Scriptures; the two perpendicular stone columns which support the windows are the two precepts of Christian charity, to love God and our neighbor; the length of the windows shows the profundity and obscurity of Scripture, and their roundness indicates that the Church is always in harmony with itself. This is simple enough. But M. Jérôme Bugeaud, in his collection of "Chansons Populaires" of the western provinces of France, gives part of a catechism still taught to children, though coming down from the Middle Ages, which carries this quaint symbolizing to a point of the highest absurdity. The catechism turns upon the sacred character of the lowly animal that most needed any protection which priestly ingenuity could afford. Here are a few of the questions and answers: _Priest._ "What signify the two ears of the ass?" _Child._ "The two ears of the ass signify the two great patron saints of our city." _Priest._ "What signifies the head of the ass?" _Child._ "The head of the ass signifies the great bell, and the halter the clapper of the great bell, which is in the tower of the cathedral of the patron saints of our city." _Priest._ "What signifies the ass's mouth?" _Child._ "The ass's mouth signifies the great door of the cathedral of the patron saints of our city." _Priest._ "What signify the four feet of the ass?" _Child._ "The four feet of the ass signify the four great pillars of the cathedral of the patron saints of our city." _Priest._ "What signifies the paunch of the ass?" _Child._ "The paunch of the ass signifies the great chest wherein Christians put their offerings to the patron saints of our cathedral." _Priest._ "What signifies the tail of the ass?" _Child._ "The tail of the ass signifies the holy-water brush of the good dean of the cathedral of the patron saints of our city." The priest does not stop at the tail, but pursues the symbolism with a simplicity and innocence which do not bear translating into our blunt English words. As late as 1750 Bishop Burnet saw in a church at Worms an altarpiece of a crudity almost incredible. It represented the Virgin Mary throwing Christ into the hopper of a windmill, from the spout of which he was issuing in the form of sacramental wafers, and priests were about to distribute them among the people. The unquestionable purpose of this picture was to assist the faith and animate the piety of the people of Worms. CHAPTER VI. SECULAR CARICATURE IN THE MIDDLE AGES. [Illustration: Gog and Magog, the Giants in the Guildhall of London.]