* * * * *

THE AUTHORITIES FOR THE LEGEND, AS GIVEN BY CALDERON.

ACT III., SCENE X. (the concluding lines.)

The list of authorities at the end of the third act has been, and not without reason, a source of great perplexity. Calderon is blamed even by so thoughtful a critic as Mr. Ticknor for putting into the mouth of Enius himself the names of a number of writers who have in some way alluded to the Purgatory of St. Patrick, all of whom were of periods long subsequent to the time at which he represents himself to have lived, several of them being the very writers who nearly a thousand years later described his own adventures. But this is quite usual on the Spanish stage. There is scarcely a drama of Calderon that does not end in the same way. The last speaker, whoever he may be, and he is frequently the 'gracioso', abandons, for the last few lines of his speech, his assumed character, and addresses the audience as an actor in a brief epilogue. The list of authorities at the end of "El Purgatorio de San Patricio" is nothing more. It is simply an epilogue, perhaps a little longer than usual, which the curious nature of the subject to some extent justifies. The manner in which the names are printed is a different matter. But the reader should recollect that this drama was not printed by Calderon himself, but by his brother Joseph, who certainly in this instance at least considered it no part of his duty as editor to verify the correctness of the poet's references. Some of the confusion certainly is attributable to Calderon himself, as he has separated and transposed names for the purpose of adapting them to his versification. But other mistakes remain behind which we may fairly divide between Don Joseph and the printer.

The original lines, as given in all the editions, that of Hartzenbusch included, are the following:—

"Para que con esta acabe La historia, que nos refiere Dionisio el gran Cartusiano, Con Enrique Saltarense, Cesario, Mateo Rodulfo, Domiciano Esturbaquense, Membrosio, Marco Marulo, David Roto, y el prudente Primado de toda Hibernia, Belarmino, Beda, Serpi, Fray Dimas, Jacob Solino, Mensignano, y finalmente La piedad y la opinion Cristiana, que lo defiende."

Some of these names are obvious enough; it is with regard to those that are rendered more obscure by the manner in which they are presented that the difficulty arises. The list is taken for the most part from the fourth chapter of Montalvan's "Vida y Purgatorio de San Patricio", but with the names singularly disconnected and misplaced. They are turned, too, so completely into Spanish as to be scarcely recognised. Even in Messingham's "Florilegium", where they are all to be found, though not in one place, they are not always correctly printed. The following attempt at identification, now made for the first time, will be found, it is believed, to be perfectly accurate.

The first name, "Dionisio el gran Cartusiano," scarcely requires any explanation. The work referred to, in an edition of which I have a copy, is as follows:—

"D. Dionysii Carthusiani liber utilissimus de quatuor hominis novissimis, etc.," Parisiis, 1551.

The account "De Purgatorio Sancti Patritii" extends from fol. 235 to fol. 237.

"Enrique Saltarense" is Henry of Saltrey, a Benedictine monk of the Abbey of Saltrey in Huntingdonshire, who about the middle of the twelfth century first reduced to writing the Adventures of Owain, or Enius, in the Purgatory of St. Patrick.

Of him Messingham writes thus. Referring to his authorities, he says:—

"What you shall find under the letter B, is taken from Henry Salteriensis, an English monk of the Cistercian order, who had been taught most excellent Precepts of a good Life as well as good Letters by Florentianus, an Irish bishop, and Gilbert de Luda [Louth, in Lincolnshire], Abbot of the Cistercian Monks, who also, being himself well instructed, used to teach others the fear of the Lord as the beginning of wisdom. . . . . And hence it is that he wrote unto Henry Abbot of Sartis one Book of the Purgatory of St. Patrick and one Book of the Pains of Purgatory. He flourished in the year of Grace 1140." — "A Brief History of St. Patrick's Purgatory". Paris, 1718. Preface.

