{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_30173/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_30173","id":"gutenberg_30173","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/30173","summary":null,"tags":["Carpaccio, Vittore, 1455?-1525? Dream of Saint Ursula","Category: Art","Category: Biographies","Category: Philosophy & Ethics","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Ursula, Saint"],"text":"SAINT URSULA\n\nSTORY OF URSULA     DREAM OF URSULA\n\n    [Illustration: \"_Dream of St. Ursula_\"\n      FROM THE PAINTING BY CARPACCIO]\n\n\n\n\nSAINT URSULA\n\n_By John Ruskin_\n\n\nI\nTHE STORY OF ST. URSULA\n\nII\nTHE DREAM OF ST. URSULA\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n_New York_\nTHE DEVIN-ADAIR COMPANY\n_1912_\n\n\n\n\nCopyright, 1912, by\nTHE DEVIN-ADAIR COMPANY\n\n\n\n\n_PREFACE_\n\n\nFors Clavigera!--to the ignorant a stumbling-stone, to the Philistines\na laughing-stock, but to the Initiate a sweet remembrance of many a\nhappy hour passed in informal chat with the Master.\n\nThe real Ruskin enthusiast has read every word of Fors, and reckons it\nnot least among the precious treasures of the Master's pen. But it\nremains a fact that to the vast majority of those who have heard of\nFors Clavigera, it is but an excellent example of Ruskin's eccentric\nseeking after curious titles; and the beauties of these letters are as\neffectually buried as if they had appeared in a country journal.\n\nIt is in the desire of rescuing one of the choicest bits in all Fors\nthat the present little booklet is offered to the clients of the\n\"Celestial Lily\" as Mother Church names the noble Martyr, St. Ursula.\nThough, of course, a life of this royal maiden has an interest for me\napart from its authorship by Ruskin.\n\nAs one dedicated to the cause for which the little Princess and her\n\"legions\" lost their lives, as one tenderly devoted to her and as\nprivileged to be sheltered beneath her protecting mantle, I look upon\nthis story as one of the sweetest relics of the \"Age of Faith.\" It\nmakes no difference to me, as it made none to John Ruskin (and thank\nGod there are many like him), what learned Bollandists and others tell\nus of the legendary character of the Princess of Over-sea. The\nessential thing, as Ruskin remarked, is that a great people chose so\nto represent their highest aspirations. It will remain eternally\ntrue, to use his words, that \"we see the Saints better through a\nnimbus of religious enthusiasm than a fog of contemptuous\nrationalism.\"\n\nTo all who, like Ursula, love holy living and unselfish dedication to\na noble cause, greeting--\n\n    _AN URSULINE OF NEW ORLEANS._\n\n\n\n\nI\n\nTHE STORY OF ST. URSULA\n\n\n\n\n_THE STORY OF ST. URSULA_\n\n\nThere was once a just and most Christian King of Britain, called\nMaurus. To him and to his wife Daria was born a little girl, the\nfairest creature that this earth ever saw. She came into the world\nwrapped in a hairy mantle, and all men wondered greatly what this\nmight mean. Then the King gathered together his wise men to inquire of\nthem. But they could not make known the thing to him, for only God in\nHeaven knew how the rough robe signified that she should follow\nholiness and purity all her days, and the wisdom of St. John the\nBaptist. And because of the mantle, they called her Ursula, 'Little\nBear.'\n\nNow Ursula grew day by day in grace and loveliness, and in such wisdom\nthat all men marvelled. Yet should they not have marvelled, since\nwith God all things are possible. And when she was fifteen years old\nshe was a light of all wisdom, and a glass of all beauty, and a\nfountain of Scripture and of sweet ways. Lovelier woman there was not\nalive. Her speech was so full of all delight that it seemed as though\nan angel of Paradise had taken human flesh. And in all the kingdom no\nweighty thing was done without counsel of Ursula.\n\nSo her fame was carried through the earth, and a King of England, a\nheathen of Over-sea, hearing, was taken with the love of her. And he\nset all his heart on having her for wife to his son \u00c6ther, and for\ndaughter in his home. So he sent a mighty and honourable embassy, of\nearls and marquesses, with goodly company of knights and ladies and\nphilosophers; bidding them, with all courtesy and discretion, pray\nKing Maurus to give Ursula in marriage to \u00c6ther.\n\n\"But,\" he said, \"if Maurus will not hear your gentle words, open to\nhim all my heart, and tell him that I will ravage his land with fire,\nand slay his people, and make himself die a cruel death, and will,\nafter, lead Ursula away with me. Give him but three days to answer,\nfor I am wasted with desire to finish the matter and hold Ursula in my\nward.