival of Richard the Lion- heart ; Linos and Orpheus ; Aristotle, Socrates, and Plato ; Democritos, who ascribed creation to blind chance; Diogenes the cynic; Heraclitos, Empedocles, Anaxagoras, Thales, Dioscorides, and Zeno, Cicero and Seneca, Euclid and Ptolemy, Hippocrates and Galen, Avincen, and Averroes, the Arabian translator and commentator of Aristotle (Canto IV.). From the first circle they pass to the second, where Minos sits in judgment of those brought before him. He indicates what circle each is to occupy, by a twist of his tail around his body ; one twist meaning first circle, two means second, and so on. Here, says the poet, is the hell of carnal and sinful love. Dante recognizes Semiramis, Dido, Cleopatra, and Helen ; Achilles, Paris, Tristan and Lancelot (Canto V.). The third is a circle of still deeper woe. Here fall in ceaseless showers, hail, black rain, and sleety flaw : the air is cold, and a foul stench rises from the soil. Cerberus, the watch-dog with three heads, is here to prevent the living from entering, and the dead from escaping : this part of the inferno is set apart for glut- tons. They pass to the fourth circle, presided over by Plutus, the god of riches, a realm which " hems in all the woe of all the universe." Here are gathered the souls of the avaricious who wasted their talents, or 290 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. made no right use of their wealth (Canto VI.). Cross- ing this, they come to the " fifth steep," and see the Stygian lake of inky hue. This circle is a huge bog in which " the miry tribe " flounder, and " gulp the muddy lees." It is the abode of those who put no restraint upon their anger (Canto VII.). Then comes the city of Dis, where the souls of here- tics are "interred in vaults" (Cantos VIII. and IX.). Here Dante recognizes Farinata (a leader of the Ghibel- line faction), and is informed that the Emperor Freder- ick II. and Cardinal Ubaldim are among the number (Canto X.). The city of Dis contains the next three circles (Canto XL), through which Nessus, a celebrated Cen- taur, conducts them ; and here they see the Minotaur and the Centaurs. The first circle of Dis (the sixth) is for those who, by force or fraud, have done violence to man, as Alexander the Great, Dionysius of Syracuse, Attila the Hun, Sextus and Pyrrhus (Canto XII.). The next (the seventh circle) is for those who have done violence to themselves, as suicides : here are the Harpies, and here the souls are transformed to trees (Canto XIII.). The eighth circle is for the souls of those who have done violence to God, as blasphemers and heretics : it is a hell of burning, where it snows flakes of fire ; here Dante held converse with Brunetto, his old schoolmaster (Cantos XIV. and XV). Having reached the confines of the realms of Dis r the monster Geyron — "that image vile of Fraud ap- peared" — carries Dante and his guide across a deep chasm into the region of Malebolge, the eighth circle of inferno, which contains ten bolgi, or pits (Canto XVII.). In the first is Jason ; the second is for harlots (Canto XVIII.); in the third is Simon Magus, "who prosti- CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 291 tuted the things of God for gold;" in the fourth, Pope Nicholas III. (Canto XIX.) ; in the fifth, the heads of the ghosts were reversed ; and here were Amphiaraiis, famous for his knowledge of futurity ; • and Tiresias, a celebrated prophet of Thebes ; Michael Scott the magi- cian, with all witches and diviners (Canto XX.); in the sixth, Caiaphas, and Annas his father-in-law (Canto XXIII.); in the seventh, robbers of churches, as Vanni Fucci, who robbed the Sacristy of St. James in Pistoia, and charged Vannidella Nona with the crime, for which she suffered death (Canto XXIV.) ; in the eighth, Ulysses and Diomed, who were punished for the strata- gem of the wooden horse at the siege of Troy (Cantos XXVI. and XXVII.); in the ninth, Mahomet and Ali, false prophets " horribly mangled" (Canto XXVIII.); in the tenth, alchemists (Canto XXIX.) ; coiners and forgers ; Potiphar's wife ; Simon the Greek, who deluded the Trojans (Canto XXX.) ; Nimrod, Ephialtes, and Antaeus, with other giants (Canto XXXI.). Antaeus carries the two visitors into the nethermost hell, where Judas and Lucifer are confined. It is a region of thick, ribbed ice ; and here they see the frozen river Cocytus (Canto XXXII.). The last persons the poet sees are Brutus and Cas- sius, the murderers of Julius Caesar (Canto XXXIV.). Dante and Virgil then make their exit on the southern hemisphere. This is done that the poet may visit pur- gatory, which is imagined by Dante to be a mountain rising from mid-ocean, on the top of which lies paradise. (This synopsis is taken chiefly from "The Readers* Handbook : " Brewer.) 2()2 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 225. THE GOLDEN ROSE. The institution of the Golden Rose dates from the year 1049, under the pontificate of Leo IX. This Pope, wishing to establish his right of patronage over the Monastery of the Holy Cross in Alsace, exacted from it every year a golden rose. This custom still exists, and the rose is blessed by the Pope on the fourth Sunday in Lent. Formerly, in the solemn papal pro- cession of the day, the Pope carried it in his left hand, while with his right he blessed the people. It is usually presented to the individual or the city which, during the year, has best deserved the favors of the Holy See. The rose weighs two ounces, and was formerly col- ored red to signify the blood of the Redeemer shed for his people. It is now made only in pale gold. The gold, as the noblest of metals, is intended to represent Christ ; and the fragrance of the rose refers to his resurrection. The Republic of Venice, which was the birthplace of several popes, possessed five of these roses in the treasury of St. Mark's Church ; but during the wars they were lost or stolen. 226. THE ROCK OF REFUGE. In Hawaii, one of the Sandwich Islands, there is a large, flat rock, called the " Rock of Refuge." If a criminal reaches this rock before capture, he is safe as long as he remains there. Usually his family supply him with food until he can make his escape, but he is never allowed to return to his tribe. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 293 227. THE FOUNDATION OF VENICE. The city of Venice, founded in A.D. 421, owes its origin to a panic produced by the invasion of Italy by Attila the Hun, called the " Sword of Mars." Many inhabitants of the cities bordering on the Adriatic fled before the barbarians to the islands in the Lagoon : these islands, seventy-two in number, united in time by four hundred bridges, became the city and state of Venice. For eleven hundred years the colony thus formed was governed by a series of dukes, or doges. The order of doges lasted from 697 to 1797 : previous to this the government had been for three hundred years repub- lican in form. For four hundred years Venice was the finest city in Europe. Its glory began with the Crusades in the twelfth century. Her position, favorable to commerce, led to ship-building ; and the hire of these ships filled her coffers with gold. She became a great mart of commerce and traffic. Venetian ships transported the Crusaders to the Holy Land, and brought back the spices and jewels of the East, and the spoils of con- quered cities. The manufacturers of Venice soon became famous, and the silk and glass of Venice were unrivalled. The commerce of Venice, which had been the well-spring of prosperity, began to decline after Vasco de Gama's discovery, in 1497, of an ocean route to India. In 1508 the League of Cambray (q.v.) was formed against the island city by the Pope, the Emperor of Germany, and the kings of France and Spain ; and Venice suffered a defeat from which she never recov- ered. In 1796 Napoleon issued a declaration to the 294 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. effect that the Venetian Republic had ceased to exist. In 1866 Venice was finally annexed to the kingdom of Italy. Venice has added to art, science, and literature many notable names. We can never be ungrateful to the city which has given to the world a Titian, a Bellini, and a Tintoretto, a Marco Polo and a Friar Paul, an Aldus Manutius, a Goldini, and a Canova. No city in the world has so inspired the poet's muse. Read in this connection Byron's " Ode to Venice," also Canto IV. in "Childe Harold," Rogers's "Brides of Venice," Shakspeare's "Rialto," Ruskin's " Stones of Venice," and for full information, Adam's " Queen of the Adri- atic, or, Venice Past and Present." In this book, see " Customs of Ancient Venice." 228. SOME AMERICAN LITERARY PSEUDONYMES. "H. H.," Helen Hunt Jackson. " Ik Marvel," Donald Grant Mitchell. "Pansy," Mrs. Isabella Alden. " Sophie May," Rebecca S. Clarke. "Cousin Alice," or "Alice E. Lee," Mrs. Alice (Bradley) Haven. " George Fleming," Julia Constance Fletcher. " Margaret Sidney," Mrs. H. M. Lothrop. " Col. Ingham," Edward Everett Hale. " Fanny Forrester," Mrs. Emily (Chubbuck) Judson. "Frank Forrester," Henry William Herbert. " Francis Forrester," Daniel Wise. "Fanny Fern," Mrs. Sarah Payson (Willis) Parton. "Jennie June," Mrs. Jennie C. Croly. " Peter Parley," Samuel Griswold Goodrich. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 295 "Timothy Titcomb," Josiah Gilbert Holland. " Elizabeth Wetherell," Susan Warner. " Florence Percy," Mrs. Elizabeth (Akers) Allen. " Martha Farquherson," Martha Finley. "Marian Harland," Mrs. Mary Virginia (Hawes) Terhune. "Gail Hamilton," Mary Abigail Dodge. "Howard Glyndon," Mrs. Laura C. (Redden) Searing. " Porte Crayon," David Hunter Strother. " Petroleum V. Nasby," David Ross Locke. "Warrington," William S. Robinson. " Mrs. Partington," Benjamin P. Shillaber. " Stella," Mrs. Estelle Anna (Robinson) Lewis. " Grace Greenwood," Mrs. Sara J. Lippincott. "Virginia Champlin," Miss Grace V. Lord. Constance Fenimore Woolson has written some beau- tiful American stories under her own name. She is a worthy descendant of Fenimore Cooper of Coopers- town, N.Y., and resides in Cleveland, O. 229. EARLY MADONNAS. .Madonna is an Italian word, signifying " My lady," and is specially applied to the Virgin Mary. Representations of the mother of Christ made their appearance in the fifth century. At first the lineaments were copied from the pictures of Christ, according to tradition, which declared that the Saviour resembled his mother. Among the earliest of these representations is the Madonna by Guido da Siena, dated 131 1, in the Church of St. Dominic, Siena. It must be remembered that the names applied to the 296 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. Madonna pictures are of modern invention, for the pur- pose of distinguishing them one from the other. The earliest Madonnas were representations of the mother without the Child ; it was only after the Nes- torian heresy, in 431, that the Child was added. In some of them, St. John the Baptist, a near rela- tive and forerunner of Christ, appears also as a child. Raphael painted fifty Madonnas : one of the most celebrated is his representation of the Madonna en- throned as the Queen of Heaven surrounded by angels. It is now in the Vatican. Another is the Madonna del Pesce (of the fish), in the Madrid Museum ; but most celebrated of all is the Sistine Madonna, painted in 15 15 for the Church of San Sisto in Piacenza, at present the masterpiece of the Dresden gallery, (q.v.) When Murillo was painting in a convent in Spain, he thoughtlessly promised one of the serving-brothers to paint him a picture. Being importuned to redeem his promise, he made many excuses : the last was that he had no canvas. " Paint it upon this," said the monk, spreading out his napkin. This was done; and now, in the gallery at Seville, is " La Madonna de la Servilleta" ("The Madonna of the Napkin"). 230. THE ORIGIN OF THIMBLES. It is said that thimbles (which are claimed as a Dutch invention) have been found at Herculaneum. The etymology of thimble is from thumb-bell ; as it was formerly worn, like sailors' thimbles, on the thumb. The Germans call the thimble finger-hut (finger-hat). A silver thimble is a very small thing; yet it takes CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 297 more than twenty men, besides a great deal of costly machinery, to make one. The manufacture of thimbles was introduced into England from Holland, in 1695, by John Softing. 231. THE MOORS. In the Middle Ages, all the Mohammedans were called Moors ; but, more strictly speaking, the Moors, or Mauri, were natives of that part of Northern Africa called Mauritania. After the Saracens had conquered Northern Africa, they invaded Spain through Mauritania (711), conquer- ing the whole country except two districts in the North. All the conquered people were compelled to embrace the Mohammedan religion, though the Christians took every opportunity to resist the invaders. Cordova, a magnificent city, became the Moorish cap- ital, and a great seat of learning ; and, while the greater part of Europe was sunk in barbarism, the arts and sciences flourished among the Mohammedan Arabs and Moors of Spain. The Moorish kingdom lasted from the middle of the eighth century to the beginning of the sixteenth century. The Christians became more and more powerful, and skirmishes more and more frequent ; but the Moors continued to be the ruling power until the accession of Ferdinand and Isabella, when the last stronghold of the Moors (Grenada) was taken from them in 1492. Such as would not embrace the Christian religion were then expelled from Spain, but the final expulsion of the whole race did not take place until the accession 298 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. of Philip III. (1598). He instituted a persecution of the Moors, which ended by his driving six hundred thousand Moors from Spain in 1609. As they were a very industrious people, they were a great loss to the nation, and Spain has never recovered her prestige. A " History of the Conquest of Spain by the Arab- Moors," with a sketch of the civilization which they achieved, and imparted to Europe, by Dr. Henry Coppee of Lehigh University, is the best book to read upon this subject. 