_Jus_ (right), and _juro_ (to swear), are intimately connected, and have
derivatives in all languages, testifying to the strong impression made
by the grand system of Roman law.
_Justus_, the adjective which we render as just, named the Gallic St.
Justus, or St. Juste, of Lyons; also the Dutch Jost; Italian Giusto; and
Portuguese Justo.
Justa was a virgin martyr, but her fame was far exceeded by that of
Justina, who suffered at Padua, and became the patron saint of that
city, whose university made its peculiarities everywhere known. The
purity of St. Justina caused her emblem to be the unicorn, since that
creature is said to brook no rule but that of a spotless maiden; and
poison always became manifest at the touch of its horn, for which the
twisted weapon of the narwhal did duty in collections. The great battle
of Lepanto was fought on St. Justina’s day, and the victory was by the
Venetians attributed to her intercession; so that Giustina at Venice,
Justine in France, came for the time into the foremost ranks of
popularity.
The noted Justinus, whom we call Justin Martyr, was one of the greatest
of the early writers of the Church, meeting the heathen philosophers
upon their own ground in argument, and bequeathing to us our first
positive knowledge of Christian observances. From him the name was
widely spread in the Church; and Yestin was one of the many old Roman
names that lingered on long among the Welsh. Justin was frequent in
France and Germany, and has become confused in its contractions with
Jodocus. Josse and Josselin seem to have been used for both in France;
and from the latter we obtained the Joscelin, or Joycelin, once far more
common in England than at present. The Swiss Jost and Jostli are
likewise doubtful between the two names.
In Ireland, the name of Justin has been adopted in the M'Carthy family,
as a translation of the native Saerbrethach (the noble judge).[81]
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Footnote 81:
Cave, _Lives of the Fathers_; Jameson; _Irish Society_.