"Cesario," which carelessness or the exigency of metre has separated from the "Esturbaquense," of the next line is Caesarius of Heisterbach, a well-known hagiological writer of whom Adrien Baillet thus speaks:— "Un religieux Allemand de l'ordre de Citeaux nomme 'Cesaire de Heisterbach', qui mourut du tems de l'empereur Frederic II. travailla aussi a la vie des Saints." He adds in a note:— "Cesaire se fit moine l'an 1198, au Val de Saint de Pierre, dit autrement Heisterbach, pres de la ville de Bonne, dans le diocese de Cologne, et ne mourut que pres de quarante ans apres. Il avoit ete maitre des novices dans son couvent, et ensuite prieur de la maison de Villiers." — 'Discours sur l'histoire de la Vie des Saints. Les Vies Des Saints'. Paris, 1739. T. i., p. xlvii.

"Mateo Rodulfo," printed as the names of one author in Calderon, separate into two persons in Messingham and Montalvan. The first is the well-known Mathew Paris, whose 'Relation of the vision of Owen the Irish Soldier' is expressly referred to in these words by Messingham, who also alludes to him more fully in his preface. 'What you shall find under the letter C,' says Messingham, 'is borrowed from Mathew Paris, an English Benedictine Monk, who had from his youth consecrated himself to a Monastic life, and polish'd most excellent talents of nature with exquisite Arts and Sciences, and adorn'd the same with all Christian virtues; being an Handicraft, a Writer, a good Painter, a fine Poet, an acute Logician, a solid Divine; and (which is much more valuable) pure in his Manners, bright in the innocence of his life, simple and candid. Pitseus, upon the year 1259, in which the said Mathew died, gives him a great many more encomiums, which for brevity sake I hear omit.'

The remaining half of 'Mateo Rodulfo' turns out to be Ranulphus or Ralph, Higden, the Monk of Chester, whose Polychronicon is quoted both by Messingham and Montalvan. The 'Domiciano' of the next line, which is 'Dominicano' in Montalvan, has so completely got rid of the name to which it belongs, that without the aid of Calderon's authorities, Messingham and Montalvan, it would be impossible to know who was meant. In Messingham the reference is to 'Jacobus Januensis, the Dominican, in the Life of St. Patrick,' and in Montalvan to 'Jacobo Januense, o Genuense, Dominicano.' The person thus disguised is the famous Jacobus de Voragine, the Dominican, author of 'The Golden Legend,' who was Bishop of Genoa in 1292, and died at a very advanced age in 1298. Of the 'Legenda Aurea', the fiftieth chapter is devoted to St. Patrick.

'Membrosio' is called 'Mombrisio' in Montalvan, and 'Mombrusius' in Messingham. Correctly it was neither. The writer referred to is 'Boninus Mombritius', a fine copy of whose 'Sanctuarium' is in the British Museum. At fol. 188, t. ii, there is a full account of the Purgatory, the name of the adventurous visitor being 'Nicolaus'. Of Mombritius, whom he calls Bonin Mombrice, the same writer (Baillet), from whom I have already quoted, says:—

"Cet homme peu connu d'ailleurs etoit Milanois de naissance, conseiller on fils de conseiller au senat de Milan; il vivoit du tems de Galeas Marie, duc de Milan, qui fut tue l'an 1476, et du Pape Sixte IV., qui mourut en 1484. Il s'etoit deja fait regarder comme grammairien, poete, orateur et philosopohe par divers ouvrages, mais aucun ne lui fit tant d'honneur que son 'Sanctuaire', qui est le titre qu'il donna a son recueil d'actes des Saints dedie a Simonete, secretaire des ducs de Milan." — 'Discours', p. lvii.

'Marco Marulo' is Marcus Marulus, Cap. xiv., Lib. 6, of whose work, "De religiose vivendi institutione per exempla," is entitled "De revelationibus infernalium poenarum." — 'Apul Sanctam Coloniam. Anno M.D.XXXI.

In this there is an account of a certain Irish monk, "cui Petro nomen fuit," who appears to have entered the Purgatory in vision. This is probably the passage which Messingham and Montalvan quote, though a different reference is given.

'Maurolicus Siculus', who follows next in Messingham and Montalvan, is omitted by Calderon.