232. THE WANDERING JEW. The legends of the Wandering Jew are numerous and varied ; but the germs out of which they have all been developed are the words of the gospel, " Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in His kingdom " (Matt. xvi. 28 ; Mark ix. 1). One of these has been conjectured to be the disciple John, of whom Christ said to Peter, on another occa- sion, " If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?" and others, as Elias, Enoch, and our Jew, have been named as among the number of those who should not die until He came again. The earliest men- tion of the Wandering Jew is to be found in the book of the chronicles of the Abbey of St. Alban's, which was copied by Matthew Paris. He records that in the year 1228 — " A certain archbishop of Armenia Major came on a pilgrimage to England, to see the relics of the saints, and visit the sacred places in the kingdom, as he had done in others : he also produced letters of recommendation from his Holiness the Pope, to the religious men and prelates of the churches, in which they were CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 299 enjoined to receive and entertain him with due reverence and honor. On his arrival he went to St. Alban's, where he was re- ceived with all respect by the abbot and monks : at this place, being fatigued with his journey, he remained some days, to rest himself and his followers ; and a conversation was commenced between him and the inhabitants of the convent, by means of their interpreters, during which he made many inquiries concerning the religion and religious observances of this country, and related many strange things concerning Eastern countries. " In the course of conversation, he was asked whether he had ever seen or heard any thing of Joseph, a man of whom there was much talk in the world, who, when our Lord suffered, was present, and spoke to Him, and who is still alive, in evidence of the Chris- tian faith : in reply to which, a knight in his retinue, who was his interpreter, replied, speaking in French, ' My lord well knows that man ; and a little before he took his way to the Western countries, the said Joseph ate at the table of my lord the archbishop in Armenia; and he had often seen, and held converse with, him.' He was then asked about what had passed between Christ and the same Joseph, to which he replied, ' At the time of the suffering of Jesus Christ, He was seized by the Jews, and led into the hall of judgment before Pilate, the governor, that He might be judged by him on the accusation of the Jews ; and Pilate, finding no cause for adjudging Him to death, said to them, ''Take Him, and judge Him according to your law : " the shouts of the Jews, how- ever, increasing, he, at their request, released unto them Barabbas, and delivered Jesus to them to be crucified. When, therefore, the Jews were dragging Jesus forth, and had reached the door, Cartaphilus, a porter of the hall, in Pilate's service, as Jesus was going out of the door, impiously struck Him on the back with his hand, and said in mockery, u Go quicker, Jesus, go quicker : why do you loiter?" and Jesus, looking back on him with a severe countenance, said to him, "I am going, and you will wait till I return." And, according as our Lord said, this Cartaphilus is still awaiting His return. At the time of our Lord's suffering he was thirty years old, and when he attains the age of a hundred years he always returns to the same age as he was when our Lord suf- fered. After Christ's death, when the Catholic faith gained ground, this Cartaphilus was baptized by Ananias (who also baptized the apostle Paul), and was called Joseph. He often dwells in both 300 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. divisions of Armenia, and other Eastern countries, passing his time amidst the bishops and other prelates of the Church : he is a man of holy conversation, and religious ; a man of few words, and circumspect in his behavior ; for he does not speak at all, unless when questioned by the bishops and religious men ; and then he tells of the events of old times, and of the events which occurred at the suffering and resurrection of our Lord, and of the witnesses of the resurrection, namely, those who rose with Christ, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto men. He tells of the creed of the apostles, and of their separation and preaching. And all this he relates without smiling, or levity of conversation, as one who is well practised in sorrow and the fear of God, always looking forward with fear to the, coming of Jesus Christ, lest at the last judgment he should find Him in anger, whom, when on His way to death, he had provoked to just vengeance. Numbers came to him from different parts of the world, enjoying his society and conversation ; and to them, if they are men of authority, he explains all doubts on the matters on which he is questioned. He refuses all gifts that are offered to him, being content with slight food and clothing. He places his hope of salvation on the fact that he sinned through ignorance; for the Lord, when suffering, prayed for His enemies in these words : ' Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.' " Three centuries later, 1547, the same version of the legend appeared in Germany, with only the name Car- taphilus changed to Ahasuerus. In 1575 he appeared in Spain, and was vouched for by persons in high authority. In 1599 he was seen at Vienna: in 1601 this Ahasuerus was at Lubeck, also in the same year was seen in Revel in Livonia, and in Cracow in Poland. In Moscow he was seen and spoken to by many per- sons. In 1604 he appeared in Paris; in 1633 he was again in Hamburg; in 1640, in Brussels; in 1642 he is reported to have visited Leipzig. On the 22d of July, 172 1, he appeared at the gates of the city of Munich. Some impostors, claiming to be the mysteri- ous Wandering Jew, appeared in England as late as CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 30I 18 1 8, 1824, 1830. But the last appearance of such a personage as seemed to have some claim upon the credulity of the people was in 1774, when he passed through Brussels into Brabant. Gustave Dore, in his wonderful illustrations of the Wandering Jew, has, perhaps, done more than chroni- cler or poet to foster the belief that it is not impossi- ble with God to preserve a living witness upon the earth of His death and resurrection until His coming again. At any rate, it is impossible to linger over those noble woodcuts, and fail to learn something new each time : they are picture-poems, which only a master-hand, guided by a master-mind, could develop and execute. 233. THE PROPHETS AND SIBYLS OF THE SISTINE CHAPEL. The Sibyls, according to the legends, stand, in the Middle Ages, next in importance to the prophets of the Old Testament. It was their office to foretell the coming of Christ to the heathen, as it was that of the prophets to announce him to the Jews. The Sibyls are alluded to by Greek, Roman, and Jew- ish writers, and by many of the Christian Fathers. The undisputed authority of the Sibylline books among the pagans, soon suggested the pious fraud of interpolating them. The direct allusions to the Messiah, which they con- tain, are supposed to have been inserted in the second century. Notwithstanding their doubtful authenticity, they continued to be held in veneration, not only through 4 the Middle Ages, but until a comparatively modern 302 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. date. Sibyls were represented in connection with Scripture subjects, even after Michael Angelo's day. St. Augustine speaks of the Erythraean Sibyl's testi- mony immediately before he adverts to the prophets of the Old Testament. " Sibyllists " was a name of reproach given to early Christians ; because, in their disputes with Pagans, they quoted the authority of their own prophetess against them. The Sistine Sibyls are, the Delphic, the Erythraean, the Persian, the Cumaean, the Libyan. • DIES IRjE. " Dies irae, dies ilia, Solvet saeclum in favilla, Teste David cum sibylla" 234. THE GREAT BED OF WARE. In Shakspeare's "Twelfth Night," Act. III., Scene 2, Sir Toby Belch wickedly urges Sir Andrew Ague- cheek to pen a challenge to his supposed rival, and to put into it "as many lies as will lie in thy sheet of paper, although the sheet were big enough for the bed of Ware in England." The enormous bed alluded to was a wonder in the age of Shakspeare, and still exists in Ware. It is seven feet six inches high, and ten feet nine inches square ; so that twelve people can lie comfort- ably in it. It is very elegantly carved, and is a magnificent specimen of antique furniture, though not older than the reign of Elizabeth. It has been visited by multitudes of travellers ; and CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 303 it is customary for a company, on seeing the bed, to drink from a can of beer a toast appropriate to it. In the same room with the bed, there hung a pair of horns, upon which all strangers were sworn, as at Highgate. 235. CRGESUS, KING OF LYDIA. Croesus, King of Lydia, Asia Minor, came to the throne about 562 B.C. He is the richest man men- tioned in history. His landed estate has been esti- mated at $8,333,330. His wealth has been variously accounted for. The capital of his kingdom was Sardis, on the river Pactolus, about forty-five miles from Smyrna. To this river, which brought considerable quantities of gold in its sand, is ascribed the abundant treasures belonging to Croesus and his predecessors ; but Croesus possessed, besides, other mines, near Per- gamus ; and still another source of his wealth is to be found in the general industry of the Lydian people. They were the first (according to Herodotus) to carry on retail trade, and the first to coin money of gold and silver. Croesus was also a great conqueror, and at one time ruled over thirteen nations. He built a magnificent palace in Sardis, and otherwise adorned his capital. He used to invite great men to his palace, and give them royal entertainment. Among the number was ^Esop, a Greek writer of fables, born about 620 B.C., whom he invited to live at his court. Croesus sent him at one time to Delphi, to consult the oracle there ; and it is said that the Delphians, getting angry at his mak- ing fun of them, put him to death by throwing him from a high rock. 304 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. Solon, an Athenian law-giver, born about 638 B.C., and one of the Seven Wise Men of Greece, also vis- ited Croesus at Sardis. After showing him his treas- ures, he asked Solon whom he thought was the happiest man in the world, expecting to hear himself named. "The man whom Heaven smiles upon to the last," said Solon. This, Crcesus considered as a rebuff, and neglected Solon. Not long after, Cyrus, King of Persia, made war upon Lydia, and took Sardis by storm (548 B.C.). Croesus was taken prisoner, and condemned to be burned alive. When the pile was about to be lighted, Crcesus cried out, " Solon ! Solon ! Solon ! " Cyrus asked what he meant, and, when he was told, ordered Croesus to be set at liberty ; and he made him his friend and adviser the rest of his life, allowing him to retain the title of king. In the time of Christ, Sardis was destroyed by a terrible earthquake. It was afterwards rebuilt by the Romans. In 1402 Sardis was almost entirely destroyed again by Timour. Remains of the palace of Crcesus, and of other rich buildings, can still be seen there. 236. SONGS OF THE GONDOLIERS OF VENICE. For more than two hundred years the gondoliers of Venice sang no other songs than strophes from Tasso's immortal epic, "Jerusalem Delivered." This poem com- memorates the delivery of Jerusalem from the Sara- cens ; and the hero of the poem is Godfrey de Bouillon (1060-1100), the first Christian king of Jerusalem. Torquato Tasso, the author of "Jerusalem Deliv- \ PETER PAUL REUBENS Curious Questions, Vol. I., page 305. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 305 ered," was born at Sorrento, in 1544. Venice cannot, therefore, claim him as her son ; but he has always been the favorite poet of the Venetians, and is still read and studied in the city of the Adriatic. Tasso became melancholy, and was for seven years confined by the duke, Alfonso, in an insane-asylum. When released, he went to Naples. Pope Clement VIII. invited him to Rome, to receive the laurel-crown of poet ; but he died before the ceremony took place, April, 1595, and was buried on the very day on which he was to have been crowned. 237. PETER PAUL RUBENS. John Lothrop Motley, author of the " Dutch Repub- lic," writes, in a letter from Brussels, 1853, quoted by Oliver Wendell Holmes, in his Memoirs of Motley, — "There are a few good Rubenses here, but the great wealth of that master is in Antwerp. The great picture of the 4 Descent from the Cross ' is free again, after having been ten years in the repairing-room. " It has come out in good condition. What a picture ! It seems to me as if I had really stood at the cross, and had seen Mary weeping on John's shoulder, and Magdalen receiving the dead body of the Saviour in her arms. Never was the grand tragedy represented in so profound and dramatic a manner. For it is not only in his color, in which this man so easily surpasses all the world, but in his life-like, rlesh-and-blood action, — the tragic power of his composition. . . . Well might Guido exclaim, 'The fellow mixes blood with his colors ! ' . . . I defy any one of the average amount of imagination and sentiment, to stand long before the ' Descent from the Cross ' without being moved more nearly to tears than he would care to acknowledge." This is high praise, both for the master and his mas- terpiece ; but this is only one of eighteen hundred 306 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. finished paintings by Rubens. His gorgeous coloring has always been the chief characteristic of his school. There are twelve hundred engravings of his works. His two most famous pictures, the " Raising of the Cross " and the " Descent from the Cross," are in the Antwerp Cathedral ; and many of his choice works are in the academy of the same town. This famous painter was born at Cologne, Germany, June 29, 1577, and died at Antwerp, May 30, 1640. Liibke says of him, — " He was one of the most brilliant, accomplished, and versatile geniuses in the whole history of art. . . . Soon the fame of his great ability spread all over the world ; and the courts of Spain, France, and England heaped commissions and honors upon him." In 1620 Marie de' Medici invited him to France, and he executed many great works for her. In the Louvre are twenty-one paintings, representing, allegorically, the history of Marie de' Medici. He also painted some brilliant genre pictures (q.v.), such as the "Peasant's Dance " in the Louvre. The most of his paintings are large, and crowded with figures. Some of them are of colossal size, and may be seen in the various churches of his country, and in nearly all the galleries and museums of Europe. Liibke says, again, — " Besides all this, Rubens was an architect ; and, in addition to all these occupations as an artist, he was a man prominent in the higher social life of his day, — the associate of princes and diplo- mates, — and often, even, as has been said before, intrusted with political missions to foreign courts. Thus, in him, more than in any other contemporary master, do we find united all the richness and splendor of the life of that brilliant age." He was named Peter Paul, because his birthday was the feast of Saints Peter and Paul. