Jane M. Bancroft - "Deaconesses in Europe"

Elinor Glyn - "The Damsel and the Sage"

Frederic Jesup Stimson - "Pirate Gold"

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing - "Fabeln und Erzaehlungen"

Editorial
This article examines the wide range of anonymous and pseudonymous naming practices to be found in West African newspapers between the 1880s and 1930s, and asks about the shape of a West African history of anonymity as compared with recent histories of anonymity in European literature. The article also discusses the ways in which colonial West African uses of anonymity and pseudonyms challenge postcolonial scholarship on agency, subjectivity, resistance, authenticity and identity.

The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Principal Saints

A >> Alban Butler >> The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Principal Saints




Theodosius I., finding himself obliged to levy a new tax on his
subjects, on occasion of his war with Maximus, who had usurped the
Western empire in 387, the populace of Antioch, provoked at the demand,
mutinied, and discharged their rage on the emperor's statue, those of
his father, his two sons, and his late consort, Flavilla, dragged them
with ropes through the streets, and then broke them to pieces. The
magistrates durst not oppose the rabble in their excesses. But as soon
as their fury was over, and that they began to reflect on what they had
been guilty of, and the natural consequences of their extravagances,
they were all seized with such terror and consternation, that many
abandoned the city, others absconded, and scarce any durst appear
publicly in the streets. The magistrates in the mean time were filling
the prisons with citizens, in order to their trials, on account of their
respective share in the combustion. Their fears were heightened on the
arrival of two officers dispatched from Constantinople to execute the
emperor's orders with regard to the punishment of the rioters. The
reports which were spread abroad on this occasion imported, that the
emperor would cause the guilty to be burned alive, would confiscate
their estates, and level the city with the ground. The consternation
alone was a greater torment than the execution itself could have been.
Flavian, notwithstanding his very advanced age, and though his sister
was dying when he left her, set out without delay in a very severe
season of the year, to implore {238} the emperor's clemency in favor of
his flock. Being come to the palace, and admitted into the emperor's
presence, he no sooner perceived that prince but he stopped at a
distance, holding down his head, covering his face, and speaking only by
his tears, as though himself had been guilty. Thus he remained for some
time. The emperor seeing him in this condition, carrying, as it were,
the weight of the public guilt in his breast, instead of employing harsh
reproaches, as Flavian might naturally have expected, summed up the many
favors he had conferred on that city, and said at the conclusion of each
article: "Is this the acknowledgment I had reason to expect? Is this
their return for my love? What cause of complaint had they against me?
Had I ever injured them? But granting that I had, what can they allege
for extending their insolence even to the dead? Had they received any
wrong from them? Why were they to be insulted too? What tenderness have
I not shown on all occasions for their city? Is it not notorious that I
have given it the preference in my love and esteem to all others, even
to that which gave me birth? Did not I always express a longing desire
to see it, and that it gave the highest satisfaction to think I should
soon be in a condition of taking a journey for this purpose?"

Then the holy bishop, being unable to bear such stinging reproaches or
vindicate their conduct, made answer: "We acknowledge, Sir, that you
have on all occasions favored us with the greatest demonstrations of
your singular affection; and this it is that enhances both our crime and
our grief, that we should have carried our ingratitude to such a pitch
as to have offended our best friend and greatest benefactor: hence,
whatever punishment you may inflict upon us, it will still fall short of
what we deserve. But alas! the evil we have done ourselves is worse than
innumerable deaths: for what can be more afflicting than to live, in the
judgment of all mankind, guilty of the blackest ingratitude, and to see
ourselves deprived of your sweet and gracious protection, which was our
bulwark. We dare not look any man in the face; no, not the sun itself.
But as great as our misery is, it is not irremediable; for it is in your
power to remove it. Great affronts among private men have often been the
occasion of great charity. When the devil's envy had destroyed man,
God's mercy restored him. That wicked spirit, jealous of our city's
happiness, has plunged her into this abyss of evils, out of which you
alone can rescue her. It is your affection, I dare say it, which has
brought them upon us, by exciting the jealousy of the wicked spirits
against us. But, like God himself, you may draw infinite good out of the
evil which they intended us. If you spare us, you are revenged on them.

