II. Clichtoveus, Elucidat. Eccles., v. 2, p. 221; Daniel, Thes. Hymnol., v. 2, p. 88. 9, 10. Augustine (De Cons. Evang., 1. 1, c. 2): Quatuor Evangelista,...ob hoc fortasse quatuor, quoniam quatuor sunt partes orbis terræ, per cujus universitatem Christi Ecclesiam dilatari ipso sui numeri sacramento quodammodò declararunt. 11. cautelam] A juristic word. Ducange, with no allusion to this passage, yet gives its perfect explanation: Cautele sunt instrumenta et Chartæ, quibus privilegia, jura, possessiones, etc. asseruntur; hinc cautelæ dicta, quod sint veluti cautio (dopáλioμa) res illas ita se habere. 25. rugientis] The middle-age legend, that the lion's whelps were born dead, and first roused to life on the third day by the roar of their sire, was often alluded to, in connexion with, and as a natural type of, the resurrection: so is it here. The subject will recur in a note on Adam of St Victor's Resurrection hymn, Zyma vetus expurgetur, later in this volume. 37. Ritus] Daniel reads rictus, without however saying from whence he got it. However tempting at first sight, I have not admitted it into the text. No edition of Clichtoveus that I have been able to examine, so reads; and I have, moreover, come back to believe ritus the true reading. 40. Arâ crucis] Adam of St Victor has elsewhere a beautiful stanza on the cross as the altar on which Christ, the Lamb, was sacrificed : Oh, quàm felix, quàm præclara Fuit hæc salutis Ara, Rubens Agni sanguine; Agni sine maculâ, Qui mundavit sæcula Ab antiquo crimine! The exquisite poem on the cross, (Clichtoveus, p. 196,) from which this stanza is drawn, I have determined, after many hesitations, to omit from this volume. Though entirely capable, as it seems to me, of a fair interpretation throughout, and as meaning no more than we mean when we speak of the "cross of Christ," yet I feel that it is not so clearly lifted above every suspicion, as I would fain have all which here finds place. 44. Auunt] Clichtoveus, Paris, 1556, reads pluunt, but the earlier editions, published in his life-time, as in the text. 46. His quadrigis] Clichtoveus sees here, but wrongly as I think, an allusion to Zech. vi. Zacharias vidisse ipse dicit in spiritu quatuor quadrigas egredientes de medio duorum montium, et Mundo Deus, sublimatur Non est domus ruitura, Hâc subnixa quadraturâ, 50 equos in eis varios, quibus jussum est ut totam terram perambularent: Hæ autem quadrigæ figura sunt SS. quatuor Evangelistarum, quibus Dei cognitio per universum orbem defertur et promulgatur. But I can find but one, and that the very slightest, trace of such an application of Zechariah's vision of the four chariots: St Jerome (in loc.) giving a whole series of mystical interpretations of the passage, yet does not give this; while he has another passage which abundantly illustrates the words before us, and shews that the poet is still drawing his imagery from that grand vision of Ezekiel. He says (Ep. 50): Matthæus, Marcus, Lucas, et Johannes, quadriga Domini et verum Cherubim, per totum corpus oculati sunt, scintillæ emicant, discurrunt fulgura, pedes habent rectos et in sublime tendentes, terga pennata et ubique volitantia. Tenent se mutuò, sibique perplexi sunt, et quasi rota in rotâ volvuntur, et pergunt quoquumque eos flatus S. Spiritûs perduxerit. It is needless to observe that every word here is an allusion to Ezekiel i. Cf. Augustine, De Cons. Evang., 1. 1, c. 7; and Durandus, Rationale, 1. 7, c. 46, who however suggests quite another allusion, namely to Cant. v. 11. 48. vectibus] The allusion is to Exod. xxv. 13-15. The vectes, which were of shittim-wood overlaid with gold, were the staves by which the ark was lifted from the ground: they passed through the four golden rings at the four corners of the ark; and though being only in fact two pieces of wood, would have themselves also four extremities. Sometimes these, but oftener the four golden rings through which they pass, are made symbolic of the four Evangelists. Thus H. de S. Victore: Quatuor annuli, qui arcæ inhærent, quatuor sunt Evangeliorum libri. Clichtoveus unites both: Per hos autem quatuor circulos et vectes illis insertos, quibus deferebatur arca, intelliguntur Evangelistæ, quorum narratione Christus, arca mystica et spiritualis, in omnem mundi partem, quantùm ad sui notitiam, est delatus. 50. quadraturâ] The allusion is to Rev. xxi, 16. The house Hæc est domus Domini: Quâ beatè vivit homo stands firm which stands on a foursquare foundation: in this shape is the greatest strength and stability of all. See the symbolic use of the Xilos TETράywvos in the Tabula of Cebes, c. 18. Even so the fourfold history of the Lord's life, the εὐαγγέλιον τετράγωνον is the strong foundation, not to be shaken, on which the faith of the Church reposes. Thus Durandus (Rational., 1.7, c. 46): Sicut enim inter cæteras formas quadratum, sic inter cæteras doctrinas Evangelium solidius et stabilius perseverat; nam illud undique stat, et ideò legitur (Apocal. c. 21) quod civitas in quadro posita est. |