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 307 238. PENELOPE'S WEB. Perhaps no story in Greek history brings out in as strong relief the devotion of a woman's heart as the story of Penelope. When Menelaus, King of Sparta, called upon the Greek heroes to remember their vow to stand by him, and punish any one who might attempt to deprive him of his beautiful wife Helen, whom Paris had now carried away to Troy, they all responded to the call but Ulysses, King of Ithaca. He could not make up his mind to leave his own fair young wife, and son Telemachus, and enter upon a war which he knew would be long and severe. He feigned madness, but was detected in it, and forced at last to join in the expedition against Troy. During the twenty years that Ulysses was absent, — ten spent in the siege of Troy, and ten returning, — Penelope was overwhelmed with suitors, who declared that Ulysses was dead, and that she must choose one among them as her husband. But with true devotion, cherishing the hope that Ulysses would yet return, she put off her numerous suitors, on the pretext that she must first finish the winding-sheet she was making for her father-in-law Laertes. In order to extend the time, she unravelled by night all she had woven during the day. Thus, a seemingly endless task is said to be "like Penelope's web." Her faithfulness was rewarded, at the end of twenty years, by the return of Ulysses. The story of Ulysses' wanderings, temptations, and hardships, is the subject of the grand Greek epic of Homer, called the " Odyssey," from his right Greek name, " Odysseus." 3 o8 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 239. PERFIDIOUS ALBION. After the battle of Waterloo, which closed the last great European war, Napoleon fled to the coast, intend- ing to take refuge in the United States ; but, finding it impossible to evade the British cruisers, he determined to throw himself upon the generosity of the British nation. On the 14th of July he despatched an officer to the Prince Regent of England, — afterwards George IV., — announcing, that, his political career having come to an end, he came, like Themistocles of old, to throw him- self upon the hospitality of the British nation, and to claim the protection of her arms. He then embarked in the English ship-of-war " Bellerophon," with his suite, and sailed for England. He was not, however, allowed to land, and, being kept in suspense on board ship for several weeks, was finally exiled to St. Helena. When transferred to the ship " Northumberland," which was to convey him, with a few faithful friends, to St. Helena, he exclaimed, as the shores of England receded, " Perfidious Albion ! " (Albion the ancient name of England). After six years' imprisonment, on the 5th of May, 1 82 1, Napoleon died at St. Helena, of cancer of the stomach, aged fifty-one years. In 1840, a quarrel between England and France being settled, Great Britain agreed, as a peace-offering, that the remains of the Emperor Napoleon should be removed from St. Helena to France. By order of King Louis Philippe, they were conveyed to Paris, and interred in the chapel of L'Hotel des Invalides, with imposing ceremonies, Dec. 15, 1840. His tomb is in the middle of the chapel, and nineteen CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 309 feet below the floor, in a large open space, circular in form, and surrounded by a marble balustrade, on which are engraved the names of the principal victories won by the emperor. "Looking over the balustrade into the open space below, the massive sarcophagus of por- phyry, brought from Finland, may be seen, which en- closes the mortal remains of the great Napoleon. It rests upon a pedestal of green granite brought from the Vosges Mountains. Twelve colossal statues of Victory support the marble balustrade, and face the tomb. The pavement is in mosaic, with festoons of flowers, and the names of Napoleon's greatest victories. At one end of the crypt is a niche of black marble, in which stands a statue of Napoleon in his imperial robes. A lamp, always burning, hangs before it ; and under the lamp is an antique altar, on which are laid the three keys of the coffins in which the body was placed at St. Helena, the sword used by the emperor at Austerlitz, the hat he wore at Eylau, and the gold crown presented to him by the city of Cherbourg. On each side of the vault are standards taken in his battles. " Two winding stairways under the high altar of the church lead to the tomb, the entrance to which is closed by two superb bronze gates ; and on each side of the entrance are the tombs of Marshals Duroc and Bertrand, Napoleon's most devoted friends in life, and the guard- ians of his rest in death. Over the portal of the en- trance is the inscription, taken from the emperor's last will, ■ I wish my ashes to repose on the banks of the Seine, in the midst of that French people whom I have loved so well.' Visitors are not allowed to enter the vault, but must pause at the closed gates. No rude sounds are heard around the ashes of the great soldier; and, in the church above, the crowd is silent 3io CURIOUS QUESTIONS. and subdued ; for this is holy ground to eve'ry French- man." In connection with this subject should be read Mrs. Browning's beautiful poem, " Crowned and Buried." " O wild St. Helen ! very still she kept him, With a green willow for all pyramid, — Which stirred a little if the low wind did, A little more, if pilgrims overwept him, Disparting the lithe boughs to see the clay Which seemed to cover his for judgment-day. Nay ! not so long ! — France kept her old affection As deeply as the sepulchre the corse, Until dilated by such love's remorse To a new angel of the resurrection, She cried, ' Behold, thou England ! I would have The dead whereof thou wottest from that grave.' And England answered in the courtesy Which ancient foes, turned lovers, may befit, — ' Take back thy dead ! and when thou buriest it, Throw in all former strife 'twixt thee and me.' Amen, mine England ! 'tis a courteous claim — But ask a little room too . . . for thy shame ! " 240. THE MOST IMPORTANT INVENTION. The art of alphabetical writing is probably the most important invention ever made by man, and the glory of its invention belongs to the Phoenicians. The date of the invention is not definitely known. The Greeks obtained their alphabet from the Phoeni- cians. The Romans adopted that of the Greeks, with some few changes ; and the Roman is the basis of all modern alphabets. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. Capital letters were first invented, and were in use for many centuries before the invention of small letters. The oldest manuscripts now in use, dating as far back as the third century, are written entirely in capitals, and without spacing between the words, or marks of punc- tuation. The small letters were first introduced about the seventh century, but for some time afterwards the capitals were used much more than they are now. Punctuation (from the Latin punctum, a point) was unknown to the ancients. Aristophanes of Alexan- dria, about two and a half centuries before the Chris- tian era, introduced some of the marks now used. But it was not until about the year 1500 that Aldus Manu- tius, a learned printer of Venice, reduced the art of punctuation to a system : the extreme beauty and ele- gance of his editions gave it general currency. The art of printing was known to the Chinese as early as the sixth century. But their method is known as block-printing : each page is engraved by itself on a block of wood, and cannot be taken apart. The honor of the invention of printing from movable types has been disputed by two cities, Haarlem and Mentz. The Germans say that it was John Gutenberg of Strasburg ; but the Dutch say that Laurens Coster of Haarlem was the inventor — that Gutenbersr was Coster's workman. The first edition of the "Speculum Humane Salvationis" was printed by Coster at Haarlem, about 1440. The celebrated Bible, known as the Mentz Bible, without date, was executed by Gutenberg and Faust between the years 1450 and 1455. The secret of the method then becoming known, presses were speedily established in all parts of Europe. William Caxton introduced the art of printing in England by setting up a press at Westminster about 312 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 1471. The first book printed was "The Game of Chess." Caxton translated or wrote about sixty differ- ent books, all of which went through his own press before his death in 1491. The first printing by steam was executed in London by Bensley & Son in 18 17. 241. COLOSSEUM OF ROME. This building, anciently called the Flavian Amphi- theatre, was named the Colosseum from the colossal statue of the Emperor Nero which was near by. The statue was of gilded bronze, one hundred and seven- teen feet in height, and represented the tyrant reful- gent with rays as the god of the sun. The Colosseum is, without doubt, the most celebrated building in the world. It is in the form of an ellipse, measuring eighteen hundred and forty-eight feet in circumference, and is built in a series of three arcades, one above another, with an attic over all, the total height being one hun- dred and sixty-five feet. The seats, which range up from the arena, are of massive stone, and could accommodate eighty-seven thousand persons. The seats were pro- tected from the sun by an awning of canvas stretched across the building. It was commenced by the Emperor Vespasian about the year A.D. 72, and completed at the end of the fourth year after the laying of the corner-stone. The last two rows were finished by the Emperor Titus, son of Vespasian, after his return from the conquest -of Jerusalem. It is said that twelve thousand captive Jews were employed in building the Colosseum, and that the external walls alone cost a sum equal to seven- teen million francs. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 313 It was dedicated by Titus in the year 80, with games that lasted one hundred days, during which time nine thousand animals were slain to gratify the thirst for blood of the savage populace, while eighty thousand spectators crowded from day to day the marble seats and corridors of this magnificent structure. Designed originally for exhibitions of wild beasts, which were made to fight in the arena, gladiatorial com- bats were soon introduced ; and, during the era of the persecutions of the Christians, many of them suffered martyrdom by being thrown to the wild beasts within the arena. The arena could on occasions be filled with water, for the sake of naval combats. There is an ancient prophecy concerning the Colos- seum : — "While stands the Colosseum, Rome will stand; When falls the Colosseum, Rome will fall; And when Rome falls, the world ! " 242. BRAZEN SERPENT OF MOSES. The history of the brazen serpent shows how even a legitimate symbol, retained beyond its time and after it has done its work, may become the object of idolatry. The brazen serpent seems to have been an object of worship, from an indefinite period to the reign of Hezekiah. The religious zeal of that king led him to destroy it (see 2 Kings xviii. 4). " He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it : and he called it Nehushtan." 314 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. The Church of St. Ambrose, at Milan, has boasted for centuries of possessing the brazen serpent which Moses set up in the wilderness. The earlier history of the relic, so called, is a mat- ter of conjecture. 243. ORIGIN OF SURNAMES. Surnames are so called from the early practice of writing them over the Christian names : instances of this custom can still be seen in the court-rolls and other ancient documents. Surnames, in modern times, were first used in France, particularly in Normandy, where they can be traced to the latter part of the tenth century. They were introduced into England by the Normans, after the Conquest. The ancient Hebrews, Egyptians, Syrians, Persians, etc., had but a single name, which was generally sig- nificant of some feature connected with their birth. Thus, dying Rachel had called her child Benoni, "the son of my sorrow ; " but Jacob gave him the name of Benjamin, "the son of my strength." These simple names, however, naturally soon became so common to many owners, as to fail to convey individuality ; and this led to the addition of other designations, now known to us as surnames. The oldest of these with which we are familiar are those of the Bible, where we read of Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and of Joshua the son of Nun. Only about a thousand surnames were taken up by the most noble families in France and in England about the time of Edward the Con- fessor. The lower nobility did not follow this example CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 315 before the twelfth, and the citizens and husbandmen had no family names before the fourteenth century. English names have recruits among them from almost every race. The Hebrew is largely represented by its ancient Ben, which means son. Benjamin has been shortened into Benson, Benari, etc. Levi has been transformed into Lewis, and Elias into Ellis. The three most numerous patronymics of Celtic origin now in use among the English are the O, the Mac, and the Ap. The Irish O originally meant grand- son, the Scotch Mac and the Welch Ap meaning son. M. Scheie de Vere, in his " Studies in English," says, " The most fertile of all is, of course, the good old Anglo-Saxon son, and mixed up with it, now insepara- bly, the characteristic letter of the genitive, our s. Thus we have obtained from — Harry : Harrison, Harris, Herries, and, with the aid of kin, Hawkins. Andrew : Anderson, Andrews, Henderson. Michael : Mixon (Mike's son), and Oldmixon. Walter : Watson, Watts, Watkins. David : Davidson, Davies, Dawson, Daws. Hodge: Hodgson, Hodges, Hutchins, Hutchkinson. William : Williamson, Williams, Wilson, Wills, Wil- kin, Wilkinson, Wilkes. Richard : Richardson, Richards. Dixon (Dick's son), Dickens, Dickenson. Adam : Adamson, Adams, Atkin, Atkins, Atkinson. Elias : Ellyson, Ellis, Ellice, Elliot. Anna : Anson. Nelly : Nelson. Patty : Patterson. He also gives many other illustrations, showing the derivation of many of the present surnames. 3i6 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. The Jews were the last to adopt surnames, and it is only within the past one hundred years that they were compelled by law to adopt them in England. 