\"\n\nBut when the ambassadors came to King Maurus, he would not have his\ndaughter wed a heathen; so, since prayers and gifts did not move him,\nthey spoke out all the threats. Now the land of Britain was little,\nand its soldiers few, while the heathen was a mighty king and a\nconqueror; so Maurus and his Queen and his councillors, and all the\npeople, were in sore distress.\n\nBut on the evening of the second day Ursula went into her chamber and\nshut close the doors, and before the image of the Father, who is very\npitiful, prayed all night with tears, telling how she had vowed in\nher heart to live a holy maiden all her days, having Christ alone for\nspouse. But if His will were that she should wed the son of the\nheathen King, she prayed that wisdom might be given her to turn the\nhearts of all that people who knew not faith or holiness, and power to\ncomfort her father and mother, and all the people of her fatherland.\n\nAnd when the clear light of dawn was in the air she fell asleep. And\nthe Angel of the Lord appeared to her in a dream, saying, \"Ursula,\nyour prayer is heard. At the sun-rising you shall go boldly before the\nambassadors of the King of Over-sea, for the God of Heaven shall give\nyou wisdom, and teach your tongue what it should speak.\"\n\nWhen it was day, Ursula rose to bless and glorify the name of God. She\nput on for covering and for beauty an enwrought mantle like the starry\nsky, and was crowned with a coronet of gems. Then, straightway passing\nto her father's chamber, she told him what grace had been done to her\nthat night, and all that now was in her heart to answer to the\nambassadors of Over-sea. So, though long he would not, she persuaded\nher father.\n\nThen Maurus, and his lords and councillors, and the ambassadors of the\nheathen King, were gathered in the Hall of Council. And when Ursula\nentered the place where these lords were, one said to the other, \"Who\nis this that comes from Paradise?\" For she moved in all noble\ngentleness, with eyes inclined to earth, learned and frank and fair,\ndelightful above all women upon earth. Behind her came a hundred\nmaidens, clothed in white silk, fair and lovely. They shone brightly\nas the stars, but Ursula shone as the moon and the evening star.\n\nNow this was the answer Ursula made, which the King caused to be\nwritten, and sealed with the royal seal, and gave to the ambassadors\nof the King of the Over-sea.\n\n\"I will take,\" she said, \"for spouse, \u00c6ther, the son of my lord, the\nKing of Over-sea. But I ask of my lord three graces, and with heart\nand soul pray of him to grant them.\n\n\"The first grace I ask is this, that he and the Queen and their son,\nmy spouse, be baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and\nof the Holy Spirit.\n\n\"The second grace is that three years may be given me, before the\nbridal, in which to go to and fro upon the sea, that I may visit the\nbodies of the Saints in Rome, and the blessed places of the Holy Land.\n\n\"And for the last grace, I ask that he choose ten fair maidens of his\nkingdom, and with each of these a thousand more, all of gentle blood,\nwho shall come to me here in Britain, and go with me in gladness upon\nthe sea, following this my holy pilgrimage.\"\n\nThen spake one of the nobles of the land to Maurus, saying, \"My lord\nthe King, this your daughter is the Dove of Peace come from Paradise,\nthe same that in the days of the flood brought to the Ark of Noah the\nolive-branch of good news.\" And at the answer were the ambassadors so\nfull of joy that they well-nigh could not speak, and with praise and\ntriumph, they went their way, and told their master all the sweet\nanswer of Ursula.\n\nThen my lord the King said, \"Praised and blessed be the name of our\nGod Malcometto, who has given my soul for comfort that which it\ndesired. Truly there is not a franker lady under the wheel of the sun;\nand by the body of my mother I swear there is nothing she can ask that\nI will not freely give. First of the maidens she desires shall be my\ndaughter Florence.\" Then all his lords rose, man by man, and gladly\nnamed each his child.\n\nSo the will of Ursula was done; and that King, and all his folk, were\nbaptized into the Holy Faith. And \u00c6ther, with the English maidens, in\nnumber above ten thousand, came to the land of Britain.\n\nThen Ursula chose her own four sisters, Habila and Julia and Victoria\nand Aurea, and a thousand daughters of her people, with certain holy\nbishops and great lords and grave councillors, and an abbot of the\norder of St. Benedict, men full of all wisdom and friends of God.\n\nSo all that company set sail in eleven ships, and passing this way and\nthat upon the sea, rejoiced in it, and in this their maiden\npilgrimage. And those who dwelt by the shores of the sea came forth in\nmultitudes to gaze upon them as they passed, and to each man it\nappeared a delightful vision. For the ships sailed in fair order, side\nby side, with sound of sweet psalms and murmur of the waters. And the\nmaidens were clad, some in scarlet and some in pure samite, some in\nrich silk of Damascus, some in cloth of gold, and some in the purple\nrobe that is woven in Judea. Some wore crowns, others garlands of\nflowers. Upon the shoulder of each was the visible cross, in the hands\nof each a pilgrim's staff by their sides were pilgrims' scrips, and\neach ship's company sailed under the gonfalon of the Holy Cross.