St. BOOK II. Nicholas. whom churches on the sea shore are dedicated. The many church of St. Nicholas, in this situation at Liverpool, was consecrated in 1361, and, says Mr. Baines, " in the vicinity there formerly stood a statue of St. Nicholas, and when the faith in the intercession of saints was more operative than at present, the mariners were wont to present a peace offering for a prosperous voyage on their going out to sea, and a wave-offering on their return; but the saint, having prosperous lost his votaries, has long since disappeared."* Votive of ferings for voyages, To these churches, in many countries, the seamen who have suffered shipwreck resort to return thanks for their preservation, and to lay some gift upon the altar, or to hang up votive tablets representing the danger from which they have escaped, in gratitude to the saint for the protection granted to them, and in fulfilment of the vows made to him in the midst of the storm. Hence Leucius, in the Absurda of Erasmus, having escaped shipwreck, says that and escape he is proceeding forthwith to the church, in order to dedi- from shipcate a piece of an old sail cloth to St. Nicholas. The custom of suspending tablets is probably taken immediately from the Romans, who had it with other superstitions from the Greeks; for we are told that Bion, the philosopher, was shown several of these votive pictures suspended in a temple of Neptune near the sea shore. Cicero briefly notices this custom,+ and Horace describes it: "Me tabula sacer Votiva paries indicat uvida Suspendisse potenti Vestimenta maris deo."Ş wreck. Hist. Lanc., Vol. IV., p. 63. + Quo eam, rogas? in templum, veli partem dicaturus divo Nicolao. "Hæc enim me una ex hoc naufragio tabula delectat.”—Epist. ad Attic, Lib. IV. § Carm., Od. I., 5.-The old scholiast states, that "Vidimus autem quoddam quosdam hodie quoque in tabulis pingere suos casus, quos in mari passi sunt, atque in fanis marinorum deorum ponere. Sunt autem qui vestem quoque ibi suspendunt diis eam consecrantes."-Apud M. Gesner, BOOK St. Nicholas. Anecdote "My fate the pictur'd wreck displays; The dripping garments that remain The modern mariners of Greece substitute St. Nicholas for Neptune; and an interesting historical anecdote is connected with the subject. The name of Kanaris, the Greek of Kanaris naval hero, was almost unknown among his fellow-countrymen, until he signalized himself in January, 1828, by setting fire to the Turkish admiral's ship, which had a crew of 2200 men on board at the time, in the roads of Chios. His own men, upon descrying the great Turkish fleet in that road-sted, attempted to compel him to sheer off. “If ye have coward souls," exclaimed their gallant commander, "throw yourselves into the sea, and shelter yourselves behind yon rocks. I shall remain on board and die without you." These words recalled their sinking courage, and they swore to live or die with him. It happened to be the month of Ramazan, when the faithful, after keeping their mouths closed from sun-rise to sun-set, retaliate for the penance by passing the night in all kinds of merriment and debauchery. The night in question had, therefore, collected a host of Turkish officers of considerable rank on board the admiral's ship, as visiters. It was pitch dark when Kanaris made his fire-ship fast to the vessel, set fire to her, and jumped into his launch; the flames spread rapidly, and Kanaris, who was at no great distance from the enemy, called out to them, "Hollo there! how do you relish the Ramazan illumination?" Then laying his best in locum. They also carried the pictured story of their misfortune round their necks, and begged charity in the streets : "Cæteri tabulam suam Portant rogantes victum." Phædr. Lib. IV., Fab. 21. During the last war, such a practice, with respect to other disasters at sea, was by no means uncommon in England. hands to the oar, he beheld the Turkish admiral's ship, with the Kapudan Pasha and every soul on board, blown into the air. Kanaris, on the other hand, had a barrel of gunpowder as his messmate, as a resource for ridding himself of life, rather than fall into his adversaries clutches in the event of their giving him chase; but they were in no mood for the experiment, and he was consequently enabled to gain the harbour of Ipsara the next morning, where his fellow-countrymen welcomed him with loud acclaims and discharges of musquetry and cannon. As soon as he got on shore, he made his way to St. Nicholas's church, where he returned the saint fervent thanksgivings for the succour he had vouchsafed him, and presented a votive offering of two wax tapers at his shrine.