244. THE EUGUBINE TABLES. This is the name given to seven bronze tablets, the inscriptions on which present a remarkable memorial of the Umbrian language. The Umbrians are spoken of as the aborigines of Italy, and tradition leads us to believe that they at one time occupied the whole of that country ; but when they come before us as a distinct people, they occupy only a small district west of Etruria, and north of the country of the Sabines. • The Umbrians joined with the Samnites in the wars against Rome, and repelled as long as possible the Roman supremacy. They were finally conquered, and were the faithful allies of Rome during the Punic wars. In the year 90 B.C. they received the Roman franchise, and disappear as a separate people. The Umbrian lan- guage is the oldest Italian dialect. These bronze tables were discovered in 1444, in a subterranean chamber at Gubbio (the ancient name of Eugubium), where they are still preserved. The inscriptions consist of directions concerning sacrificial usages, and forms of prayer ; and they seem to have been inscribed three or four centuries before the Christian era. The most accurate copy of the inscriptions was given by Lepsius, in 1841. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 317 245. THE ELLORA CAVES. The Ellora caves are situated under the village of Rojah, in Hindoostan. They are important in that they establish a Hindoo chronology. No dates are contained in any Hindoo literature, and the first clew to the chronology of the Hindoos was obtained from these caves. The ancient town of Ellora is celebrated for its rock- cut temples. Some are cave-temples ; i.e., cut into the interior of the rocks : others are vast buildings hewn out of the solid granite of the hills. The most beauti- ful of these is the Temple of Kailasa. The cave-temples at Elephanta are rich in sculpture. Elephanta is an island six miles in circuit, in the har- bor of Bombay. It takes its name from a huge figure of an elephant near its principal landing-place. This colossal animal has been cut out of a detached rock, which is apparently of basaltic origin. On this island are three temples dug out of the liv- ing mountain, the roofs being supported by curiously wrought pillars of various forms and magnitudes, the walls being thickly sculptured into all the varieties of Hindoo mythology. These have long since been aban- doned by the priests, but are still frequented by per- sons who go there to pray. These temples are at least a thousand years old, if not older. The rock-cut sepulchres of Phrygia and Lycia, in Asia Minor, are of two kinds. Either the tomb is chis- elled out of a mass of rock in the form of a sarcopha- gus, or the sepulchre is cut into the rock, and a facade is chiselled exhibiting the appearance of a wooden building. 3i8 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. Some of them resemble a log house turned into stone. Sometimes the whole face of the mountain is cov- ered with these remarkable structures, tomb rising above tomb. As regards the dates of these monu- ments, we may expect further information from the decipherment of the inscriptions. The earliest may date as far back as the seventh century B.C. 246. THE IMAGE OF NABIS. The wicked and cruel Nabis — the last of the Spar- tan kings of Greece — had an image set up in his palace, which resembled his own beautiful wife. It was clothed with magnificent garments, such as were proper for a queen to wear ; but the breast and arms of the image were stuck full of sharp iron spikes, which were hidden by the rich clothes. When King Nabis wished to extort money from any person, he invited him to his palace, and led him up to be introduced to the queen. No sooner was the stranger within reach, than the image, by means of machinery, put out its arms, and squeezed him close to its breast. The man might struggle ; but, with iron spikes piercing his flesh, there was no escape from the cruel embrace of the statue until his agony compelled him to give the king as much money as he asked. 247. THE "LADIES' PEACE." On the death of Louis XII., in 15 15, the chivalrous duke, Francis of Angouleme, ascended the throne of France as Francis I. He was at the same time a CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 3*9 candidate for the imperial throne of Germany ; and, on the election of Charles V. to that honorable position, Francis became his enemy. Four wars arose between these two monarchs, caused by the claims of each to the other's possessions in Italy, Navarre, and the Netherlands. The second war between Charles V. of Germany and Francis I. of France was closed, in 1529, by the " Ladies' Peace " of Cambray, so called because it was negotiated by the aunt of Charles and the mother of Francis. By this treaty, the King of France relinquished his pretensions to the duchy of Milan, and paid two million crowns for the ransom of his sons, who were held as hostages by the German emperor, retaining, however, possession of the dukedom of Burgundy. 248. AUTHORS' NAMES WHICH SUGGEST THEIR CHIEF WORK. Bunyan's " Pilgrim's Progress." Homer's " Iliad." Virgil's "iEneid." Cowper's "Task." Milton's " Paradise Lost." Tasso's " Jerusalem Delivered." Dante's " Inferno." Spenser's " Faerie Queene." Chaucer's " Canterbury Tales." Bryant's "Thanatopsis." Gray's "Elegy." Thomson's "Seasons." Young's " Night Thoughts." Cervantes' "Don Quixote." Camoens' "Lusiad." 320 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. De Foe's " Robinson Crusoe." Moore's "Lalla Rookh." Ariosto's " Orlando Furioso." 249. ROMAN SCULPTURE. This school of art first appeared in Rome 148 B.C. r when the victorious Romans bore off from Greece her most prized works of sculpture ; but it never acquired great activity until the reigns of Caesar and Augustus. How little the Romans were prepared to appreciate Grecian art, is illustrated in Mummius, who threatened the laborers, packing the paintings and sculpture taken from Corinth, that, if any were injured or lost, they would have to make others like them. The taste for sculpture, cultivated by these collec- tions at Rome, gave rise to a new Attic School in Rome. Nearly all that is finest in the rich Italian collections of antique art is ascribed to the Augustan age. The most important statues of this period are the Medicean Venus, in the Tribune of the Ufrizzi at Florence, by Cleomenes of Athens (after the Cnidian Venus of Praxiteles) ; the Farnese Hercules, of the Museum of Naples, by Glycon ; the famous Torso of the Belve- dere at Rome, by Apollonius of Athens. To this period also belong the Caryatides with which Diogenes of Athens adorned the Pantheon. 250. THE SACRO CATINO. In the treasury of the Cathedral of Genoa (exhibited only by an order from the municipality) is the Sacro Catino, long shown to the people as the vessel used by CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 321 ■our Saviour at the Last Supper. Another tradition tells that it was originally given to King Solomon by the Queen of Sheba. When Caesarea was taken by the Genoese and Pisan Crusaders, in 1101, the Genoese gave up to the Pisans all the rest of the booty on condition that the Sacro Catino was left to them. Nothing could exceed the veneration with which it was regarded at Genoa. Twelve knights, called " Clavigeri," were appointed as its special guard, each being responsible during one month of the year for the safety of the tabernacle which contained it. The Sacro Catino was said to have been formed from a single emerald. In 1476 a law appeared, punishing with death any one who touched the Sacro Catino. It was carried to Paris in 1809; and when returned, in 18 1 5, it was broken. 251. THE LAST ASTROLOGER. Astrology is one of the most ancient sciences founded upon superstition. The history of its rise and progress is nearly the same as that of astronomy. Astrologers were supposed to foretell the principal events in a man's life, by the position of the stars and the influence of the planets at the time of his birth. The univer- sality of the belief is found in our common adjectives, by which we designate a jovial man, as born under the influence of Jupiter or Jove, martial from Mars, sat- urnine from Saturn, and mercurial from Mercury. Its decline may be dated from the time of Coperni- cus, A.D. 1540. 322 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. His discovery of the true planetary system shook the faith of most people in astrology. The last man of any note in England who claimed to be an astrol- oger was William Lily (1602-165 1), in the time of Charles I. The term astrology is from two Greek words, aarpov-Xoyos, signifying discourse concerning the stars ; as astronomy, changing the word Aoyos for vofjios, means the laws of the stars. 252. THE FASTI CAPITOLINI. In establishing the dates of ancient events, much aid has been afforded by the discovery of monuments of great antiquity, bearing chronological inscriptions. Among the most interesting remains of this kind are the Fasti Capitolini, discovered in the Forum at Rome in 1547, in 181 7, and 18 18. These records are in fragments ; but they contain a list of the Roman magistrates and triumphs, from the commencement of the Republic until the end of the reign of Augustus, A.D. 14, and corroborate important historical data. "Fas," in Latin, signifies divine law, right, or justice. The sacred books in which the lawful days of the year were marked, were denominated Fasti. The term " Fasti," in an extended sense, came to be used by the poets as synonymous with historical records. The term " Capitoline " denotes their having been placed in the Capitol, where they may still be seen. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 323 253. PSYCHE. The face which is considered the loveliest in antique sculpture is that of Psyche at Naples. The touching story of Psyche and Cupid is an alle- gory taken from the " Golden Ass " of Apuleius. It forms the subject of a celebrated wall-painting by Raphael, in the Farnese Palace in Rome. Psyche, so the story runs, was the daughter of a king, and very beautiful. The fame of her beauty awoke the jealousy of Venus, who charged her son, Cupid, to inspire Psyche with love for some mortal. Cupid obeyed, so far as to visit Psyche ; but, being himself struck with her beauty, he carried her off to a fairy palace, where they spent many happy hours together, with only this drawback, that she was never to look with her mortal eyes upon her lover. Her curi- osity, however, led her to look upon him as he lay asleep, when a drop of oil from her lamp awoke him, and he immediately took flight. She wandered about from place to place seeking him, subject to severe persecution at the hands of Venus, and enduring great suffering. Cupid at last came to her rescue, the anger of Venus was appeased, and the marriage of Cupid and Psyche was celebrated with great rejoicing in the presence of the higher gods. This allegory is thought by some to indicate that castles in the air are exquisite until we look at them as realities, when they instantly vanish, and leave only disappointment and vexation behind. By others it is thought to illustrate the three stages in the existence of a soul, — its pre-existence in a blessed state, its ex- istence on earth with its trials and anguish, and its future state of happy immortality. 324 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 254. SABBATH, OR SUNDAY. Sabbath (from Shabbath, to rest from labor) is the name applied to the seventh day of the week. Through- out the world, one day in seven is very generally observed as a day of rest from toil. This custom origi- nates from the fact, that in six days God created all things, resting on the seventh day ; and He commanded that each seventh day should be a holy day. The Sabbath was legally proclaimed about the year 1491 B.C., on Mount Sinai (Exod. xxi. 12-18). The first public observance is recorded in Exod. xxxv. 1-4. There can be no doubt about its meaning in the Old Testament : it is intended as a testimony of faith in God as the Creator of the world. The Jews in all parts of the world still keep the " Sabbath day," beginning with sunset on the evening of the sixth day (Friday), and ending with sunset on the seventh day (Saturday). This is in accordance with the Scripture phraseology, "and the evening and the morning were the first day." The substitution of the first day of the week for the observance of the Sabbath, or holy day of rest, was made in the very early ages of Christianity, but the exact date is unknown ; and at first the Christians ob- served both the first and the seventh days. The argument for the observance of the Sabbath on the first day of the week is, that there is no proof that the Jewish count actually began on the seventh day from the creation ; that as the Jews made it a memorial of the creation, and their liberation from bondage, so Christians may well observe it weekly upon the first day, when the Saviour rose from the dead, delivering them from the bondage of sin and eternal death. Constantine the Great issued an edict, in A.D. 321, CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 325 proclaiming Sunday as a legal day of rest, and holy unto the Lord, which edict was subsequently incorporated in the civil law of the empire, and ultimately adopted by all the nations which arose from the ruins of the Roman Empire. 255. OUR FLAG VICTORIOUS IN THE OLD WORLD. The only town in the Old World ever captured by the United States is the town of Derne, in Tripoli, on the northern coast of Africa. The inhabitants were chiefly Moors, Turks, and Arabs, of the Mohammedan religion. The ports of the Barbary States — Algiers, Morocco^ Tunis, and Tripoli — were infested with pirates, who darted out upon ves- sels which sailed up and down the Mediterranean Sea, and, after plundering them, either murdered the crew, or sold them into slavery. These pirates became the terror of Europe ; and some mercantile countries had to pay a yearly tribute, in order to secure safety for their vessels. England was the only nation feared by these pirates ; and, so long as American vessels sailed under the Eng- lish flag, they were reasonably secure : but, when the United States became a separate nation, the pirates demanded tribute. For a time the government paid the tribute, as the easiest way to secure her commerce ; but in 1801 the Dey of Tripoli grew so bold as to declare war against the United States, being dissatisfied with the payments of the tribute. For four years a series of fights took place, until, in 1804, the American navy having been increased in the Mediterranean Sea, a vigorous attack was made upon 326 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. the pirates. Gen. Eaton succeeded in taking Derne, one of their ports, and raised the American flag over it : this was the first and the last time our flag was unfurled in victory over a foreign town. A treaty of peace was made, prisoners were exchanged, and piracy for a time came to an end. 256. THE SACRED BOOKS OF THE HINDOOS. The Hindoos have sacred books of great antiquity, and a literature extending back twenty or thirty centu- ries, but no history, no chronology, no annals. The oldest of their sacred books, the Vedas (knowl- edge or science), contain the revelation of Brahma, and. were preserved by tradition until collected by Vyasa (compiler) ; and they represent an epoch, probably the fifteenth century B.C. The Vedas are three in number : first, the Rig- Veda, containing hymns and mystic prayers ; second, the Yajur- Veda, containing the religious rites ; third, the Sama- Veda, with prayers in the form of songs. The Vedas were written in Sanscrit, and were first translated into English by Sir William Jones. Few Hindoos now read the Vedas. The Puranas and the two great epics constitute their sacred books. The Ramayana and the Mahabharata are the most colossal epic poems to be found in the literature of the world. According to Lassen, the period of the two great epics follows the period of the Vedas. The whole life of ancient India is found in them. The Ramayana contains about fifty thousand lines, and is held in great veneration by the Hindoos. It describes the youth of Rama, who is an incarna- tion of their god Vishnu ; his banishment and residence CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 327 in Central India. It is probably founded on some real war between the early Aryan invaders of Hindostan and the indigenous inhabitants. The Mahabharata, supposed to be of later date, con- sists of about two hundred and twenty thousand lines, divided into eighteen books. From these epics, there appear to have been two dynasties in ancient India, — the solar and the lunar. Rama belonged to the first, and Bharata to the second. Five brothers, the descendants of Bharata, are the heroes of the Mahabharata ; and episodes in the lives of these heroes occupy three-fourths of the poem. The Puranas are derived from the same religious system as the two epics. They relate more fully their mythological legends. The gods, Siva and Vishnu, are almost the sole objects of worship in the Puranas. These Puranas, eighteen in number, are in the form of dialogue, and contain one million six hundred thou- sand lines. Mr. Talboys Wheeler has recently incorporated the epics of the Hindoos (much abridged) in his " History of India." 