\nUrsula in the midst was like a ray of sunlight, and the Angel of the\nLord was ever with them for guide.\n\nSo in the holy time of Lent they came to Rome. And when my Lord the\nPope came forth, under the Castle of St. Angelo, with great state, to\ngreet them, seeing their blessed assembly, he put off the mantle of\nPeter, and with many bishops, priests, and brothers, and certain\ncardinals, set himself to go with them on their blessed pilgrimage.\n\nAt length they came to the land of Slavonia, whose ruler was friend\nand liegeman to the Soldan of Babylon. Then the Lord of the Saracens\nsent straightway to the Soldan, telling what a mighty company had come\nto his land, and how they were Christian folk. And the Soldan\ngathered all his men of war, and with great rage the host of the\nheathen made against the company of Ursula.\n\nAnd when they were nigh, the Soldan cried and said, \"What folk are\nye?\" And Ursula spake in answer, \"We are Christian folk; our feet are\nturned to the blessed tomb of our Lord Jesus Christ, for the saving of\nour souls, and that we may win grace to pass into eternal life, in the\nblessed Paradise.\" And the Soldan answered, \"Either deny your God, or\nI will slay you all with the sword. So shall ye die a dolorous death,\nand see your land no more.\" And Ursula answered, \"Even so we desire to\nbe sure witnesses for the name of God, declaring and preaching the\nglory of His name; because He has made heaven and earth and the sea by\nHis Word; and afterward all living things; and afterward has willed,\nHimself, to die for our salvation and glory. And who follows Him\nshall go to rejoice in His Fatherland and in His Kingdom.\"\n\nThen she turned to her people: \"My sisters and my brothers, in this\nplace God has given us great grace. Embrace and make it sure, for our\ndeath in this place will be life perpetual, and joy and sweetness\nnever-ending. And there, above, we shall be with the Majesty and the\nangels of Paradise.\" Then she called her spouse to comfort and teach\nhim. And he answered her with these words: \"To me it appears three\nthousand years that death is a-coming, so much have I already tasted\nof the sweetness of Paradise.\"\n\nThen the Soldan gave commandment that they should all be slain with\nthe sword. And so was it done.\n\nYet when he saw Ursula standing in the midst of all that slaughter,\nlike the fairest stalk of corn in harvest, and how she was exceeding\nlovely, beyond the tongues of this earth to tell, he would have saved\nher alive, and taken her for wife. But when she would not, and rebuked\nhim, he was moved with anger. Now there was a bow in his hand, and he\nset an arrow on the string, and drew it with all his strength, and it\npierced the heart of the glorious maiden. So she went to God.\n\nAnd one maiden only, whose name was Corbula, through fear hid herself\nin the ship. But God, who had chosen all that company, gave her heart,\nand with the dawn of the next day she came forth willingly, and\nreceived the martyr's crown.\n\nThus all were slain, and all are gone to Paradise, and sing the glad\nand sweet songs of Paradise.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nWhosoever reads this holy history, let him not think it a great thing\nto say an Our Father and a Hail Mary for the soul of him who has\nwritten it.\n\n\n\n\nII\n\n_THE DREAM OF ST. URSULA_\n\n(CARPACCIO)\n\n_JOHN RUSKIN_\n\n\n\n\n_THE DREAM OF ST. URSULA_\n\n\nIn the year 1869, just before leaving Venice, I had been carefully\nlooking at a picture by Victor Carpaccio, representing the dream of a\nyoung princess. Carpaccio has taken much pains to explain to us, as\nfar as he can, the kind of life she leads, by completely painting her\nlittle bedroom in the light of dawn, so that you can see everything in\nit. It is lighted by two doubly-arched windows, the arches being\npainted crimson round their edges, and the capitals of the shafts that\nbear them, gilded. They are filled at the top with small round panes\nof glass; but beneath, are open to the blue morning sky, with a low\nlattice across them; and in the one at the back of the room are set\ntwo beautiful white Greek vases with a plant in each, one having rich\ndark and pointed green leaves, the other crimson flowers, but not of\nany species known to me, each at the end of a branch like a spray of\nheath.