"David Roto, y el prudente Primado de toda Hibernia," are one and the same person. This was the famous David Rothe, Bishop of Ossory, so intimately connected in 1642 with the Confederation of Kilkenny, of which an excellent history has been written by the Rev. Charles Meehan, M.R.I.A. The epithet "prudente" seems to have been a happy condensation of the many terms of encomium lavished upon this celebrated man by Messingham. Alluding again to his classification of his authorities under the first four letters of the alphabet, Messingham says:—

"Whatever then you shall find written under the letter A, until you come to the next letter, is taken from the Right Reverend Father David Roth, Lord Bishop of Ossory, and Vice Primate of all Ireland, a Man excellently well read in all parts of literature, an eloquent Rhetorician, a subtle Philosopher, a profound Divine, a celebrated Historian, a zealous chastizer of Vice, a steady Defender of Ecclesiastical Liberty, a constant Assertor of the Privileges of his Country, most devoutly compassionate upon the calamities of his Nation, a diligent Promoter of Peace and Unity among the Clergy, and, for that end, instituted the Congregation commonly called Pacifick, in the year 1620, which has, with no little fruit and advantage to the Clergy, spread itself over all the Kingdom, — a Man, in fine, who has left to Posterity many rare Monuments of his excellent talents, the Catalogue of which I shall not here, for good reasons, insert, but hope for more soon from him."

"Belarmino," "Beda." Cardinal Bellarmin and Venerable Bede are too well known to require any observations.

"Serpi, Fray Dimas," cut into two lines, with the names transposed, mean 'Fr. Dimas Serpi', one of whose works ('Aprodixis Sanctitatis, etc', Romae, M.DC. IX.), though not the one referred to by Messingham, is in the British Museum. In Montalvan the marginal note gives, "Lib. de Purgatorio, cap. 26," as the reference. The German translator of this drama (Brunn, 1824), misled by the punctuation of the original, treats Dimas Serpi as two persons.

"Jacob Solino," the next authority for the legend, is perhaps the most perplexing in the list. Like twin stars that seem one to the naked eye, but resolve themselves into two beneath the telescope, so the single author of the printed text of Calderon appears distinct persons in the pages of Montalvan. He gives them thus: — "Jacobo," "Solino," with a separate reference to each. Thus to "Jacobo," the marginal reference is, "In sua historia Orientale;" and to "Solino," "cap. 35," without the name of the work.

From Messingham we at once learn who the former writer was. He calls him in one place "Jacobus de Vitriaco," and in another more briefly, "Vitriacus." The passage referred to in the marginal note of Montalvan is given thus:—

"Further, Jacobus de Vitriaco, in his History of the East, chap. 92, writes thus concerning this cave:— 'There is a certain Place in Ireland, call'd St. Patrick's Purgatory, into which whosoever enters, except he be truly penitent and contrite in Heart, is snatched away by Devils, and never returns. But he that with true contrition confesseth his sins, and goes in there, tho' the Devils vex and torture him, by Fire and Water, and many other Torments, yet is he purged of all his sins: Now they that are thus purged, and return, are never more seen to laugh or play; or to take pleasure in any thing in this World, but constantly weeping and sighing, forget the things that are behind, and stretch forward to the things that are before them.' — A Brief History of St. Patrick's Purgatory, Paris, 1718, pp. 9, 10.

"Solino," who is so strangely united by Calderon's printer to "Jacob," presents some difficulty. In Messingham's list of authorities this name does not appear. The first French translator of Montalvan (Bruxelles, 1637) merely gives the Latin form of the name, "Solinus." The second French translator, Bouillon, in his 'Histoire de la vie et du Purgatoire de S. Patrice' (Troyes, 1642), turns both names into French, thus, "Jacques Solin, en son Histoire Orientale, chap. 26." This is doubly a mistake. The 'Histoire Orientale' is the work of Vitriacus, as already pointed out; and "chap. 26" refers not to that work, but to some unnamed writing of "Solino."