257. CATHEDRAL OF ST. ISAAC. By far the most important church in St. Petersburg is the great Cathedral of St. Isaac, built between the years 1819 and 1858; and it is one of the largest and most expensive buildings in modern Europe. The church is a rectangle with four porticos, — two with eight, and two with sixteen, columns each, which are of rose-colored granite, and, after Pompey's Pillar and the column of Alexander in St. Petersburg, are 328 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. the largest single stones which the hand of man has cut, rounded, and polished. Each column is fifty-six feet high, and six and one* half feet in diameter. The dome rests upon a peristyle of twenty-four simi- lar columns, but only forty-two feet in height. The great gilt dome swells upward, surmounted by an octagonal lantern, also gilt, and above it a colossal cross. At various points throughout the cathedral are groups or single figures of angels and of the apostles, and the superb bronze doors are ornamented with bass-reliefs. Within, the building is magnificent with paintings, and with marbles of various tints. The foundation alone of this magnificent structure cost four millions of dollars. 258. AEROLITES, OR METEORIC STONES. Meteoric stones, in single masses and in showers, have fallen from the atmosphere at various periods, in many parts of the world. The largest of these stones at present known is in the province of Tucuman, South America, and weighs thirty thousand pounds. Aerolites have been proven to be atmospheric, both by eye-witnesses, by the similarity of their composi- tion in all cases, and also by the fact, that, though the materials mingled are well known, they are never united in the same manner as in the productions of our globe, and nothing like them has been ejected from terrestrial volcanoes ; and, further, by the fact that their situation is generally isolated, and on the sur- face of the earth. There have been many theories advanced as to their origin. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 329 La Place traces them to volcanic origin. The respect due to his opinions no one will dispute ; but Professor Olmsted, the American astronomer, has offered the most satisfactory explanation. He has shown that countless bodies of small dimensions cluster together in vast rings, and revolve, as do the planets, around the sun. These bodies become visible when the orbit of the earth approaches their orbit ; and, when they come within the atmosphere of the earth, they are ignited, and fall upon the earth as meteoric stones. A remark- able aerolite fell at yEgospotami, in 467 B.C., which was, according to Pliny, to be seen in his day, "as large as a wagon." One fell in California, in August, 1873, which penetrated the earth to a depth of eight feet, and when dug up was still so hot that it could not be handled. 259. THE BONES OF COLUMBUS. Christopher Columbus, the discoverer of America, was born in Genoa, Italy, about the year 1435 A.D., and died at Valladolid, Spain, in profound obscurity, May 20, 1506. His body was deposited in a vault in the Convent Church of the Franciscans, where it remained for some time ; but afterwards, according to a request made in his will, his remains were removed to the city of Santo Domingo in his "beloved Hispaniola," and placed in a small, enclosed vault in the cathedral. Just to the right of this vault were deposited the remains of Don Diego, the son of Columbus, who died at Montalban, in 1526; and long afterwards the bones of Don Luis, the grandson of Columbus, were brought 330 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. to the same place. Thus there were three crypts in the Cathedral of Santo Domingo, — one containing the remains of Christopher Columbus, one those of Diego, and the third those of Luis. With regard to all these remains, the obscurity seems to have been profound until the year 1783. It was known to students of local history, that the remains of Christopher Columbus were somewhere in the building ; but even the traditions as to his son and grandson were lost, or at least very vague. In that year, while mak- ing some slight repairs and alterations, a crypt was unexpectedly found, and in it a small metallic case, without any inscription, which was at once accepted as containing the remains of Christopher Columbus. In the year 1795 the war between France and Spain was brought to a close, and the Spaniards were com- pelled to cede to the French all the Spanish part of the island of Santo Domingo ; but by the courtesy of the French officials they were allowed to convey the supposed remains of Columbus to Havana, and the exhumation was solemnly made on the 20th of Decem- ber, 1795. On the 14th of May, 1877, the crypt containing the remains of Don Luis was accidentally discovered. This discovery caused much excitement, and revived an old tradition, that the bones removed in 1795 were not those of Christopher Columbus. The authorities now decided to make a careful investigation, which should verify, or else forever set at rest, the tradition. Their efforts were crowned with success. On the gos- pel side of the chapel (the left facing the altar) they found two crypts, the first one empty, because the re- mains had been carried away in 1795 : the second one contained a small metallic case, with inscriptions in CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 331 Spanish on both the outside and inside of the cover, — " Most illustrious and renowned personage, Don Cris- toval Colon," and " Discoverer of America, First Ad- miral." The chest was opened, only to increase the certainty : on the interior of the cover were found the words, " Most illustrious and renowned personage, Don Cristoval Colon." On the two sides, and on the front, were the letters C. C, A., meaning Christopher Columbus, Admiral. Upon careful examination of the contents, there were found bones and bone-dust, very few and small, with a small bit of the skull, a leaden ball, and a small silver plate inscribed " U. Cristoval Colon." Dr. Coppee says in his article on this subject in Stoddart's "Review," and from which this is mainly taken, — " Every one who was present at once accepted this ocular proof, that what was left of the body of the great discoverer had not been taken away to Havana, but was really there before his eyes, with an indubitable record of identification. It may be doubted whether in the wildest scenes of internecine strife and blood in all its history, Santo Domingo had ever witnessed such popular excitement. Time had brought them the knowledge of a great treasure. Te Deums were sung. The Legislature at once made an appropriation from 'the extraordinary funds' of ten thousand dollars as a contribution to a fitting monument. The archbishop, Roque Cocchin, kept his secretaries busy in sending the news of the discovery everywhere. . . . " When the news reached the Spanish capital, it struck every- body, court and people alike, with painful surprise. The honor of Spain was supposed to be impugned. It was not only humili- ating in itself, but it argued great carelessness in the Spanish offi- cials, at the time of the translation, that for more than seventy years they should have fixed upon Spain the delusion that the precious remains of the great discoverer were resting in the Cathedral of Havana, and that generations of reverential visitors 332 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. to 'the pilgrim shrine' had been wasting their sentiment on a mistaken object. " The letter of the archbishop, with the accompanying proofs, was placed, by order of the king, in the hands of the most appro- priate body, La real Academia de la Historia. A special commit- tee was appointed to take the matter in hand. Of course they reported adversely, charging the San Domingians with schemes and fraud, and absurd credulity. "The controversy that ensued brought out a work of three hundred and thirty-seven pages from the hand of the archbishop. In this valuable work he goes over much historical matter not before generally known. An unprejudiced perusal dissipates every shadow of art or deception. Few things are so clearly proven, as that the remains of the great discoverer are still preserved in the Cathedral Church of Santo Domingo, the spot which he selected as his burial-place. It has been proposed to erect a lofty column over the sacred dust, which shall tell the passing ships of every nation of 'the gratitude of mankind to Christopher Columbus,' — * A Cristoval Colon la humanidad agradecida.' " 260. VIRGIL AND THE yENEID. ' Publius Vergilius (or Virgilius) Maro was born at Andes, Oct. 15, 70 B.C. His father was a farmer, but spared no pains in the education of his son, sending him to school at Cremona, Milan, and finally, when he was sixteen years old, to Naples, where he was instructed by the poet and phi- losopher, Parthenius. After spending several years in Naples, Virgil went to Rome (47 B.C.) : but his love of country life and his feeble health led him back to Andes ; there, in the year 42 B.C., he began to write his "Bucolics," to which the name of " Eclogues " was afterwards given. These short pastorals, ten in number, were all written before the year 37 B.C. ; and they at once attracted attention, and gained for him friends and fame. The most fin- CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 333 ished work of Virgil, his " Georgica," is an agricultural poem: its object was "to recommend the principles of the ancient Romans, their love of home, of labor, of piety, and order ; to magnify their domestic happiness and greatness ; to make men proud of their country on better grounds than the mere glory of its arms, and extent of its conquests. . . . To comprehend the moral grandeur of the 'Georgics,' in point of style the most perfect piece of Roman literature, we must regard it as the glorification of Labor." But the poem with which his name is coupled for all time is his epic poem, the iEneid. This was written during the last eleven years of his life : he proposed to devote three years more to polishing and completing the poem, but died without having given it his final touches. It is said, that for this reason he expressed a wish when on his death-bed, to burn the poem ; but his friends would not gratify him, and it was published without alteration by Varius and Plotius. In the year 19 (B.C.) Virgil was seized with a sudden illness, and died in a few days at Brundusium, Sept. 22, in his fifty-first year. In accordance with his request, his body was con- veyed to Naples for burial. His tomb, on the hill of Posilipo, is still visited by tourists from every land. The ^Eneid is an epic poem in twelve books, and treats of the following events : — When Troy was taken by the Greeks, vEneas, carry ing his aged father Anchises on his back, and leading his wife and son, escaped from the burning city, intend- ing to go to Italy, the original birthplace of his family. The wife was lost, and the old father died ; but, after numerous adventures by sea and land, ^Eneas and his son Ascanius arrived in Italy. Latinus, the king, re- 334 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. ceived him kindly, and soon promised him his daughter Lavinia in marriage. But she had already been be- trothed by her mother to Turnus ; and the king, finding no other way out of his dilemma, proposed that the rivals should settle the dispute by combat. Turnus was slain, tineas married Lavinia, and succeeded his father-in-law upon the throne. Dr. Brewer, in "The Reader's Handbook," gives the following outline of the /Eneid : — "Book I. — The escape from Troy. /Eneas and his son, driven by a tempest on the shores of Carthage, are hospitably entertained by Queen Dido. "Book II. — /Eneas tells Dido the tale of the wooden horse, the burning of Troy, and his flight with his father, wife, and son. The wife was lost and died. "Book III. — The narrative continued. The perils he met with on the way, and the death of his father. " Book IV. — Dido falls in love with /Eneas, but he steals away from Carthage ; and Dido, on a funeral pyre, puts an end to her life. " Book V. — ^neas reaches Sicily, and celebrates there the games in honor of Anchises. This book corresponds to the Iliad, XXIII. "Book VI. — /Eneas visits the infernal regions. This book corresponds to Odyssey, XI. "Book VII. — Latinus, King of Italy, entertains /Eneas, and promises to him Lavinia (his daughter) in marriage ; but Prince Turnus had been already betrothed to her by the mother, and raises an army to resist /Eneas. "Book VIII. — Preparations on both sides for a general war. "Book IX. — Turnus, during the absence of /Eneas, fires the ships, and assaults the camps. The episode of Nisus and Euryalus. "Book X. — The war between Turnus and /Eneas. Episode of Mezentius and Lausus. "Book XL — The battle continued. " Book XII. — Turnus challenges /Eneas to single combat, and is killed." CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 335 261. POMPEY'S PILLAR. This celebrated monumental pillar is situated about eighteen hundred feet from the southern gate of Alex- andria, Egypt. It is composed of red granite, with a Corinthian capital nine feet high. The shaft and upper member of the base are of one piece, ninety feet long, and nine in diameter : the base is about fifteen feet square. The shaft, sixty feet in circumference, rests upon two layers bound together with lead. The whole column is one hundred and fourteen feet high. It is in a good state of preservation, with the exception of one of the volutes of the column, which was prema- turely brought down some years ago by a frolic of some English seamen : the account is thus given by Mr. Irwin : — " These jolly sons of Neptune had been pushing about the can on board one of the ships in the harbor, until a strange freak en- tered into one of their brains. The eccentricity of the thought occasioned it immediately to be adopted, and its apparent impossi- bility was but a spur for the putting it into execution. The boat was ordered; and, with proper implements for the attempt, these enterprising heroes pushed ashore, to drink a bowl of punch on the top of Pompey's Pillar! At the spot they arrived; and many contrivances were proposed, to accomplish the desired point. But their labor was vain ; and they began to despair of success, when the genius who struck out the frolic happily suggested the means of performing it. A man was despatched to the city for a paper kite ; and the inhabitants, by this time apprised of what was goin^ forward, flocked in crowds to be witnesses of the address and boldness of the English. The governor of Alexandria was told that these seamen were about to pull down Pompey's Pillar. But whether he gave them credit for their respect to the Roman war- rior or to the Turkish Government, he left them to themselves, and politely answered that the English were too great patriots to injure the remains of Pompey. He knew little, however, of the disposition of the people who were engaged in this undertaking. 