"Your clemency on this occasion will be more honorable to you than your
most celebrated victories. It will adorn your head with a far brighter
diadem than that which you wear, as it will be the fruit only of your
own virtue. Your statues have been thrown down: if you pardon this
insult, you will raise yourself others, not of marble or brass, which
time destroys, but such as will exist eternally in the hearts of all
those who will hear of this action. Your predecessor, Constantine the
Great, when importuned by his courtiers to exert his vengeance on some
seditious people that had disfigured his statues by throwing stones at
them, did nothing more than stroke his face with his hand, and told
them, smiling, that he did not feel himself hurt. This his saying is yet
in the mouths of all men, and a more illustrious trophy to his memory
than all the cities which he built, than all the barbarous nations which
he subdued. Remember your own memorable saying, when you ordered the
prisons to be opened, and the criminals to be pardoned at the feast of
Easter: 'Would to God I were able in the same manner to open the graves,
and restore the dead to life!' That time is now come. {239} Here is a
city whose inhabitants are already dead; and is, as it were, at the
gates of its sepulchre. Raise it then, as it is in your power to do,
without cost or labor. A word will suffice. Suffer it by your clemency
to be still named among the living cities. It will then owe more to you
than to its very founder. He built it small, you will raise it great and
populous. To have preserved it from being destroyed by barbarians would
not have been so great an exploit, as to spare it on such an occasion as
now offers.

"Neither is the preservation of an illustrious city the only thing to be
considered; your own glory, and, above all, the honor of the Christian
religion, are highly interested in this affair. The Jews and Pagans, all
barbarous nations, nay, the whole world, have their eyes fixed on you at
this critical juncture; all are waiting for the judgment you will
pronounce. If it be favorable, they will be filled with admiration, and
will agree to praise and worship that God, who checks the anger of those
who acknowledge no master upon earth, and who can transform men into
angels; they will embrace that religion which teaches such sublime
morality. Listen not to those who will object that your clemency on this
occasion may be attended with, and give encouragement to the like
disorders in other cities. That could only happen, if you spared for
want of a power to chastise: but whereas you do not divest yourself, by
such an act of clemency, of this power, and as by it you endear and
rivet yourself the more in the affections of your subjects, this,
instead of encouraging such insults and disorders, will rather the more
effectually prevent them. Neither immense sums of money, nor innumerable
armies, could ever have gained you so much the hearts of your subjects
and their prayers for your person and empire, as will this single
action. And if you stand fair for being such a gainer from men, what
rewards may you not reasonably expect from God? It is easy for a master
to punish, but rare and difficult to pardon.

"It will be extremely glorious to you to have granted this pardon at the
request of a minister of the Lord, and it will convince the world of
your piety, in that you overlooked the unworthiness of his person, and
respected only the power and authority of that Master who sent him. For
though deputed immediately by the inhabitants of Antioch to deprecate
your just displeasure on this occasion, it is not only in their name
that I appear in this place, for I am come from the sovereign Lord of
men and angels to declare to you in his name, that, if you pardon men
their faults, he will forgive you your sins. Call to mind then that
dreadful day on which we shall all be summoned to give in an account of
all our actions. Reflect on your having it now in your power, without
pain or labor, to efface your sins, and to find mercy at that terrible
tribunal. You are about to pronounce your own sentence. Other
ambassadors bring gold, silver, and other like presents, but as for me,
I offer nothing but the law of God, and entreat you to imitate his
example on the cross." He concluded his harangue by assuring the emperor
that if he refused to pardon the city, he would never more return to it,
nor look upon that city as his country, which a prince of his humane
disposition could not prevail upon himself to pardon.

