In the time of St. Louis, a Languedoc knight called Nolasque, touched with pity for the fate of the unhappy captives, men, women, and children, who were daily falling into the hands of the Barbary corsairs, and sold like cattle in the Eastern slave-markets, conceived the philanthropic idea of instituting an order of “Mercy,” or Ransom. He died in 1236, after having had the satisfaction of seeing this charitable undertaking make great progress. The Brethren of Mercy preached and collected arms for the ransoming of the captives; they then crossed the seas with the produce of their appeals to buy them back, and, if the sum was insufficient, they gave themselves to slavery in exchange for the unhappy prisoners. The Christian religion was alone capable of inspiring such feelings of self-devotion. [Illustration: Fig. 273.--The Seven Christian Virtues, with their Symbols.--From a Miniature in the “Ethics of Aristotle” (Manuscript of the Fourteenth Century), Rouen Library. On the left are the Theological Virtues: _Faith_, dressed as a nun, is holding a church, a New Testament, and a wax taper; _Hope_, in the garb of a peasant girl, has a ship upon her head, a cage beneath her feet, a beehive and a spade in her hands; _Charity_ is a young woman standing on a hot oven, with a pelican upon her head, and her hair falling loose upon her shoulders; she has in her hands a bleeding heart and the monogram of Christ surrounded with flames of fire. Then come the Cardinal Virtues: _Temperance_, balancing upon the sails of a windmill, a bridle in her mouth, a clock upon her forehead, and a telescope in her hand; _Justice_, standing on the seat of justice, with scales at her girdle, and balancing swords; _Prudence_ is in the garb of a nun, and is weighed down under her symbols, viz. a coffin, a mirror, a sieve, and the shield of faith; lastly, _Strength_, mounted on a screw-press, and with an anvil on her head, is holding a donjon in one hand, while she strangles a dragon with the other.]