33^ CURIOUS QUESTIONS. " Had the Turkish empire risen in opposition, it would not at that- moment have deterred them. The kite was brought, and flown directly over the pillar, so that, when it fell on the other side, the string lodged upon the capital. The chief obstacle was now over- come. A two-inch rope was tied to one end of the string, and drawn over the pillar by the end to which the kite was affixed. By this rope, one of the seamen ascended to the top ; and in less than an hour a kind of shroud was constructed, by which the whole company went up, and drank their punch, amidst the shouts of the astonished multitude. To the eye below, the capital of the pillar does not appear capable of holding more than one man upon it ; but our seamen found it could contain no less than eight per- sons very conveniently. It is astonishing that no accident befell these madcaps in a situation so elevated that it would have turned a landsman giddy in his sober senses. The only detriment which the pillar received was the loss of the volute, before mentioned, which came down with a thundering sound, and was carried to England by one of the captains, as a present to a lady who had commissioned him to procure her a piece of it. The discovery which they made amply compensated for this mischief; as without their evidence the world would not have known at this hour that there was originally a statue on this pillar, one foot and ankle of which are still remaining. The statue must have been of a gigan- tic size, to have appeared of a man's proportion at so great a height. There are circumstances in this story which might give it the air of fiction, were it not proved beyond all doubt. Besides the testi- monies of many eye-witnesses, the adventurers themselves have left a token of the fact, by the initials of their names, which are very legibly painted in black just beneath the capital." The name popularly applied to this column is an erroneous appellation given by ancient travellers, who confess they do not know whence it is derived, or why still retained. The inscription on the base shows that it was erected by Publius, Prefect of Egypt, in honor of the Emperor Diocletian, who is styled upon it 'The Invincible ; ' and it is supposed to record the conquest of the city of Alexandria by Diocletian, 296 A.D. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 337 262. A RIVER OF INK, Among the wonders of nature in Algeria, there is a remarkable phenomenon of a river of genuine ink. It is formed by the junction of two streams, one flowing from a region of ferruginous soil, the other draining a peat swamp. The waters of the first are, of course, strongly im- pregnated with iron ; those of the latter with gallic acid. On meeting, the acid of one stream combines with the iron of the other, and a true ink is the result. In the older days of a mythology of nature, it would not have required a very vivid fancy to seat a Titan upon the bank, with a tall Egyptian reed for his pen, inditing upon gigantic papyrus the true cosmogony of things visible, and the fancied theogony of things unseen. Many curious facts and superstitions could be gath- ered in connection with rivers, — the Nile, so mysteri- ously sacred to the Egyptians ; the Tiber, so dear and so sacred to the Romans ; the Rubicon ; the Pactolus, a river of Lydia, in which Midas is said to have washed away from himself the power of turning into gold what- ever he touched, and from which circumstance it ever after rolled golden sands ; the Ganges, still so sacred to the Hindoos, that, in British courts of justice in Hin- dostan, the water is used for swearing Hindoos, as the Koran is for the Mohammedans, and the Bible for Christians. The city of Benares, on the banks of the Ganges, is to the Hindoos the holiest place on earth. Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims go there every year to bathe in the river, and thus, as they think, to wash away their sins. The month of June is devoted to the bath of their idol, Juggernaut. 338 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. But, apart from superstition, the Ganges is a wonder- ful river. Its source is nearly two miles above the level of the sea, in the Himalaya Mountains ; the water flow- ing out of a cave of ice at the bottom of a glacier. Many other rivers flow into it ; and it soon becomes a mile wide, and very rapid : its length is fifteen hundred and forty miles. At a distance of five hundred miles from the sea, the channel is thirty feet deep. About two hundred miles from the sea, the delta of the Ganges commences by the separation of the river into parts. Between the different mouths are numerous islands, called Sunderbunds, which are covered with profuse and rank vegetation called jungle, and are haunted by crocodiles and tigers. The air at this sec- tion is so unhealthy that no one can live there, yet the water of the Ganges is esteemed for its medicinal virtues. Then, there is the river Jordan, almost as sacred to Christians as the Ganges is to the Hindoos, on account of the baptism of our Lord (St. Matthew iii. 13-17). The Jordan is emphatically the- river of Palestine, as the Nile is the river of Egypt. It has its phenomena in its annual rise, tortuous course, and rapid descent. It has been twice fully explored. It rises at the foot of a high cliff near the entrance of a deep cavern; but its direct course is after it leaves the Lake of Tiberias, until it empties into the Dead Sea. This is but a dis- tance of sixty miles ; yet so winding is it, that the actual length of the river is two hundred miles. The Jordan, except near its source, is below the level of the ocean ; and the Dead Sea, where it empties, is a quarter of a mile below the surface of the Mediterra- nean. The rapid descent of the Jordan has been explained CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 339 by the explorations of Lieutenants Molyneux and Lynch, who found no less than twenty-seven rapids in its course ; and also, that from Lake Tiberias to the Dead Sea, it has a fall of ten hundred and fifty feet. It rushes over roaring rapids, between high banks covered with tamarisks and willows, so that there are few places of access to its waters. There were anciently four fords of the Jordan. At one of these, on Monday before Easter, the pilgrims of the Greek Church, often eight thousand in number, who have come down from Jerusalem escorted by the pacha and a guard of Turkish soldiers, perform the well-known ceremony of bathing in the sacred stream. A short distance below this is the point where the river loses itself in the lifeless waters of the Dead Sea. 263. EFFECT OF THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR. This war re-united Alsace and Lorraine to Germany, and secured the sum of two hundred million pounds as war indemnity ; and the German people, hitherto much divided in sympathy, were drawn closely together, so that, at the end of the war, the twenty-five sovereign states of Germany united under a restored empire, King William of Prussia being chosen Emperor of Germany. The effect upon France was just the reverse. After the defeat of the French army, the Emperor Napoleon III. was deposed by a Parisian mob, and France became a Republic. The German forces gained possession of a large part of France, and imposed a heavy fine upon the country. After being held prisoner for six months at Wilhelms- 34Q CURIOUS QUESTIONS. hohe, near Cassel, Napoleon retired to Chiselhurst, in Kent, England, where he died, Jan. 9, 1873. The Franco-Prussian war was declared by France in July, 1870, on the ground that the King of Prussia re- fused to prohibit his relative, Prince Leopold, from becoming a candidate for the vacant throne of Spain. 264. THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS. John Bunyan, the author of " The Pilgrim's Prog- ress," was born at Elstow, near Bedford, England, in 1628. In 1655 he became a Baptist minister, and preached with great success, until, in the restoration of Charles II., an Act against conventicles was passed, which put an end to his labors : he was tried, convicted, and sen- tenced to perpetual banishment, but was shut up in Bedford jail, where he passed the next twelve years of his life. He employed himself while there in making tagged laces for the support of his family, and in writ- ing "The Pilgrim's Progress" and other books. His library consisted of a Bible, and Fox's "Martyrs." He was several times offered his liberty, on the con- dition that he should give up preaching ; but his brave answer was always, " If you let me out to-day, I'll preach again to-morrow." He was finally released, through the kindly interposition of Dr. Barlow of Lin- coln, in 1671. After the declaration of James II. in favor of liberty of conscience, Bunyan again took charge of a church in Bedford, and preached to large congre- gations for the rest of his life. He died, 1688, in Lon- don, where he always went once a year to preach, and was buried in Bunhill Fields, called by Southey " The CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 341 Campo Santo of the Dissenters." A monument, with a recumbent statue of Bunyan, was erected over his grave in 1862. " The Pilgrim's Progress," his chief work, has gone through more editions, and been translated into more languages, than any book except the Bible. It is an allegory of a Christian's life from the time of his con- version to that of his death. " His doubts are giants ; his sins, a pack ; his Bible, a chart ; his minister, Evangelist ; his conversion, a flight from the City of Destruction ; his struggle with beset- ing sins, a fight with Apollyon ; his death, a toilsome passage over a deep stream, and so on. "The second part is Christiana and her family led by Greatheart through the same road, to join Christian, who had gone before." 265. THE BLACK ROOD OF SCOTLAND. When the Anglo-Saxon princess who became the wife of King Malcolm Ceanmore landed in Scotland, about the year 1070, she brought with her what was re- garded as a priceless relic, — a casket in the form of a cross, containing what was believed to be a piece of the true cross, set in an ebony crucifix, richly ornamented with gold. Of the earlier history of this relic, nothing is known ; but St. Margaret bequeathed it to her chil- dren, and, when she was dying, pressed it to her lips and eyes, and expired clasping it with both her hands. The contemporary biographer of her son, King David I., relates that the "Black Rood of Scotland," as it was called, had received the dying adoration of that saintly prince, and that in the twelfth century it had come to 342 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. be regarded by the whole Scottish nation with feelings of mingled love and awe. It was kept as an heirloom of the kingdom, in the castle of Edinburgh, until, with other relics of Scotland, it was delivered to King Ed- ward I. in the year 1291. King Edward used it to give increased solemnity to the oaths of fealty, which he exacted of the magnates of Scotland. When the long struggle between England and Scot- land was ended in 1328 by the peace of Northampton, the Black Rood was restored to Scotland as one of the national treasures. When the hapless King David II. invaded England in 1346, he took the Black Rood with him, in belief that it would insure safety to his person, or victory to his arms. On his defeat and capture, the Black Rood of Scotland became the prize of his conqueror, Lord of Raby, and, together with other spoils of the battle, was offered up at the Shrine of St. Cuthbert in the Cathe- dral of Durham ; and it hung there until the Reforma- tion, when all trace of it disappeared. 266. A KING THAT CAME TO THE THRONE OF FRANCE BEARING FIVE COFFINS IN HIS TRAIN. Philip III., surnamed "the Hardy," was the son of Louis IX. (St. Louis) of France, and succeeded him (1270) when only twenty-five years of age. He was with his father when the latter died of the plague at the siege of Tunis, and was at once pro- claimed king. He continued the war against the Moors in Africa, until, with the assistance of his uncle, Charles of An- jou, he had reduced the King of Tunis to submission. He then returned to France, bearing in his train five CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 343 coffins, those of his father, his wife, his son, his brother, and his brother-in-law. Philip reigned fifteen years, and in that time the only important event was what is known in history as "The Massacre of the Sicilian Vespers." Charles of Anjou, brother of St. Louis, had, under the sanction of the Pope, conquered Sicily and Naples, and taken possession of the crown. His cruelty and want of faith excited the hatred of a naturally vindic- tive people, until at last, while the citizens of Palermo were assembling for vespers on Easter Monday, March 30, 1282, the infuriated natives rose en masse, and fell, sword in hand, upon their unsuspecting oppressors in every part of the city, slaughtering them without mercy. As the news of the massacre spread, the same tragedy was enacted in every part of the island, until at last there was scarcely a Frenchman alive in Sicily. The Sicilians then offered their crown to Don Pedro of Aragon, as being nearest of kin to their old line. He soon landed on the island, and was proclaimed King of Sicily. The Pope was so enraged at Don Pedro for accepting the crown of Sicily, that he declared him to have forfeited his own crown, and sent Philip III. to take it from him. Soon after the French army advanced into Aragon, however, a pestilence broke out ; and the king himself took the disease, and died, in the year 1284. Don Pedro of Aragon kept the island of Sicily ; but Charles of Anjou ruled over Naples until 1435, when Naples passed under the dominion of the King of Aragon. The kingdom of Naples and Sicily belonged to Spain until the war of the Spanish succession (1700- 171 3), when Sicily was separated from Naples. They were both in i860 annexed to Italy. 