This discourse had its desired effect on the emperor, who with much
difficulty suppressed his tears while the bishop spoke, whom he answered
in these few words: "If Jesus Christ, the Lord of all things, vouchsafed
to pardon and pray for those very men that crucified him, ought I to
hesitate to pardon them who have offended me? I, who am but a mortal man
like them, and a servant of the same Master." The patriarch, overjoyed
at his success, prostrated himself at the emperor's feet, wishing him a
reward for such an action suitable to its merit. And whereas the prelate
made an offer of passing the feast of Easter with the emperor at
Constantinople, he, to {240} testify how sincerely he was reconciled to
the city of Antioch, urged his immediate return, saying: "Go, Father,
delay not a moment the consolation your people will receive at your
return, by communicating to them the assurances of the pardon I grant
them; I know they must be in great affliction." The bishop set out
accordingly; but, to delay as little as possible the joy of the
citizens, he dispatched a courier before him with the emperor's letter
of pardon, which produced a comfortable change in the face of affairs.
The bishop himself arrived time enough before Easter to keep that
solemnity with his people. The joy and triumph of that city could not be
greater; it is elegantly described by St. Chrysostom, extolling above
all things the humility and modesty of Flavian, who attributed the whole
change of Theodosius's mind, and all the glory of the action, to God
alone. The discourse which Flavian addressed to the emperor, except the
introduction, had been composed by St. Chrysostom, who recited it to the
people to comfort them, and ceased not strongly to exhort them to
penance, and the fervent exercise of good works, during the whole time
of their bishop's absence.[10] After this storm our saint continued his
labors with unwearied zeal, and was the honor, the delight, and the
darling not of Antioch only but of all the East, and his reputation
spread itself over the whole empire.[11] But God was pleased to call him to
glorify his name on a new theatre, where he prepared for his virtue
other trials, and other crowns.