Of course the first name that suggests itself, as the author alluded to, is that of Caius Julius Solinus. The latest date assigned as the period when this celebrated writer flourished is A.D. 238 — that is, about 135 years before the birth of St. Patrick. To quote him as an authority on the subject of St. Patrick's Purgatory would therefore be a more absurd anachronism than any that has been pointed out in this curious list. This difficulty appeared to me so strong, that for a while I was led to believe that "Solino" was but a corrupted Spanish form of "Joceline," or "Joscelino," as it is sometimes given, whose 'Life of St. Patrick', written in the twelfth century, supplies all the incidents of St. Patrick's early life recorded by Montalvan and Calderon. He is also frequently referred to by Messingham. But further reflection convinces me that the writer alluded to was in reality the celebrated Latin author of the third century already mentioned, Caius Julius Solinus.

Solinus has of course no allusion to St. Patrick's Purgatory; but in his celebrated work, 'Polyhistor', compiled, it is thought, chiefly from Pliny's Natural History, he has a remarkable chapter on Ireland. Some of his statements are doubtful, and all are very curious; one of them at least depriving St. Patrick, by anticipation, of one of his most famous miracles. This is the banishment of the serpents, which it appears was first mentioned by Jocelin in the twelfth century. It is expressly stated by Solinus, who wrote in the third century, that in Ireland "There are no snakes and few byrdes," to use the language of the old English translator, Arthur Golding. This statement of the previous exemption of Ireland from venomous reptiles was warmly disputed by Dr. David Rothe, the Bishop of Ossory, early in the seventeenth century. It will be remembered that "David Roto" has already been quoted as an authority on the subject of St. Patrick's Purgatory, and it is his collateral controversy with Solinus that probably led Montalvan, and subsequently Calderon, to suppose that Solinus had in some way alluded to that legend. A valuable 'Life of St. Patrick', by P. Lynch (Dublin, 1828), contains many allusions to this subject, of which the following may be given as an example.

"The objections which Doctor Roth raised to the testimony of Solinus have as slender a foundation in reason. For Solinus (saith he) not only mentions thisexemption of Ireland from venomous creatures, but says further, that in Ireland there are few birds, and no bees; and therefore concludes, that as he is mistaken in these latter particulars, so he is not to be believed in the former,"— p. 42.

The author of this Life of St. Patrick goes on to say that Solinus may have been perfectly accurate in these statements. That other writers have alluded to the time when bees were first introduced into Ireland, and that the migration of some birds thither, among others the magpie, took place at a comparatively modern period. He does not add, however, that Solinus states that the very dust of Ireland was so distasteful to the bees, where they are now as much at home as in Hymettus, that if it is scattered about their hives even in another country they abandon their combs. Thus writes quaint Arthur Golding:—

"There is not any Bee among them, and if a man bring of the dust of the stones from thence, and strew them among Bee-hyves, the swarme forsake ye combes."

Another misstatement of Solinus may be pointed out. He says:—

"The sea that is betweene Ireland and Britayne, being full of shallows and rough all the yeere long, cannot be sayled but a few dayes in the summer time."

With the following picturesque passage referring to the warlike training of their children by the Irish, as recorded by a Roman writer in the third century of the Christian era, we take leave of Solinus, who we have no doubt was the author referred to by Montalvan and Calderon under the name of "Solino:"—

"If a woman be delivered of a man childe, she layes his first meate upon her husband's sworde, and putting it softly to his prettie mouth gives him the first hansel of his sworde upon the very point of the weapon, praying (according to the manner of their country) that he may not otherwise come to his death, than in Battel and among weapons."— 'The Excellent and Pleasant Worke of Julius Solinus Polyhistor. Translated out of Latin into English by Arthur Golding, Gent.' At London, 1587. p. 105.

The last name in the list of authorities on the subject of St. Patrick's Purgatory is "Mensignano," with the reference in the margin of Montalvan's 'Vida y Purgatorio' to his 'Florilegium'. This of course is Messingham, out of whose book, aided by his own wild imagination, Perez de Montalvan created the character of Luis Enius, who is presented to us with such dramatic power by Calderon.

