[A] “And for as moche as this ſayd worke was grete & over chargeable to
me taccompliſſhe, I feryd me in the begynnynge of the tranſlacion to
have contynued it / bycauſe of the longe tyme of the tranſlacion / &
alſo in thenpryntyng of y^e ſame and in maner halfe deſperate to have
accompliſſd it / was in purpoſe to have lefte it / after that I had
begonne to tranſlate it / & to have layed it aparte ne had it be(en)
at thynſtance & requeſte of the puyſſant noble & vertuous erle my lord
wyllyam erle of arondel / whych deſyred me to procede & contynue the
ſaid werke / & promyſed me to take a reſonable quantyte of them when
they were acheyeued & accompliſſhed / and ſente to me a worſhypful
gentylman a ſervaunt of his named John Stanney which ſolycyted me in
my Lordes name that I ſhold in no wyſe leve it but accompliſſhe it
promyſyng that my ſayd lord ſhold duringe my lyf geve & graunt to me a
yerely fee / that is to wete a bucke in ſommer / & a doo in Wynter /
with whiche fee I holde me wel contente,” &c.
[B]
[Sidenote: _Length of Adam’s life._]
This apparently long life of Adam is admitted on all hands, even in the
Reviſed Verſion of the Bible. The Talmud ſays that God promiſed him one
thouſand years of life, and it is recorded that he begat Seth when he
was a hundred and thirty years old. On this the Talmud (_Eruvin_, fol.
18, col. 2) has the following comment: “Rav Yirmyah ben Elazer ſaid:
All thoſe years, which Adam ſpent in alienation from God, he begat evil
ſpirits, demons, and fairies; for it is ſaid, ‘And Adam was an hundred
and thirty years, and begat a ſon in his own likeneſs, after his
image’; conſequently, before that time, he begat after another image.”
This term of one hundred and thirty years ſeems to have been a period
in Adam’s exiſtence, for we again find (_Eruvin_, fol. 18 b.): “Adam
was a Chaſid, or great ſaint, when he obſerved that the decree of death
was occaſioned by him; he _faſted_ a hundred and thirty years, and all
this time he abſtained from intercourſe with his wife.”
[Sidenote: _Talmud legends reſpecting Adam’s length of life._]
There is a Talmudical tradition that God ſhowed the future to Adam
(Avoth d’Rab. Nathan, chap. 31): “The Holy One—bleſſed be He!—shewed
unto Adam each generation, and its preachers, its guardians, its
leaders, its prophets, its heroes, its ſinners, and its ſaints, ſaying,
‘In ſuch and ſuch a generation ſuch and ſuch a _King_ ſhall reign, in
ſuch and ſuch a generation ſuch and ſuch a wife man ſhall teach.’” This
is amplified in Midraſh Yalkut (fol. 12), where it is ſaid that God
ſhowed Adam all future generations of men, with their leaders, learned
and literary men, and there he obſerved that David was credited with
only three hours of life, and he ſaid, “Lord and Creator of the world,
is this unalterable?” “Such was my firſt intention,” was the reply.
“How many years have I to live?” aſked Adam. “One thouſand.” Then Adam
ſaid, “I will lend him ſome of my years.” And a document was drawn up
whereby Adam tranſferred ſeventy years of his life to David.
S. Baring-Gould, in his legends of _Old Teſtament Characters_, vol
i. p. 77, referring to a Muſſulman legend, ſays: “Finally, when Adam
reached his nine hundred and thirtieth year, the Angel of Death
appeared under the form of a goat, and ran between his legs.
“Adam recoiled with horror, and exclaimed, ‘God has given me one
thouſand years; wherefore comeſt thou now?’
“‘What!’ exclaimed the Angel of Death, ‘haſt thou not given ſeventy
years of thy life to the prophet David?’
“Adam ſtoutly denied that he had done ſo. Then the Angel of Death drew
the document of tranſfer from out of his beard, and preſented it to
Adam, who could no longer refuſe to go.”
[C] The Feſtival of the Invention, or finding of the Croſs, is kept in
the Roman and Engliſh Churches on May 3.
[D] Piſcina, a fiſh-pond: _Lat_. In this inſtance it is ſuppoſed to be
the Pool of Betheſda.
[E] Nicodemus, chap. 14:—
[Sidenote: _v._ 1.]
But when the firſt man our father Adam heard theſe things, that Jeſus
was baptized in Jordan, he called out to his ſon Seth, and ſaid,
[Sidenote: _v._ 2.]
Declare to your ſons, the patriarchs and prophets, all thoſe things
which thou didſt hear from Michael the Archangel, when I ſent thee to
the gates of Paradiſe to entreat God that he would anoint my head when
I was ſick.
[Sidenote: _v._ 3]
Then Seth, coming near to the patriarchs and prophets, ſaid: I, Seth,
when I was praying to God at the gates of Paradiſe, beheld the angel of
the Lord, Michael, appear unto me, ſaying, I am ſent unto thee from the
Lord; I am appointed to preſide over human bodies.
[Sidenote: _v._ 4.]
I tell thee, Seth, do not pray to God in tears, and entreat him for the
oil of the tree of mercy, wherewith to anoint thy father Adam for his
headach;
[Sidenote: _v._ 5.]