* It was also customary among the Romans to consecrate Ships conlittle marble ships to Jupiter Redux, in gratitude for their secrated to Jupiter safe return from sea. The convertibility of the characters Redux. of heathen deities is not, since the learned labors of Bryant and Faber, a point to be demonstrated; the Jupiter Redux is here no other than Neptune. On the Cœlian hill, where anciently stood the temple of Jupiter Redux, our lady of the ship, Santa Maria della Navicella, now receives the homage of her naval votaries. Before her chapel, Pope Leo the Tenth, moved either by Christian piety or classical enthusiasm, erected a marble ship, to record the dangers which he had escaped in a storm at sea. Fragments of ancient votive ships have often been discovered in the soil of this spot; but the modern Italian traveller, on his return, presents to S. Rocco, or S. Antonio Abbate, or to some favorite Madonna, the gaudy representation of his own perils and adventures.† A writer in the Encyclopædia Americana (Art. Navigation) has the following appropriate observations on this *United Service Journal, Feb., 1836. + Kaleidoscope, Vol. III., p. 362. Liverpool, 1823, 4to. BOOK St. The Anactes. custom :-" There is much that is beautiful in these simple acts of piety; but, except in some Catholic countries of the Mediterranean, where pictures of rescue and garments are still hung before the shrine of an invoked intercessor, and where processions are still made, after escape from shipwreck, none of those touching customs now remain. What can be more beautiful than the grateful sense of divine interference with which Columbus and his followers hasten to fulfil their vows after their safe arrival from Palos? Such piety, if it availed not to avert present danger, at least served to inspire confidence to meet it; and, when past, the gratitude which it occasioned must have tended at once to refine the sentiments and ennoble the heart."* Reverting to the north,-the correspondence of the offices of St. Nicholas and the Nick-ar or Neck-ar of Scandinavia, with those ascribed to the marine deities of Greece and Rome, is the consequence of their common origin in the mysteries of the Cabiri, or the great gods of Phoenicia, Samothrace, Egypt, Troas, Greece, Italy, and Crete. Of Castor and these were Castor and Pollux, whom both Plutarch and Pausanias style Anactes, kings or chiefs. "As for the word Pollux. Anak," says Mr. Faber, "it is evidently not a Grecian, but a Phoenician term, and seems to be compounded of Ain-ac, the fountains of the ocean, as the similar appellation of Titan is of Tit-ain, the fountains of the deluge."+ According to Hyginus, the privilege of preserving mariners from storms at sea, was conferred upon these Anactes by Neptune, who was also one of the Cabiric deities, and Neptuna- whose festivals, the Neptunalia, were celebrated on the 5th, as that of St. Nicholas was on the 6th of December. The influence of the Anactes over the tempestuous ocean is beautifully described by Homer in his hymn to the Dioscuri, and by Horace : lia. Thus ably translated, or rather paraphrased, by Dr. Francis: "Alcides' labors, and fair Leda's twins, Famed for the rapid race, for wrestling famed, There is also a circumstance too remarkable to be omitted here, that the Naharvali, a people of ancient Ger- Naharvali. many, worshipped gods, whose names, translated into the Roman language, were Castor and Pollux.† A curious monument, dug up at Este, represents a vow performed to these deities by Argenidas. They are carved standing upon a pedestal, while Argenidas is offering to them two pateræ upon an altar, the lower part of which exhibits a hog in bass-relief. In the back ground is a dismasted vessel floating upon the waves; and upon the land are four naked figures, which appear to have just emerged from the water. Behind them is an Anakeion, or temple of the Anactes, as we may conclude from the Greek letters KEION yet remaining; and over the head of Argenidas is a serpent. The features of the deities and their votary are entirely obliterated by the injuries of time.‡ The traditions and fables, borne by the Cabirian priests, * Od. I., 12, 25. + Tacit. de Morib. Germ., cap. 43. Montfaucon, Antiquit. in Supplem., p. 103. Faber. |