Notwithstanding the length of these notes, the following summary, taken with some corrections from the Introduction to the former translation of this drama (1853), may still be useful:—

The curious history of Luis Enius, on which the principal interest of the play depends, has been alluded to, and given more or less fully by many ancient authors. The name, though slightly altered by the different persons who have mentioned him, can easily be recognised as the same in all, whether as Owen, Oien, Owain, Egan, Euenius, or Enius. Perhaps the earliest allusion to him in any printed English work is that contained in Ranulph Higden's "Polychronicon," published at Westminster, by Wynkin de Worde, in 1495: "In this Steven's tyme, a knyght that hyght Owen wente in to the Purgatory of the second Patrick, abbot, and not byshoppe. He came agayne and dwelled in the abbaye of Ludene of Whyte Monks in Irlonde, and tolde of joye and of paynes that he had seen." The history of Enius had, however, existed in MS. for nearly three centuries and a half before the Polychronicon was printed; it had been written by Henry, the monk of Saltrey in Huntingdonshire, from the account which he had received from Gilbert, a Cistercian monk of the Abbey of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Luden, or Louth, in Lincolnshire (Colgan, 'Trias Thaumaturgae', p. 281. Ware's 'Annals of Ireland', A.D. 1497). Colgan, after collating this MS. with two others on the same subject which he had seen, printed it nearly in full in his 'Trias', which was published at Louvain, A.D. 1647, where with the notes it fills from the 273rd to the 281st page. Messingham, as we have seen, had printed it earlier from other sources, in 1624. Matthew Paris, however, had before this, in his History of England, under the date 1153, given a full account of the adventures of Oenus in the Purgatory, and in the few places that I have compared his account with that given in Colgan, I find both generally agreeing in substance, though not in words. In the folio edition of Mathew Paris, London, 1604, the history of Oenus begins at the 72nd and ends at the 77th page. In Montalvan's life of St. Patrick, the adventures of Enius are given much more fully than either in Matthew Paris or Colgan. In their versions of the story the early life of Enius, previous to his undertaking to enter the Purgatory, is passed over with a few general remarks as to its extreme wickedness — while they give in great detail all that he saw and heard therein. Matthew Paris, for instance, opens the story of Enius in these words: "Miles quidam Oenus nomine, qui multis annis sub Rege Stephano militaverat — licentia a Rege impetrata, profectus est in Hyberniam ad natale solum, ut parentes visitaret. Qui cum aliquandiu in regione illa demoratus fuisset coepit ad mentem reducere vitam suam adeo flagitiosam: Quod ab ipsis cunabulis, incendiis semper vacaverat et rapinis, et quod magis dolebat, se ecclesiarum fuisse violatorem et rerum ecclesiasticarum invasorem praeter multa enormia quae intrinsecus latebant peccata," etc. — 'Mat. Par'., p. 72. In Henry of Saltrey's account, as given by Messingham in 1624 and Colgan in 1647, this portion of the life of Enius is despatched even with more succinctness, but in Montalvan's 'Vida y Purgatorio de San Patricio', all his early crimes are detailed nearly in the order and almost in the very words that Calderon has used. Sir Walter Scott mentions, in his Border Minstrelsy, that there is a curious MS. Metrical Romance, in the Advocates' Library of Edinburgh, called, "The Legend of Sir Owain," relating his adventures in St. Patrick's Purgatory; he gives some stanzas from it, descriptive of the knight's passage of "The Brig O'Dread;" which in the legend, is placed between Purgatory and Paradise. This poem is supposed to have been written late in the thirteenth century. It was printed for private distribution in Edinburgh, in 1837, but from the very limited impression, there having been but thirty-two copies struck off, it must always remain extremely scarce. A cognate work, however, "The Visions of Tundale" (Edinburgh, 1843), published by the same lamented scholar (Mr. Turnbull) who edited the former work, though rare, is more accessible.

THE END.

BRADBURY, AGNEW, AND CO., PRINTERS, WHITEFRIARS.