[21] The Acts of St. Cecilia have always been considered among the most absolutely authentic of those preserved by the Church, and every circumstance connected with the finding of her body, both by Paschal and Sfondrato, bears them out. Tillesnaut, the lying Jansenist historian so dear to heretic students, and who seems to have had a particularly malevolent hatred for St. Cecilia, has made a ludicrous attempt to prove—if such arguments could be called by that name—that St. Cecilia was not a Roman, and as we know her never existed. He supports this amazing theory on one line many times re-copied by ignorant scribes, of the poet Fortunatus, who speaks of “St. Cecilia” as having suffered in “Sicilia.” The Church knows of no Sicilian martyr of that name, but there was one in Sardinia, a name which one of Fortunatus’ copyists apparently mistook for “Sicilia.” [22] Galerius, on his deathbed, by the so-called “Edict of Sardis,” disavowed his errors and proclaimed liberty for the Christians, but the war against them was still carried on both by the usurping Emperors who were Constantine’s rivals, and by the hatred of the still powerful pagan Governors. [23] These words are always quoted in Latin and so I transcribe them, but in reality they appeared in the Greek tongue. [24] There is a mediæval legend that Constantine had been advised by the pagan priests to cure his leprosy by bathing in the blood of three thousand children, and that he was about to immolate that number for the purpose, when, his pity being aroused by the despair of their mothers, he forbade the sacrifice. That this is a pure invention is patent, for Constantine was a just and merciful man, even before his conversion, and, when he came to Rome, was familiar with the tenets of Christianity and well disposed to embrace them. [25] Tighe Hopkins: “The Man in the Iron Mask.” Hurst & Blackett, Publishers, London, 1901. [26] Hopkins, p. 196 _et seq._ [27] Baron: The celebrated French playwright and actor (1653-1729). [28] “The Venetian Republic,” Vol. 4, p. 525. Transcriber's Notes Original spelling and punctuation have been preserved as much as possible. Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note. End of Project Gutenberg's Italian Yesterdays, vol. 1, by Mrs. Hugh Fraser