TALE XV.

OF THE LIFE OF ALEXIUS, SON OF THE SENATOR EUFEMIAN *.

In the reign of one of the Roman Emperors†, lived a youth, named Alexius, the son of Eufemian, a noble Roman, at that time the chief ornament of the emperor's court. He was attended by a band of three thousand youths, girded with golden zones, and habited in silken vestures. His expenditure was princely. He daily maintained three tables, to which the widow and the orphan were ever welcome. Their necessities were often supplied by his own person; and at the ninth hour, in com

It is proper to warn the reader, that this tale is somewhat periphrastically translated.

+ Before the close of the Tale we find it was in the reign of

two,

pany with other devout men, he sat down to dinner. His wife, whose name was Abael, was as religious and charitable as himself. But there is ever some bitterness mixed up with the draught of human joy; and in the midst of so much splendour, the want of a successor was long a source of unavailing affliction. At length their prayers were heard; Heaven, in its benevolence, blessed them with a son, who was carefully instructed in all the polite learning of the period. Arriving at the age of manhood, he proved himself an acute and solid reasoner. But reason is no barrier against love; he became attached to a lady of the blood-royal, and with the consent of their friends was united to her. On the very evening of their nuptials, when the clamour of the feast had subsided, the pious youth commenced a theological disquisition, and strove with much force and earnestness to impress his bride with the fear and love of God. When he had concluded, recommending her to preserve the same modesty of demeanour for which she had always been distinguished, be consigned to the care of a servant his gold

ring, and the clasp of the sword-belt which usually begirt him, "Take charge of these vanities," said he, " for I abjure them; and as long as it shall please God, keep them in remembrance of me: may the Almighty guide us." He then provided a sum of money, and the same night embarked in a ship bound for Laodicea. From thence he proceeded to Edessa †, a city of Syria. It was here that the image of our Lord Jesus Christ, wrought upon linen by supernatural hands, was preserved. On reaching this place he distributed whatever he had brought with him to the poor; and putting on a worn and tattered garment, joined himself to a number of mendicants who sat in the porch of the temple dedicated to the Virgin Mary. He now constantly solicited alms; but of all that he received, only the smallest portion was retained, an unbounded charity leading him to bestow the residue upon his more needy, or more covetous brethren.

The father of Alexius, however, was over

* The Latin is caput; if it mean not this, I know not what it

means.

+ It has also borne the names of Antiochia, Callirrhoë Justinopolis-and Rhoas, said to have been built by Nimrod.

whelmed with sorrow at the inexplicable departure of his son; and despatched his servants in pursuit of him to various parts of the world. These servants were very diligent in their inquiries; and it chanced that certain of them came to the city of Edessa, and were recognized by Alexius; but, pertinaciously concealing himself under the garb of want and misery, he passed unknown and unsuspected. The men, little aware who was experiencing their bounty, conferred large alms upon the paupers amongst whom he sojourned; and his heart silently but gratefully acknowledged the benefaction. "I thank thee, O my God, that thou hast thought good to dispense thine alms by the hands of my own servants."

the

On this unsuccessful issue of their search,

messengers returned; and when the intelligence of their failure reached his mother, she shut herself up in a remote chamber, and there gave utterance to her griefs. She slept upon the ground, with sack-cloth only for a covering; and solemnly vowed never to change her way of life until she recovered her lost son.

The husband, thus left alone, quitted his own residence and abode with his father-inlaw. In the mean time, Alexius remained a beggar in the porch of St. Mary's church for the space of seventeen years; until at length the image of the Virgin, which stood within the sacred edifice said to the warden, "Cause that, Man of God to enter the sanctuary: for he is worthy of the kingdom of Heaven, upon whom the spirit of God rests. His prayer ascends like incense to the throne of Grace." But the warden knew not of whom she spake, and said, "Is that the man, who sits at the entrance of the porch?" The Virgin answering in the affirmitive, he was immediately brought in. Now a circumstance of this extraordinary nature soon attracted remark; and the veneration with which they began to consider Alexius, approached almost to adoration. But he despised human glory, and entering a ship, set sail for Tarsus*, in Cilicia ; but, the providence of God so ordered, that a violent tempest carried them into a Roman

* Tarsus is the capital of Cilicia, called by the Turks Tersis.