第20章 BOOK I(11)

Caerleon means the city of Legions,Caer,in the British language,signifying a city or camp,for there the Roman legions,sent into this island,were accustomed to winter,and from this circumstance it was styled the city of legions.This city was of undoubted antiquity,and handsomely built of masonry,with courses of bricks,by the Romans.Many vestiges of its former splendour may yet be seen;immense palaces,formerly ornamented with gilded roofs,in imitation of Roman magnificence,inasmuch as they were first raised by the Roman princes,and embellished with splendid buildings;a tower of prodigious size,remarkable hot baths,relics of temples,and theatres,all inclosed within fine walls,parts of which remain standing.You will find on all sides,both within and without the circuit of the walls,subterraneous buildings,aqueducts,underground passages;and what I think worthy of notice,stoves contrived with wonderful art,to transmit the heat insensibly through narrow tubes passing up the side walls.

Julius and Aaron,after suffering martyrdom,were buried in this city,and had each a church dedicated to him.After Albanus and Amphibalus,they were esteemed the chief protomartyrs of Britannia Major.In ancient times there were three fine churches in this city:one dedicated to Julius the martyr,graced with a choir of nuns;another to Aaron,his associate,and ennobled with an order of canons;and the third distinguished as the metropolitan of Wales.

Amphibalus,the instructor of Albanus in the true faith,was born in this place.This city is well situated on the river Usk,navigable to the sea,and adorned with woods and meadows.The Roman ambassadors here received their audience at the court of the great king Arthur;and here also,the archbishop Dubricius ceded his honours to David of Menevia,the metropolitan see being translated from this place to Menevia,according to the prophecy of Merlin Ambrosius."Menevia pallio urbis Legionum induetur.""Menevia shall be invested with the pall of the city of Legions."Not far hence is a rocky eminence,impending over the Severn,called by the English Gouldcliffe {74}or golden rock,because from the reflections of the sun's rays it assumes a bright golden colour:

"Nec mihi de facili fieri persuasio posset,Quod frustra tantum dederit natura nito rem Saxis,quodque suo fuerit flos hic sine fructu."Nor can I be easily persuaded that nature hath given such splendour to the rocks in vain,and that this flower should be without fruit,if any one would take the pains to penetrate deeply into the bowels of the earth;if any one,I say,would extract honey from the rock,and oil from the stone.Indeed many riches of nature lie concealed through inattention,which the diligence of posterity will bring to light;for,as necessity first taught the ancients to discover the conveniences of life,so industry,and a greater acuteness of intellect,have laid open many things to the moderns;as the poet says,assigning two causes for these discoveries,"-labor omnia vincit Improbus,et duris urgens in rebus egestas."It is worthy of observation,that there lived in the neighbourhood of this City of Legions,in our time,a Welshman named Melerius,who,under the following circumstances,acquired the knowledge of future and occult events.Having,on a certain night,namely that of Palm Sunday,met a damsel whom he had long loved,in a pleasant and convenient place,while he was indulging in her embraces,suddenly,instead of a beautiful girl,he found in his arms a hairy,rough,and hideous creature,the sight of which deprived him of his senses,and he became mad.After remaining many years in this condition,he was restored to health in the church of St.David's,through the merits of its saints.But having always an extraordinary familiarity with unclean spirits,by seeing them,knowing them,talking with them,and calling each by his proper name,he was enabled,through their assistance,to foretel future events.He was,indeed,often deceived (as they are)with respect to circumstances at a great distance of time or place,but was less mistaken in affairs which were likely to happen nearer,or within the space of a year.The spirits appeared to him,usually on foot,equipped as hunters,with horns suspended from their necks,and truly as hunters,not of animals,but of souls.He particularly met them near monasteries and monastic cells;for where rebellion exists,there is the greatest need of armies and strength.He knew when any one spoke falsely in his presence,for he saw the devil,as it were,leaping and exulting upon the tongue of the liar.If he looked on a book faultily or falsely written,or containing a false passage,although wholly illiterate,he would point out the place with his finger.Being questioned how he could gain such knowledge,he said that he was directed by the demon's finger to the place.In the same manner,entering into the dormitory of a monastery,he indicated the bed of any monk not sincerely devoted to religion.He said,that the spirit of gluttony and surfeit was in every respect sordid;but that the spirit of luxury and lust was more beautiful than others in appearance,though in fact most foul.If the evil spirits oppressed him too much,the Gospel of St.John was placed on his bosom,when,like birds,they immediately vanished;but when that book was removed,and the History of the Britons,by Geoffrey Arthur,{75}was substituted in its place,they instantly reappeared in greater numbers,and remained a longer time than usual on his body and on the book.

It is worthy of remark,that Barnabas placed the Gospel of St.