\n\nThese flower-pots stand on a shelf which runs all round the room and\nbeneath the window, at about the height of the elbow, and serves to\nput things on anywhere; beneath it, down to the floor, the walls are\ncovered with green cloth, but above are bare and white. The second\nwindow is nearly opposite the bed, and in front of it is the\nprincess's reading-table, some two feet and a half square, covered by\na red cloth with a white border and dainty fringe; and beside it her\nseat, not at all like a reading-chair in Oxford, but a very small\nthree-legged stool like a music-stool, covered with crimson cloth. On\nthe table are a book, set up at a slope fittest for reading, and an\nhour-glass. Under the shelf near the table, so as to be easily reached\nby the outstretched arm, is a press full of books. The door of this\nhas been left open, and the books, I am grieved to say, are rather in\ndisorder, having been pulled about before the princess went to bed,\nand one left standing on its side.\n\nOpposite this window, on the white wall, is a small shrine or picture\n(I can't see which, for it is in sharp retiring perspective), with a\nlamp before it, and a silver vessel hung from the lamp, looking like\none for holding incense.\n\nThe bed is a broad four-poster, the posts being beautifully wrought\ngolden or gilded rods, variously wreathed and branched, carrying a\ncanopy of warm red. The princess's shield is at the head of it, and\nthe feet are raised entirely above the floor of the room, on a dais\nwhich projects at the lower end so as to form a seat, on which the\nchild has laid her crown. Her little blue slippers lie at the side of\nthe bed, her white dog beside them; the coverlid is scarlet, the white\nsheet folded half way back over it; the young girl lies straight,\nbending neither at waist nor knee, the sheet rising and falling over\nher in a narrow unbroken wave, like the shape of the coverlid of the\nlast sleep, when the turf scarcely rises. She is some seventeen or\neighteen years old, her head is turned towards us on the pillow, the\ncheek resting on her hand, as if she were thinking, yet utterly calm\nin sleep, and almost colourless. Her hair is tied with a narrow\nriband, and divided into two wreaths, which encircle her head like a\ndouble crown. The white nightgown hides the arm, raised on the pillow,\ndown to the wrist.\n\nAt the door of the room an angel enters (the little dog, though lying\nawake, vigilant, takes no notice). He is a very small angel; his head\njust rises a little above the shelf round the room, and would only\nreach as high as the princess's chin, if she were standing up. He has\nsoft grey wings, lustreless; and his dress, of subdued blue, has\nviolet sleeves, open above the elbow, and showing white sleeves below.\nHe comes in without haste, his body like a mortal one, casting shadow\nfrom the light through the door behind, his face perfectly quiet, a\npalm-branch in his right hand, a scroll in his left.\n\nSo dreams the princess, with blessed eyes that need no earthly dawn.\nIt is very pretty of Carpaccio to make her dream out the angel's dress\nso particularly, and notice the slashed sleeves; and to dream so\nlittle an angel--very nearly a doll angel--bringing her the branch of\npalm and message. But the lovely characteristic of all is the evident\ndelight of her continual life. Royal power over herself, and happiness\nin her flowers, her books, her sleeping and waking, her prayers, her\ndreams, her earth, her heaven.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\"How do I know the princess is industrious?\"\n\nPartly by the trim state of her room--by the hour-glass on the table,\nby the evident use of all the books she has (well bound, every one of\nthem, in stoutest leather or velvet, and with no dog's-ears), but more\ndistinctly from another picture of her, not asleep. In that one a\nprince of England has sent to ask her in marriage; and her father,\nlittle liking to part with her, sends for her to his room to ask her\nwhat she would do. He sits, moody and sorrowful; she, standing before\nhim in a plain housewifely dress, talks quietly, going on with her\nneedle-work all the time.\n\nA workwoman, friends, she, no less than a princess; and princess most\nin being so. In like manner is a picture by a Florentine, whose mind I\nwould fain have you know somewhat, as well as Carpaccio's--Sandro\nBotticelli. The girl who is to be the wife of Moses, when he first\nsees her at the desert well, has fruit in her left hand, but a distaff\nin her right.\n\n\"To do good work, whether you live or die\"--it is the entrance to all\nPrincedoms; and if not done, the day will come, and that infallibly,\nwhen you must labour for evil instead of good.\n\n    _FORS CLAVIGERA_\n\nSunnyside, Orpington, Kent, 1872.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n    [Illustration]\n\n       *       *       *       *       *","title":"Saint Ursula: I. The Story of St. Ursula. II. The Dream of St. Ursula.","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":3441}