St. Chrysostom had been five years deacon, and twelve years priest, when
Nectarius, bishop of Constantinople, dying in 397, the emperor Arcadius,
at the suggestion of Eutropius the eunuch, his chamberlain, resolved to
procure the election of our saint to the patriarchate of that city. He
therefore dispatched a secret order to the count of the East, enjoining
him to send John to Constantinople, but by some stratagem; lest his
intended removal, if known at Antioch, should cause a sedition, and be
rendered impracticable. The count repaired to Antioch, and desiring the
saint to accompany him out of the city to the tombs of the martyrs, on
the pretence of devotion, he there delivered him into the hands of an
officer sent on purpose, who, taking him into his chariot, conveyed him
with all possible speed to the imperial city. Theophilus, patriarch of
Alexandria, a man of a proud and turbulent spirit, was come thither to
recommend a creature of his own to that dignity. He endeavored by
illegal practices secretly to traverse the canonical promotion of our
saint; but was detected, and threatened to be accused in a synod.
Whereupon he was glad to desist from his intrigues, and thus John was
consecrated by him on the 26th of February, in 398.[12] In regulating
his own conduct and his domestic concerns, he retrenched all the great
expenses which his predecessors had entailed on their dignity, which he
looked upon as superfluous, and an excessive prodigality, and these sums
he applied to the relief of the poor, especially of the sick. For this
purpose he erected and maintained several numerous hospitals, under the
government of holy and charitable priests, and was very careful that all
the servants and attendants were persons of great virtue, tenderness,
compassion, and prudence. His own family being settled in good order,
the next thing he took in hand after his promotion was the reformation
of his clergy. This he forwarded by zealous exhortations and proper
rules for their conduct, tending both to their sanctification and
exemplarity. And to give these his endeavors their due force, he lived
an exact model of what he inculcated to others: but his zeal exasperated
the tepid part of that order, and raised a storm against himself. The
immodesty {241} of women in their dress in that gay capital excited in
him sentiments of the most just abhorrence and indignation. Some young
ladies seemed to have forgot that clothing is the covering of the
ignominy of sin, and ought to be an instrument of penance, and a motive
of confusion and tears, not of vanity. But the exhortations of St.
Chrysostom moved many to despise and lay aside the use of purple, silks,
and jewels. It was a far more intolerable scandal that some neglected to
cover their necks, or used such thin veils as served only to invite the
eyes of others more boldly. Our saint represented to such persons that
they were in some respects worse than public prostitutes: for these hide
their baits at home only for the wicked: "but you," said he, "carry your
snare everywhere, and spread your nets publicly in all places. You
allege, that you never invited others to sin. You did not by your
tongue, but you have done it by your dress and deportment more
effectually than you could by your voice: when you have made another to
sin in his heart, how can you be innocent? You sharpened and drew the
sword: you gave the thrust by which the soul is wounded.[13] Tell me,
whom does the world condemn? whom do judges punish? Those who drink the
poison, or those who prepare and give the fatal draught? You have
mingled the execrable cup; you have administered the potion of death:
you are so much more criminal than poisoners, as the death which you
cause is the more terrible; for you murder not the body, but the soul.
Nor do you do this to enemies; nor compelled by necessity, nor provoked
by any injury; but out of a foolish vanity and pride. You sport
yourselves in the ruin of the souls of others, and make their spiritual
death your pastime." Hence he infers, how false and absurd their excuse
is in saying, they mean no harm. These and many other scandals he
abolished. He suppressed the wicked custom of swearing, first at
Antioch, then at Constantinople. By the invincible power of his
eloquence and zeal he tamed the fiercest sinners, and changed them into
meek lambs: he converted an incredible number of idolaters and
heretics.[14] His mildness towards sinners was censured by the
Novatians; he invited them to repentance with the compassion of the most
tender father, and was accustomed to cry out: "If you are fallen a
second time, or even a thousand times into sin, come to me and you shall
be healed."[15] But he was firm and severe in maintaining discipline,
though without harshness; to impenitent sinners he was inflexible. To
mention one instance of the success of his holy zeal out of the many
which his sermons furnish; in the year 399, the second of his
episcopacy, on Wednesday in Holy Week, so violent a rain fell as to
endanger the corn, and threaten the whole produce of the country.
Hereupon public processions were made to the church of the apostles by
the bishop and people, to avert the scourge by imploring the
intercession chiefly of St. Peter, St. Andrew, (who is regarded as the
founder of the church of Byzantium,) St. Paul, and St. Timothy.[16] The
rain ceased, but not their fears. Therefore they all crossed the
Bosphorus to the church of SS. Peter and Paul, on the opposite side of
the water. This danger was scarce over, when on the Friday following
many ran to see certain horse-races, and on Holy Saturday to games
exhibited at the theatre. The good bishop was pierced to the quick with
grief, and on the next day, Easter-Sunday, preached a most zealous and
eloquent sermon, Against the Games and Shows of the Theatre and Circus.
Indignation made him not so much as mention the paschal solemnity;{242}
but by an abrupt exordium he burst into the most vehement pathos, as
follows: "Are these things to be borne? Can they be tolerated? I appeal
to yourselves, be you your own judges. Thus did God expostulate with the
Jews."[17] This exclamation he often repeated to assuage his grief. He
put the people in mind of the sanctity of our faith; of the rigorous
account we must give to God of all our moments, and the obligation of
serving him incumbent on us from his benefits, who has made for us the
heaven and earth, the sun, light, rivers, &c. The saint grieved the
more, because, after all, they said they had done no harm, though they
had murdered not only their own souls, but also those of their children.
"And how will you," said he, "after this approach the holy place? How
will you touch the heavenly food? Even now do I see you overwhelmed with
