Le Bon,[45] speaking of the cradle of Jesus, says: "According to tradition, the stone cradle contained one of wood. That of stone still exists at Bethlehem, not in its primitive state, but decorated with white marble, and enriched with magnificent draperies. The wooden one was, in the seventh century, at the time of the Mahometan Invasion in the East, transported to Rome, then become the new Jerusalem, the Bethlehem of a new people. It there reposes in the superb basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, where it is guarded by the eternal city with more affection than the Ark of the Covenant, and with more respect than the cottage of Romulus. Centuries have not been able to enfeeble the veneration and the love with which this trophy of the love of God for his creatures has been surrounded. This cradle, this sacred monument, reposes in a shrine of crystal, mounted on a stand of silver enamelled with gold and precious stones, the splendid offering of Philip IV., King of Spain. This shrine is preserved in a brazen coffer, and is only exposed for veneration--on the grand altar, once a year, on Christmas Day." [Footnote 45: _Fleurs de Catholicisme_, vol. iii. p. 236.] The ox and ass are indispensable accessories to a picture of the Nativity, and it is said that their introduction rests on an old tradition mentioned by St. Jerome, and also on a text of prophecy: "The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib."[46] Tradition says that these animals recognised and worshipped their Divine Master. [Footnote 46: Isaiah i. 3.] In praesepe ponitur, Sub foeno asinorum, Cognoverunt Dominum, Christum, Regem coelorum. Et a brutis noscitur, Matris velo tegitur. So also it is believed in many places that at midnight on Christmas eve all cattle bowed their knees; and Brand gives an instance of this legend, and says "that a Cornish peasant told him in 1790 of his having, with some others, watched several oxen in their stalls on the Eve of old Christmas Day, and that at twelve o'clock, they observed the two oldest oxen fall upon their knees and (as he expressed it in the idiom of the country) make a cruel moan like Christian creatures." There is another legend which relates how other animals took part in the announcement of the Saviour's coming on earth. Praetorius says: Vacca _puer natus_ clamabat nocte sub ipsa, Qua Christus pura virgine natus homo est; Sed, quia dicenti nunquam bene creditur uni, Addebat facti testis, asellus; _ita_. Dumque aiebat; _ubi?_ clamoso guttere gallus; _In Betlem, Betlem_, vox geminabat ovis. Felices nimium pecudes, pecorumque magistri, Qui norunt Dominum concelebrare suum.