The SWORD is also either a symbol or an attribute. As a symbol it signifies generally martyrdom by any violent death, and, in this sense, is given to many saints who did not die by the sword. As an attribute it signifies the particular death suffered, and that the martyr in whose hand or at whose feet it is placed was beheaded: in this sense it is given to St. Paul, St. Catherine, and many others. It is given also to the warrior-martyrs, as the attribute of their military profession. Other symbols of martyrdom are the AXE, the LANCE, and the CLUB. ARROWS, which are attributes, St. Ursula, St. Christina, and St. Sebastian. The PONIARD, given to St. Lucia. The CAULDRON, given to St. John the Evangelist and St. Cecilia. The PINCERS and SHEARS, St. Apollonia and St. Agatha. The WHEELS, St. Catherine. FIRE and FLAMES are sometimes an emblem of martyrdom and punishment, and sometimes of religious fervour. A BELL was supposed to have power to exorcise demons, and for this reason is given to the haunted St. Anthony. The SHELL signifies pilgrimage. The SKULL, penance. The ANVIL, as an attribute of martyrdom, belongs to St. Adrian only. The PALM, the ancient classical symbol of victory and triumph, was early assumed by the Christians as the universal symbol of martyrdom, and for this adaptation of a pagan ornament they found warrant in Scripture: Rev. vii. 9, ‘And after this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude stood before the throne clothed with white robes and with palms in their hands.‘... ‘And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation.’ Hence in pictures of martyrdoms an angel descends with the palm; hence it is figured on the tombs of early martyrs, and placed in the hands of those who suffered in the cause of truth, as expressing their final victory over the powers of sin and death. The sensual think with reverence of the palm Which the chaste votary wields. [Illustration: Four palm fronds] The palm varies in form from a small leaf to the size of a palm branch, almost a tree. It is very small in the early Italian pictures, very large in the Spanish pictures. In the Siena pictures it has a bunch of dates depending from it. It is only in late pictures that the palm, with a total disregard to the sacredness of its original signification, is placed on the ground, or under the feet of the saint. The STANDARD, or banner, is also the symbol of victory, the spiritual victory over sin, death, and idolatry. It is borne by our Saviour after his resurrection, and is placed in the hands of St. George, St. Maurice, and other military saints; in the hands of some victorious martyrs, as St. Julian, St. Ansano, and of those who preached the Gospel among infidels; also in the hands of St. Ursula and St. Reparata, the only female saints, I believe, who bear this attribute.