Becauſe thou canſt not by any means obtain it till the laſt day and
times, namely, till five thouſand and five hundred years be paſt.
[Sidenote: _v._ 6.]
Then will Chriſt, the moſt merciful Son of God, come on earth to raiſe
again the human body of Adam, and at the ſame time to raiſe the bodies
of the dead, and when he cometh he will be baptized in Jordan;
[Sidenote: _v._ 7.]
Then with the oil of his mercy he will anoint all thoſe that believe on
him; and the oil of his mercy will continue to future generations, for
thoſe who ſhall be born of the water and the Holy Ghoſt unto eternal
life.
[Sidenote: _v._ 8.]
And when at that time the moſt merciful Son of God, Chriſt Jeſus, ſhall
come down on earth, he will introduce our father Adam into Paradiſe, to
the tree of mercy.
[Sidenote: _v._ 9.]
When all the patriarchs and prophets heard all theſe things from Seth,
they rejoiced more.
[F] Alban Butler, in _The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and
other Principal Saints_, denies that St. Helena was an Innholder
(_Stabularia_) in Bithynia, when Conſtantius married her, and ſays: “We
are aſſured by the unanimous tradition of our Engliſh hiſtorians that
this holy empreſs was a native of our iſland. William of Malmeſbury,
the principal hiſtorian of the ancient ſtate of our country after Bede,
and before him, the Saxon author of the life of St. Helen, in 970,
quoted by Usher, expreſſly ſay that Conſtantine was a Briton by birth.”
Leland, in his _Commentarii de Scriptoribus Britannicis_, ſays that St.
Helena was the only daughter of King Coilus, the King Cöol who firſt
built walls round Colcheſter, and the Engliſh Church has generally
recogniſed her Britiſh origin. Her feſtival is kept on Auguſt 18.
When her huſband, Conſtantine Chlorus, entered into an arrangement with
Diocletian, by which he had the countries this ſide the Alps, namely,
Gaul and Britain, he was obliged, as part of the bargain, to divorce
St. Helena, and marry Theodora, the daughter-in-law of Maximinianus.
According to Euſebius, ſhe was not converted to Chriſtianity at the
ſame time as her ſon Conſtantine, who, when he came to the throne,
paid her the greateſt deference, and gave her the title of Auguſta,
or empreſs. After the Council of Nice, in 325, he wrote to Macarius,
Biſhop of Jeruſalem, concerning the building of a ſplendid church upon
Mount Calvary, and St. Helena, although ſhe was then 79 years of age,
undertook to ſee it carried out.
It was then that the reputed Invention of the Croſs, together with the
nails, took place, and ſhe ſoon afterwards died, but the exact year is
uncertain, ſome authorities giving A.D. 326, others 328.
[G] Other accounts ſay the Croſſes were found by Macarius, then Biſhop
of Jeruſalem.
[H] The book of the office of Mithras or Mithra, the Sun, worſhipped by
the Perſians.
[I] Heraclius, Emperor of the Eaſt, who from A.D. 622 to 627 fought
Choſroes II., defeated him, and concluded peace.
[J] St. Equitius was a hermit, and looked after the welfare of other
hermits and monks. He took a ſpecial intereſt in a convent of young
virgins; died about A.D. 540.
[K] I quote from the tranſlation by Steven Withers, 1561.
[L] From this book I have taken the head and tail piece here given.—J.
A.
[M] Arundel, No. 507, and Add. MSS. 6524.
[N] His life and labours may be read in Mr. Hottrop’s _Monuments
Typographiques des Pays-bas_—.
[O] See _The Woodcutters of the Netherlands in the 15th Century_, by W.
M. Conway, and an article by him in the _Bibliographer_ of May, 1883,
p. 32.
* * * * *
[Illustration: 1
_Adam ſends Seth to Paradiſe for ſome of the Oil of Mercy._]
[Illustration: 2
_The Archangel Michael gives Seth three ſeeds of the Tree of Life._]
[Illustration: 3
_Seth buries Adam and puts the three ſeeds of the Tree of Life under
his tongue._]
[Illustration: 4
_The three ſeeds ſpring up._]
[Illustration: 5
_Moſes always has the three rods with him._]
[Illustration: 6
_With them he makes water flow from the Rock._]
[Illustration: 7
_An Angel tells Moſes how to ſweeten the bitter waters._]
[Illustration: 8
_Moſes, by dipping the rods in the waters of Marah, ſweetens them._]
[Illustration: 9
_Moſes plants the rods in the land of Moab._]
[Illustration: 10
_An Angel appears to David and tells him to bring the rods to
Jeruſalem._]
[Illustration: 11
_The rods heal the ſick._]
[Illustration: 12
_The rods heal a leper._]
[Illustration: 13
_The rods turn three black men white._]
[Illustration: 14
_David leaves the rods for the night._]
[Illustration: 15
_In the morning he finds the rods have taken root and have become one
tree._]
[Illustration: 16
_David builds a wall round the miraculous tree._]
[Illustration: 17
_David compoſes the Pſalms and praiſes God, under the ſhadow of the
tree._]
[Illustration: 18