House, scholars continued Erasmus his complaint; whilst the Brewers, having it seemed prescription on their side for long time, little amended it." (p. 87.) 185. Te Franciscum. "We praise thee O Francis! we acknowledge thee to be our Patriarch. All the Earth doth worship thee, the Father Seraphical. To thee all Minorites cry aloud, the Heavens and all the corded families. To thee the Seraphic Martyrs and Confessors continually do cry, Holy, holy, holy Standard-bearer of the Lord God of Sabaoth! Heaven and Earth are full of the miracles of thy grace. The glorious company of the Franciscans praise thee; The goodly fellowship of the Nuns praise thee; The noble army of the Third Order praise thee; The Holy Seraphic Religion throughout all the world doth acknowledge thee; The Father of profoundest humility; Thine honourable, true and Apostolic Institute; Also thy holy spirit of poverty. Thou art the Image of Christ the King of Glory. Thou art, as it were, the second Son of the Father everlasting. When thou tookest upon thee the Old Man thou didst not fear the severest sufferings of the Cross. When thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death, thou didst stand in the Sepulchre, and like one living, look towards the Kingdom of Heaven. Thou sittest on the Throne of Lucifer in the glory of the Father. We believe that thou shalt come to judgement with the Cross of the Judge. We therefore pray thee, help thy seryants whom thou hast gathered together with the precious blood of thy wounds. Make them to be numbered with the Saints in glory everlasting. Save thine Order of the Minors and bless thine inheritance. Govern them and lift them up for ever. And we praise thy name, because thou hast obtained for us an Indulgence which shall endure for ever. Ask our Lord that he will vouchsafe to keep us this day without sin. O Father have mercy upon us, have mercy upon us. Let thy mercy lighten upon us as our trust is in thee. O Father, in thee have I trusted, obtain of the Lord that I may never be confounded." This parody, which was published no farther back than 1733, under the sanction of the General and all the other authorities of the Order, and with the approbation of the Inquisition, is to be found at the end of the Primazia Serafica na Re giam da America by Fr. Appollinario da Conceiçam, and is probably his work. It might serve as a L'envoy to the famous Liber Conformitatum. I possess a copy of that extraordinary book, the Bologna edition of 1590. It has a vignette at the beginning representing two arms nailed to one Cross, the right arm is that of Christ, the left that of St. Francis. 186. The Glib. Among the many fashions which have been devised of wearing the hair, that of the wild Irish is the most savage. "Their beards and heads, (says Stani hurst*) they never wash, cleanse, nor cut, especially their heads; the hair whereof they suffer to grow, saving that some do use to round it, and by reason the same is never kembed, it groweth fast together, and in process of time it matteth so thick and fast together, that Holinshed. Vol, 0. p. 228. it is in stead of a hat, and keepeth the head very warm, and also will bear off a great blow or stroke; and this head of hair they call a glib, and therein they have a great pleasure.” It must however be acknowledged, that to a people who were often in danger having their heads broke, the glib was certainly a convenient fashion. Bulwer* was not aware of this when he included it in his invective against what he calls "superfluous crops of hair." "What emolument it can bring, (he says) none can see, unless it be to breed lice and dandro, after the manner of your Irish; who, as they are a nation estranged from any human excellency, scarce acknow. ledge any other use of their hair than to wipe their hands from the fat and dirt of their meals, and any other filth; for which cause they nourish long felt locks, * Man transformed, or the Artificial Changeling. 1654. |