grief, and covered with confusion. I see some striking their foreheads,
perhaps those who have not sinned, but are moved with compassion for
their brethren. On this account do I grieve and suffer, that the devil
should make such a havoc in such a flock. But if you join with me, we
will shut him out. By what means? If we seek out the wounded, and snatch
them out of his jaws. Do not tell me their number is but small: though
they are but ten, this is a great loss: though but five, but two, or
only one. The shepherd leaving ninety-nine, did not return till he had
completed his number by recovering that sheep which was lost. Do not
say, it is only one; but remember that it is a soul for which all things
visible were made; for which laws were given, miracles wrought, and
mysteries effected: for which God spared not his only Son. Think how
great a price hath been paid for this one sheep, and bring him back to
the fold. If he neither hears your persuasions nor my exhortations, I
will employ the authority with which God hath invested me." He proceeds
to declare such excommunicated. The consternation and penance of the
city made the holy pastor forbear any further censure, and to commend
their conversion. Palladius writes that he had the satisfaction to see
those who had been the most passionately fond of the entertainments of
the stage and circus, moved by his sermons on that subject, entirely
renounce those schools of the devil. God is more glorified by one
perfect soul than by many who serve him with tepidity. Therefore, though
every individual of his large flock was an object of his most tender
affection and pastoral concern, those were particularly so, who had
secluded themselves from the world by embracing a religious state of
life, the holy virgins and nuns. Describing their method of life, he
says:[18] Their clothing was sackcloth, and their beds only mats spread
on the floor; that they watched part of the night in prayer, walked
barefoot, never ate before evening, and never touched so much as bread,
using no other food than pulse and herbs, and that they were always
occupied in prayer, manual labor, or serving the sick of their own sex.
The spiritual mother, and the sun of this holy company, St. Nicareta, is
honored December the 27th. Among the holy widows who dedicated
themselves to God under the direction of this great master of saints,
the most illustrious were the truly noble ladies St. Olympias, Salvina,
Procula, and Pantadia. This last (who was the widow of Timasus, formerly
the first minister to the emperor) was constituted by him deaconess of
the church of Constantinople. Widows he considered as by their state
called to a life of penance, retirement, and devotion; and he spared no
exhortations or endeavors to engage them faithfully to correspond to the
divine grace, according to the advice which St. Paul gives them.[19] St.
Olympias claimed the privilege of furnishing the expenses of the saint's
{243} frugal table. He usually ate alone: few would have been willing to
dine so late, or so coarsely and sparingly as he did; and he chose this
to save both time and expenses: but he kept another table in a house
near his palace, for the entertainment of strangers, which he took care
should be decently supplied. He inveighed exceedingly against sumptuous
banquets. All his revenues he laid out on the poor; for whose relief he
sold the rich furniture which Nectarius had left; and once, in a great
dearth, he caused some of the sacred vessels to be melted down for that
purpose. This action was condemned by Theophilus, but is justly regarded
by St. Austin as a high commendation of our holy prelate. Besides the
public hospital near his cathedral, and several others which he founded
and maintained, he erected two for strangers. His own patrimony he had
given to the poor long before, at Antioch. His extraordinary charities
obtained him the name of John of alms-deeds.[20] The spiritual
necessities of his neighbor were objects of far greater compassion to
his tender charity. His diocese, nay, the whole world, he considered as
a great hospital of souls, spiritually blind, deaf, sick, and in danger
of perishing eternally; many standing on the brink, many daily falling
from the frightful precipice into the unquenchable lake. Not content
with tears and supplications to the Father of mercies for their
salvation, he was indefatigable in labors and in every endeavor to open
their eyes; feared no dangers, no not death itself in its most frightful
shapes, to succor them in their spiritual necessities, and prevent their
fall. Neither was this pastoral care confined to his own flock or
nation: he extended it to the remotest countries. He sent a bishop to
instruct the Nomades or wandering Scythians: another, an admirable man,
to the Goths. Palestine, Persia, and many other distant provinces felt
the most beneficent influence of his zeal. He was himself endued with an
eminent spirit of prayer: this he knew to be the great channel of
heavenly graces, the cleanser of the affections of the soul from earthly
dross, and the means which renders them spiritual and heavenly, and
makes men angels, even in their mortal body. He was therefore
particularly earnest in inculcating this duty, and in instructing others
in the manner of performing it. He warmly exhorted the laity to rise to
the midnight office of matins together with the clergy: "Many artisans,"
said he, "watch to labor, and soldiers watch as sentries; and cannot you
do as much to praise God?"[21] He observes, that the silence of the
night is peculiarly adapted to devout prayer, and the sighs of
compunction: which exercise we ought never to interrupt too long; and by
watching, prayer becomes more earnest and powerful. Women he will not
have to go easily abroad to church in the night-time; but advises that
even children rise in the night to say a short prayer, and as they
cannot watch long be put to bed again: for thus they will contract from
their infancy a habit of watching, and a Christian's whole house will be
converted into a church. The advantages and necessity of assiduous
prayer he often recommends with singular energy; but he expresses
himself on no subject with greater tenderness and force than on the
excess of the divine love, which is displayed in the holy Eucharist, and
in exhorting the faithful to the frequent use of that heavenly
sacrament. St. Proclus says,[22] that he abridged the liturgy of his
church. St. Nilus[23] assures us that he was often favored with visions
of angels in the church during the canonical hours, surrounding the
altars in troops during the celebration of the divine mysteries, and at
the communion of the people. The saint himself confidently avers {244}
that this happens at those times,[24] which he confirms by the visions
of several hermits.