344 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 267. OUR MORAL AND PHYSICAL ANTIPODES. The Chinese, topographically our antipodes, are as opposite to us in manners and customs. We stand feet to feet in almost every thing. Our night is their day. Our mourning color is black, theirs is white. Their boats are drawn by men : their car- riages are moved by means of sails. Old men fly kites, while little boys look on : with them the seat of honor is at the left hand, and to keep one's hat on is a sign of respect. We drink tea hot, and wine cold : they drink wine hot, and tea cold. In China, the family name comes first instead of last ; thus, John Smith would be Smith John : and the Chinese name of Confucius, Kung-Fu-tsee, means Holy Master Kung, Kung being his family name. The nee- dle of their compass points to the south, ours to the north. They say " west-north " instead of north-west, " east-south " instead of south-east. Their soldiers wear quilted petticoats, satin boots, and bead necklaces, carry umbrellas and fans, and go to a night attack with lanterns, being more afraid of the dark than the enemy. They mount their horses on the right side. Visiting- cards with them are about four feet long, and are painted red. The children in school sit with their b>acks to the teacher, and study their lessons aloud. Babies in China seldom cry. This may be accounted for by the fact that the older children go out to play with the babies strapped to their backs. In the opin- ion of the Chinese, the seat of the understanding is the stomach. A married woman, when young and pretty, is a slave : when she is old and withered, she is the most respected and beloved member of the family. Their most valued piece of furniture is a handsome CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 345 camphor-wood coffin, which they keep in the best room. They are very fond of fireworks, but always display them in the daytime. A Chinese soldier will run away in time of danger, and then kill himself to avoid pun- ishment. If you offend a Chinaman, instead of killing you, he will kill himself on your doorstep. 268. THE WAYSIDE INN. "Around the fireside at their ease, There sat a group of friends." The old Howe Tavern in Sudbury, Mass., has been made memorable by Longfellow's beautiful poem, " Tales of a Wayside Inn ; " and an added interest is given to the poem when we know that this gathering of "friends" was not a mere poetical fancy, but a fact, and that among the dramatis personce are many well- known characters. The first part of the poem was written in 1861, just three months before the breaking-out of our civil war. In the prelude we are introduced to the guests at the inn, who in turn beguile the evening hours with an interchange of stories. " But first the landlord will I trace, Grave in his aspect and attire : A man of ancient pedigree, A justice of the peace was he, Known in all Sudbury as the Squire." The "landlord " was Squire Lyman Howe; and his tale, " Paul Revere's Ride," is the first of the series. 346 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. " A youth was there of quiet ways, A student of old books and days, To whom all tongues and lands were known,. And yet a lover of his own." The "student" was Dr. Henry W. Wales of Boston, a liberal friend of Harvard College. His tale was " The Falcon of Ser Federigo." "A young Sicilian, too, was there, In sight of yEtna born and bred." The " Sicilian " was Professor Luigi Monti, an author and a lecturer, and for many years a most intimate . friend of Longfellow. His tale was " King Robert of Sicily." " A Spanish Jew from Alicant, With aspect grand and grave, was there ; Vender of silks and fabrics rare, And attar of rose from the Levant." The " Spanish Jew," named Edrehi, was evidently introduced to give variety to the tales, by bringing in thoughts and traditions of an ancient race ; for he was not one of the party, though a Jew with whom Long- fellow was well acquainted in Boston. He adds to the tales, "The Legend of Rabbi Ben Levi." " A theologian, from the school Of Cambridge on the Charles, was there : Skilful alike with tongue and pen, He preached to all men everywhere The gospel of the Golden Rule." The "theologian" has been variously assigned, — by some to the Rev. Samuel Longfellow, a brother of the poet ; by others to Professor Trowbridge : but Professor Monti sets all doubts at rest by assuring us, in his CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 347 lecture on " The Wayside Inn," that the theologian was Professor Daniel Tredwell. He took as his subject a story of the Inquisition, "Torquemada." " A poet, too, was there, whose verse Was tender, musical, and terse." This was Dr. Parsons, known best to scholars by his translation of the " Divina Commedia." He was a man of genius, but so retiring that he shrank from ap- plause, and almost dreaded fame. He gave " The Birds of Killingworth." "Last the musician, as he stood Illumined by that fire of wood; Fair-haired, blue-eyed, his aspect blithe, His figure tall and straight and lithe, And every feature of his face Revealing his Norwegian race; A radiance streaming from within, Around his eyes and forehead beamed ; The angel with the violin, Painted by Raphael, he seemed." One has no difficulty in recognizing Ole Bull in this description. He was born at Bergen, Norway, Feb. 5, 1810. He visited the United States several times, and gave violin recitals with great success. In 1852 he bought a large tract of land in Pennsylvania, and there founded a colony, which was called Oleana in his honor ; but it was soon given up, and he returned to his profession. He died in Norway, Aug. 17, 1880, aged seventy years. Ole Bull was not one of the " group of friends," but is a very important factor in the poem. In his tale, "The Saga of King Olaf," we have some striking 348 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. specimens of Scandinavian literature, historical, mythic, heroic, and romantic. " A strain of music closed the tale, A low, monotonous, funeral wail, That with its cadence, wild and sweet, Made the long Saga more complete. Then all arose, and said " Good-night." The second series of the tales, although representing "The Second Day " at the inn, was not published until 1872. The same group of friends in a similar manner interchange stories and music. A third series appeared in 1873, representing a third evening. In this are some of the most beautiful poems in the whole collection, and the closing lines are full of pathos : — " These are the tales those merry guests Told to each other, well or ill ; . . . These are the tales, or new or old, In idle moments .idly told : . . . And still, reluctant to retire, The friends sat talking by the fire. . . . But sleep at last the victory won : They must be stirring with the sun ; And drowsily good-night they said, And went, still gossiping, to bed. . . . Uprose the sun ; and every guest, Uprisen, was soon equipped and dressed For journeying home and cityward. . . . ' Farewell ! ' the portly landlord cried : ' Farewell ! ' the parting guests replied, But little thought that nevermore Their feet would pass that threshold o'er; That nevermore together there Would they assemble, free from care, To breathe the wholesome country air." CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 349 269. THE FARNESE BULL AND THE FARNESE HERCULES. The name " Farnese " has been bestowed upon sev- eral celebrated works of art. It was the name of an illustrious family in Italy from the middle of the thirteenth century to 1 73 1, when the family became extinct. Many of its members filled the highest offices of the Church of Rome. The Farnese Palace at Rome, one of the finest in the city, was erected by Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, after- wards Pope Paul III. (1534-49). The antique sculp- tures for which it was renowned are now in the museum at Naples ; and two at least still bear the name of their original owners, — the Farnese Bull and the Farnese Hercules. I. The Farnese Bull is a colossal work of art consist- ing of many figures, executed from a single block of marble, by Apollonius and Tauriscus of the Rhodian School of Art, which flourished 300 B.C. According to Pliny, this group was brought from Rhodes to Rome, where it first adorned the library of Asinius Pollio, and then the Baths of Caracalla. It was discovered among the ruins of the latter in 1546. Under Paul III. it was restored by Bianchi, who worked according to the direction of Michael Angelo, and was placed in the Farnese Palace. "The subject of the composition refers to the punishment which Zethus and Amphion, the sons of Antiope, destined for Dirce, in order to revenge their mother. For Dirce had not only tormented Antiope with singular barbarity, but had even ordered her two sons, who had grown up unknown as shepherds, to bind her to the horns of a wild bull, and let her be dragged to death. The murder of their mother was on the point of taking place, when the recognition between mother and sons was brought about 35o CURIOUS QUESTIONS. by a fortunate chance. The tables were now turned, and the furi- ous sons inflicted on Dirce the punishment which she had devised for Antiope. " The group represents this moment. According to tradition, the scene takes place on the Cithseron, which is indicated by the rocky soil and the small figure of a shepherd, who is looking on, and by various animals of the chase. Zethus and Amphion, two vigor- ous though slender youthful figures, are standing opposite each other on a projection of the rock, endeavoring to restrain the wildly resisting bull, and fasten the victim to it. Dirce, whose beautiful body, only partly concealed by drapery, has fallen help- lessly, as if paralyzed with horror, is imploring in vain for pity, and clasping the leg of one of the brothers. Inexorably they both continue their work, while Antiope is quietly looking on in the background. In the next moment the voluptuous beauty of the splendid female figure will be forever annihilated. "The group has similar excellencies with that of the Laocoon, (q.v.), and is perhaps even more artistically and boldly constructed : it merits admiration also in a technical point of view as the most colossal marble work of antiquity." II. The Farnese Hercules was also discovered in the Baths of Caracalla, Rome, during the reign of Paul III. ; l>ut the legs were missing. The Pope's nephew, Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, employed Michael Angelo to supply them ; but it is said that he destroyed his work, saying it was not for man to finish the work of gods. The legs were afterwards found in a well three miles from the place where the statue was discovered. The statue is now complete, except its left hand. " The Farnese Hercules is the work of an Athenian, Glycon, and is a copy of an original of Lysippus. The hero is represented as resting from his work; but he is standing erect, and supporting himself only with his left shoulder on his club, which is covered with the lion's skin. In his right hand, which is resting against the back, he is holding the apples of the Hesperidae. " The design is extremely grand ; and the figure has something CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 351 of the ideal form of a demi-god, not merely from its colossal size, but still more from the powerful structure of the limbs." " The placid attitude of the Hercules, and benign inclination of head, seem to invite adoration, and rather announce the divinity of some temple than a mere object of sculpture displaying, as it is thought, the muscles of a man just respiring from toil." 270. THE PRAGMATIC SANCTION. The term Pragmatic Sanction signifies a business arrangement which is generally acknowledged ; but in history it is applied to settlements affecting national liberties, or the succession to the throne. The Pragmatic Sanction of Charles III. of France, 1438, defined and limited the power of the Pope in France; that of St. Louis, 1268, forbade the Court of Rome to levy taxes, or collect subscriptions, in France, without the sanction of the king ; that of Germany, 1439, secured the succession of the empire to the house of Austria. In 1 7 1 3 the Emperor Charles VI., having lost his son, named his daughter, Maria Theresa, as his heir, and published a decree making this appointment, which was out of the usual routine, and was therefore known as the Pragmatic Sanction; also, in 1759, Charles II. of Spain ceded the succession of Naples to his third son and his descendants, which is the last recorded Pragmatic Sanction. 271. THE AFGHANS. The Afghan chroniclers call their people Bani-Israel, the Arab for children of Israel, and claim descent from King Saul, through a son whom they ascribe to him called Jeremiah, who again had a son called Afghana. 