The public concerns of the state often called on the saint to afford the
spiritual succors of his zeal and charity. Eutropius was then at the
head of affairs. He was a eunuch, and originally a slave, but had worked
himself into favor with the emperor Arcadius. In 395 he was instrumental
in cutting off Rufinus, the chief minister, who had broke out into an
open rebellion, and he succeeded the traitor in all his honors: golden
statues were erected to him in several parts of the city, and what
Claudian, Marcellinus in his chronicle, Suidas, and others, represent as
the most monstrous event that occurs in the Roman Fasti, was declared
consul, though a eunuch. Being placed on so high a pinnacle, a situation
but too apt to turn the strongest head, forgetful of himself and the
indispensable rules of decency and prudence, it was not long before he
surpassed his predecessor in insolence, ambition, and covetousness.
Wholesome advice, even from a Chrysostom, served only to exasperate a
heart devoted to the world, and open to flatterers, who added
continually new flames to its passions. In the mean time, the murmurs
and indignation of the whole empire at the pride and avarice of
Eutropius were a secret to him, till the pit was prepared for his fall.
Gainas, general of the auxiliary Goths in the imperial army, was stirred
up to revenge an affront which his cousin Trigibildus, a tribune, had
received from the haughty minister. At the same time the empress
Eudoxia, having been insulted by him, ran to the emperor, carrying her
two little babes in her arms, and cried out for justice against the
insolent servant. Arcadius, who was as weak in abandoning, as he was
imprudent in choosing favorites, gave orders that the minister should be
driven out of the court, and his estates confiscated. Eutropius found
himself in a moment forsaken by all the herds of his admirers and
flatterers, without one single friend, and fled for protection to the
church, and to those very altars whose immunities he had infringed and
violated. The whole city was in an uproar against him; the army called
aloud for his death, and a troop of soldiers surrounded the church with
naked swords in their hands, and fire in their eyes. St. Chrysostom went
to the emperor, and easily obtained of him that the unhappy criminal
might be allowed to enjoy the benefit of sanctuary; and the soldiers
were prevailed upon, by the tears of the emperor and the remonstrances
of the bishop, to withdraw. The next day the people flocked to behold a
man whose frown two days before made the whole world to tremble, now
laying hold of the altar, gnashing his teeth, trembling and shuddering,
having nothing before his eyes but drawn swords, dungeons, and
executioners. St. Chrysostom on this occasion made a pathetic discourse
on the vanity and treachery of human things, the emptiness and falsehood
of which he could not find a word emphatical enough to express. The poor
Eutropius could not relish such truths a few days ago, but now found his
very riches destructive. The saint entreated the people to forgive him
whom the emperor, the chief person injured, was desirous to forgive: he
asked them how they could beg of God the pardon of their own sins if
they did not pardon a man who then, by repentance, was perhaps a saint
in the eyes of God. At this discourse not a single person in the church
was able to refrain from tears, and all things seemed in a state of
tranquillity.[25] Some days after, Eutropius left the church, hoping to
escape privately out of the city, but was seized, and banished into
Cyprus.[26] He was recalled a few months after, and being impeached
{245} of high-treason was condemned and beheaded, chiefly at the
instigation of Gainas; in compliance with whose unjust demands the weak
emperor consented to the death of Aurelianus and Saturninus, two
principal lords of his court. But St. Chrysostom, by several journeys,
prevailed with the barbarian to content himself with their banishment,
which they underwent, but were soon after recalled. As unjust
concessions usually make rebels the more insolent, Gainas hereupon
obliged the emperor to declare him commander-in-chief of all his troops.
Yet even when his pride and power were at the highest, St. Chrysostom
refused him the use of any Catholic church in Constantinople for the
Arian worship. And when, some time after, he laid siege to that capital,
the saint went out to him, and by kind expostulations prevailed on him
to withhold his design and draw off his army. He was afterwards defeated
in passing the Hellespont; and fleeing through the country of the Huns,
was overthrown, and slain by them in 400.

Copyright (c) 2007. topboookz.com. All rights reserved.