352 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. The numerous stock of Afghana were carried captives with other Jews by Nebuchadnezzar. Only nine years after Mohammed announced his mission, they heard of the new prophet, and sent a deputy to Medina headed by a wise man called Kais. The deputies became con- verts, and from this time Jewish Afghans became fol- lowers of Mohammed. From Kais and his three sons the whole of the genuine Afghans claim descent. Their Hebrew ancestry is credited by intelligent his- torians, and the prevailing type of feature is decidedly Jewish. Afghanistan means the country of the Afghans, the name given to this race of people by the Persians. Afghanistan in Asia is about twice as large as the State of Texas. The mountains are covered by dense forests, the home of lions and tigers. The people are a strong, brave race, divided into tribes, which are often at war with each other. In 1838 England declared war against Afghanistan, on the ground that they (the Afghans) had attacked one of her allies. The war continued until Jan. 1, 1842, when a capitulation was concluded, by which the Eng- lish were to pay a large amount of money, evacuate the country, and surrender nearly all of their ammunition and artillery. The Afghan chiefs promised them a safe conduct out of the land : but, as they marched through the mountain passes, they were fired on by the Af ghans ; and it is said that only one of the English escaped to Jelalabad to tell the tale. 272. THE "THREE FATES." According to Kiigler, the picture in the Pitti Palace, Florence, called the " Three Fates," and ascribed to, Michael Angelo, was painted by Rosso Fiorentino. CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 353 The model for the picture is said to have been an old woman, who offered her son to fight for the city when Michael Angelo was conducting the defence of Florence, in 1529. The same figure is represented in three different attitudes, and with such difference of expression that only the initiated can recognize the fact of its being the same person. In mythology the " Three Fates " (or the Mcerae) are three sisters, daughters of Night, who exercise an influence over the destiny of man, his 6irth, life, and death. To express this influence, they are represented in art as weaving a web. Clotho spins, Lachesis holds, and Atropos cuts, the thread of life ; or else Clotho holds the distaff, Lachesis draws out the thread, and Atropos with large shears is in the act of cutting it off. Such is the representation in the picture referred to above; but the strength of the picture lies in the keen, serene, implacable features of the three -sisters, who so consciously control the destiny of man. 273. 'THE ORIFLAMME. The sacred oriflamme of France was a red silk ban- ner mounted on a gold staff. (Or, gold, referring to the staff ; Jlamme y flame, referring to the tongues of flame.) The flag was cut into three " Vandykes," to represent " tongues of fire ; " and between either was a ■silken tassel. This celebrated standard was originally that borne by the abbots of St. Denis, and later by the counts of Vezin, patrons of that church. When the country of Vezin fell into the hands of the French crown, under Philippe I., 1082, the oriflamme became the principal banner of the kingdom. It was first used as a national 354 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. banner in 1119. In war, the display of this standard indicated that no quarter would be given. The English standard of no quarter was the " burning dragon." " I have not reared the oriflamme of death. . . . me it behoves To spare the fallen foe." The Abbey of St. Denis had the keeping of the crown, sceptre, and other ornaments used at the coro- nation of the kings of France. St. Denis, the patron saint of France, was the first bishop of Paris. He suf- fered martyrdom during one of the persecutions of the Roman emperors, being beheaded in 272. His body was buried near the place of his execution ; and over the spot a church was built, which was afterwards united with the Abbey of St. Denis. This church contained the tombs of most of the French kings; but in 1793, when hatred of royalty was at its height in France, the tombs of the kings were opened, and their bodies cast into a common grave. 274. THE OLDEST FAMILY. Confucius, the founder of the Confucian religion of China, lived 551 to 478 B.C. He was contemporary with the Tarquins of Rome, Pythagoras of Greece, and Cyrus of Persia. His descendants form the aristocracy of China, and have always enjoyed high privileges. There are still some forty thousand of them, seventy generations re- moved from their ancestor ; this being the oldest fam- ily in the world, unless we consider the Jews a single family descended from Abraham. There are sixteen hundred and sixty temples erected CURIOUS QUESTIONS. 355 to the memory of Confucius, or Kung-Fu-tsee, in China, the largest one covering ten acres of land. He is the patron saint of that vast empire ; and the doctrine he promulgated forms the state religion of the nation, sustained by the whole power of the emperor and the literary body. Yet it is a religion without priests or liturgy. Moral- ity and reverence are its chief characteristics. "Worship as though the Deity were present." "If my mind is not engaged in my worship, it is as though I worshipped not." " Faithfulness and sincerity are the highest things." Reverence for parents, or the aged, was as imperative in his teaching as reverence for the Deity ; and the Golden Rule in its negative form is found in his writings, — " Do not unto others what you would not have them do unto you." The religion of Confucius is an ethnic religion, or one confined within the boundaries of a particular race or family of mankind. It belongs to China and the Chinese. It has been their state religion for some twenty-three hundred years, and it rules the opinions of three hundred millions of men. But, out of China, Confucius is only a name. There are two other forms of religion in China, — Taoism, and Buddhism in its Chinese form. 275. THE RING IN THE MARRIAGE CEREMONY. The use of the ring as a pledge is of very ancient date. " And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt. " And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph's hand." (Gen. xli. 41, 42.) Clemens tells us its use in the marriage service be- 356 CURIOUS QUESTIONS. gan in Egypt, and then, as now, signified a transfer of property. " With all my worldly goods I thee endow." The marriage-ring gave to an Egyptian woman the power to issue commands in the name of her husband, and made her in every way his representative. Among the Anglo-Saxons, the bridegroom gave a pledge, or "wed" (a term from which we derive the word wedding), at the betrothal ceremony. This wed consisted, among other things, of a ring, which was placed on the maiden's right hand, and remained there until transferred at the marriage ceremony to the left hand. At this ceremony the bridegroom put the ring first on the end of the thumb, then on the first, and then on the second finger, naming the Trinity ; and lastly placed it on the third or marriage finger, to sig- nify that next to God her duty was to her husband. Our marriage ceremony is very nearly the same as that used by our forefathers, a few obsolete words being changed. The ring by its form is a symbol of eternity, and in the marriage ceremony is a pledge before God of the intention of both parties to keep forever the solemn covenant into which they have entered. Wedding- presents, of various descriptions, have been customary from remote times. INDEX. PAGE Abandonment of Sun- Authors Famous for One PAGE ?8c Work 319 A rl r i d n T V C7 Autocrat of the Russias . . 114 l6 •328 Barer Tale ft A - V 1 , X i \ > 1,1' 1 iUL • • • 212 IO3 47 Fernando de Soto .... I46 Harleian Collection .... 99 Fire, Greek 40 99 First Great Picture .... 6 Hassan Ben Sabbal .... 97 195 167 Foundation of Venice . . . 293 60 Founder of Mormonism . . 226 23 93 Heart of Mid- Lothian . . . 109 Franco-Prussian War . . . 339 66 368 INDEX. PAGE Helmichis 20 Heraldry in England .... 265 Herculaneum , 108 Herodotus 157 Highest Monument .... 247 Hindoo Sacred Books . . . 326 Hohenstaufens 150 Hohenzollerns 211 Homer . . . . . . .62, 167 Houdon 261 Huayna Capac 46 Hugo, Victor 62, 281 Huguenot exempted from Massacre 77 Huguenots 134 Hungsewtseuen 8 Hypatia 196 ICONOCLASTES .... 43 Idris, Chair of 38 Ignatius de Loyola .... 88 II Bambino 163 Iliad of France 93 Iliad, Homer's 167 II Trovatore 223 Image of Nabis 318 Incas, Last of 45 India 115 Inez de Castro 1, 129 Inferno 287 Ink, River of 337 Insignia of Napoleon . . . 139 Instant before the Battle . . 178 Inundation of the Nile ... 28 Invention, Most Important . 310 Irving, Washington .... 34 Isaiah 63 Island of Seven Cities . . . 188 " Ivanhoe," Rebecca of . . . 34 Ivan the Terrible 112 JACOB'S Pillow 104 Jamaica 117 PAGE Janizaries 165 Jeanie Deans 109 Jerome, St 66 Jerusalem, King of ... . 200 Jerusalem, Temple of ... 168 Jesuits 88 Jesus, Death- Warrant of . . 17 Jew, Wandering 298 Johnson, Dr. Samuel . . . 155 Jonathan, Brother .... 79 Jousts and Tournaments . . 164 Julian the Apostate .... 168 Julius Caesar 132 Junius, Letters of 55 Juvenal 63 KALIDASA 138 Kaliphs, Last of 267 Keats, John 21 Kellerman, Gen 121 Keystone State 169 Key of Death 107 Khorassan, Veiled Prophet of, 47 King bearing Five Coffins . . 342 King, first, second, third, and fourth of his name . . . 153 King and Queen elected . . 80 King who could not speak his Nation's Language .... 261 King of the French .... 142 King exhibited in Cage ... 41 Kit-Cat Pictures 188 Koran 114 Kremlin 130 Ladies' Peace 318 Laocoon 214 La Pieta 156 Largest Statue 231 Last of Kaliphs 267 Last Communion of St. Je- rome 65 Last of Romans 274 INDEX. 369 PAGE PAGE 143 321 Martyrdom of St. Agnes . • 143 Last of Gladiators . . . . 174 Martyrdom of St. Peter . 106 176 , Il6 89 Mary and William . . . . 80 Legal Document, Important . 17 • 157 55 . 268 103 Masterpieces of Michael An- Liberty enlightening the World, 231 . I78 44 . 76 179 Mechanician, Celebrated • 199 Likenesses of Christ .... 26 Medici, Catherine de • 79 Lilly, William 322 • 283 211 • 75 155 Merchants, Guild of . . . no Livermore, Harriet .... 255 . 328 Literature, Classic and Roman- . 16 tic 162 43. 212 123 • 25 222 . 24 Lombard Republic .... IOI . 114 London, Deities of ... . 232 345 . 56 142 Loyola, Ignatius de . . . . 88 Monument, Highest . . . 247 21 i8i Lucrezia Borgia 81 . 181 128 30, 297 274 • 344 Maccabees 217 Moscow, City of . . . • 131 Machiavelli, Nicolo .... 189 Moscow Cathedral . . . 119 Madonna di San Sisto . . . M . 179 295 Moses, Brazen Serpent of • 3*3 Mahabharata .... 138, 326 . 195 Make Room for Raphael . . 14 • 233 103 . 147 Man exhibited in Cage . . . 41 Mountain, Old Man of . • 97 Manufactured Stones . . . *45 Man who stood on Pillar . . 84 NABIS, Image of . . . 318 9 1 • 139 136 7i, 308 126 • 134 37o INDEX. PAGE PAGE Nation which used Wooden Pennsylvania, Keystone State, 169 16 Pennsylvania Pilgrim . . . Il8 126 Perfection no Trifle .... 37 New and Old Time .... 250 308 191 Periander of Corinth . . . m Nile, Inundation of ... . 28 45 No Royal Road to Learning . % 89 Nucleus of the Resurrection Philip of Macedon .... 221 Body 242 342 Philippoteaux, Paul .... 94 OBELISK in Central Park . 240 179 25 Physical Antipodes .... 344 Object of Don Quixote . . . 72 Pilgrim's Progress .... 340 44 84 170 87 167 Pittacus of Mitylene .... 173 121 102 Old Man of the Mountain . . 97 46 Old and New Time .... 250 18 277 Poet whose Name was writ in 353 21 Oldest Statue 271 44 Oracle, the Literary .... 155 107 197 335 353 263 Origin of Surnames .... 3 X 4 57 Origin of Thimbles .... 296 243 Original Bluebeard .... 245 , 129 Origin of lifting the Hat . . 44 182 51 Pragmatic Sanction .... 35i 151 277 157 Presentation of the Virgin . . 143 203 PALIS SY, Bernard . . . 77 Prophets and Sibyls .... 301 Paradise, Gates of .... no 323 Parliament, Curious Customs, 7 Pun that cost a Life .... 84 135 Pyramid of Caius Cestius . . 221 «3* QUEEN crowned after 96 25 1 Pastorius, Francis Daniel . . Il8 Queen who drank from a Cup I made of a Skull .... 20 3°7 Queen of the East .... 171 INDEX. PAGE Queen who died of a Broken Heart 190 Queen who Married her Broth- ers 132 RaMAYANA . . . 138, 326 Raphael 6, 14, 125 Rats, Trial of 140 Rebecca of " Ivanhoe "... 34 Reign of Terror 273 Revels, Clerks of 153 Rienzi 274 Ring in Marriage Service . . 355 River of Ink 336 Robbing Peter to pay Paul . 102 Rock of Refuge 292 Roderigo Diaz 30 Roland and Oliver .... 51 Roman Sculpture 320 Romans, Last of 274 Romance of the Rose ... 93 Romantic Literature .... 162 Rome, Colosseum of . . . . 312 Rope of Ocnus 44 Rosamond 20 Rose, Golden 292 Rubens 305 Rurik 114 Ruskin, John 68 Russia, Czar of 112 SABBATH, or Sunday . . 324 Sacred Books 201 Sacred Books of the Hindoos, 326 Sacro Catino 320 "Sakuntala" 138 Sanskrit Literature . . . . 172 St. Bruno, Statue of ... . 261 St. Mark's Columns .... 86 St. Paul 221 St. Paul's Cathedral .... 102 St. Peter's Cathedral . . . 102 Schinkel, Carl F 210 I 371 PAGE Scone 104 Scott, Sir Walter .... 34, 109 Sculpture, Roman 320 Second Great Picture ... 65 Seven Lamps of Architecture, 68 Seven Sleepers of Ephesus . 85 Seven Wise Men of Greece . 173 Shah Jehan 98 Shakspeare 64 Silence, Towers of .... 161 Simeon the Stylite .... 84 Sistine Chapel 301 Six Famous Diamonds ... 48 Slip 'twixt Cup and Lip . . . 112 Smith, Joseph 226 "Snowbound" 253 Solon of Athens 173 Songs of Gondoliers .... 304 Southey, Robert 230 Spain, Epic Poem of ... . 229 Sphinx Riddle 120 Spies of the Czar 75 Spencer 212 Spenser, Edmund 268 Stanhope, Lady Hester . 255, 256 Strasbourg Clock 38 Statue, Oldest 271 Statue, Largest 231 Stone of Destiny 104 Suez Canal 145 Sumner, Charles 159 Sunday, Abandonment of . . 285 Sunday Stone 157 Surnames 314 Swift, Dean 143 Swiss Guards 22 Tables, Eugubine ... 316 Tae Ping Rebellion .... 7 j Taj Mahal 98 Tales of a Wayside Inn . . 345 I Tamerlane 41 Tapestry, Bayeux 35 INDEX. 372 PAGE Tara's Hall 180 Telemachus 175 Telemaque 208 Telling the Bees 77 Temple of Jerusalem . . . 168 Temple, Sir William . . . 143 Tenebrae 284 Tennyson ... 38, 133, 236, 281 « Tent on the Beach "... 9 Thales of Miletus .... 173 " Three Friends of Mine " . . 1 59 Theodoric 20 Thimbles 296 Third Great Picture .... 106 Thirteen a Lucky Number . 60 Thorwaldsen 22, 209 Tibaldo 107 Tien-wang 8 Time, Old and New .... 250 Tintoretto 143 Titian 106 Toltecs 16 Tomyris 158 Tom Thumb 23 Tomb of Charlemagne ... 61 Topes 115 Tories 154 Tournaments and Jousts . . 164 Tower of the Winds . . . 173 Towers of Silence .... 161 Transfiguration 6 Trappists 261 Trial of Rats 140 " Trifles make Perfection ". . 37 Tripoli 325 Trio of Modern Greeks . . 209 Trumbull, Jonathan .... 79 Turkey's Unsubdued Province 196 UMRITSEER, Golden Tem- ple of 59 Utopian Schemes 181 Ulysses 307 PAGE Valerian 208 Valmy, Battle of 122 Vasari 14 Vasco de Gama 128 Vatican 193 Vatican, Jewel of 6 Vedas 172, 326 Venice ... 86, no, 126, 293, 304 Verdi, Guiseppe 224 Vespasian 312 Victories of Reign of Terror . 272 Victory of United-States Flag, 325 Victoria, Queen 155 Virgil 332 Vocal Memnon 283 Wagner, Richard ... 123 Wandering Jew 298 Ware, Great Bed of . . . . 302 Warrior who led Troops after Death 30 Washington Monument . . . 247 Wax Figures ...... 96 Wayside Inn 345 Wedgwood 184 Westminster Abbey . . . 96, 102 Whigs 154 White Horse of Berkshire . 279 Whittier, John G. . 9,77,118,253 Wickliffe, John 222 Wilberforce, William . . . 154 Windfall 216 Wilhelmina 92 William I., II., III., IV. . . 153 William and Mary .... 80 Witch of Endor 252 Woman who assumed to be the Holy Ghost 92 Women engaged in War . . 7 Women of Weinsburg ... 67 Wooden Swords used in Bat- tle 16 Woolsack in Parliament . . 7 INDEX. PAGE Work of Art with Guardian . 182 ZENOBIA Worship of the Golden Calf . 143 Zeuxis Zisca, John YOUNG, Brigham .... 228 1