Seynt Gregory reherceth in his dyalogues that a nonne entryd into a gardyne / and ſawe a letuſe / and coveyted that / and forgate to make the ſigne of the Croſſe / and bote[50] it glotonouſly / And anone fylle doune and was ravyſſhed of a devylle / And ther cam to her ſaint Equycyon[J] / And the devylle beganne to crye and to ſaye / What have I doo / I ſatte uppon a lettuſe / and ſhe cam / and bote me / and anone the devylle yſſued oute by the commaundement of the holy man of god /. It is redde in thyſtorye Scolaſtyke / that the paynyms had peynted on a walle the armes of Serapis / And Theodoſyen dide doo putt them oute / and made to be paynted in the ſame place the ſigne of the Croſſe / And when the paynims & prieſtes of thydolles ſawe that / anone they dyde them to be baptyſed / ſayenge / that it was gyven them to underſtonde of their olders / that thoſe armes ſhold endure tyll / that ſuche a ſigne were made then / in whiche were lyf / And they have a lettre / of whiche they uſe / y^t they calle holy / & had a forme that they ſaid it expoſed and ſignyfyed lyf perdurable. Thus endeth the exaltacion of the holy Croſſe. * * * * * Having read theſe extracts from the Golden Legend, we ſhall be able to underſtand the accompanying illuſtrations, which repreſent ſome freſcos of the fifteenth century, which formerly adorned the walls of the / Chapel of the Gild of the Holy Croſs, at Stratford-upon-Avon; which ſtands cloſe by New Place, Shakeſpeare’s houſe. Theſe freſcos, alas! no longer exiſt, for, in 1804, the Chapel underwent conſiderable repair, during which, under the whitewaſh, were diſcovered traces of paint, and theſe, being ſcraped, a ſeries illuſtrating the legend of the Croſs was found in the chancel, which was built in 1450. In other parts of the Chapel were found repreſentations of the Reſſurection, and the day of Judgment, St. George and the Dragon, and the death of St. Thomas a Becket, beſides others. Luckily, a gentleman from London, a Mr. Fiſher, was then ſtaying at Stratford-on-Avon, and he drew, and painted them—afterwards, in 1807, publiſhing them—and it is from his ſketches that theſe illuſtrations are taken. The barbarians of Stratford hacked the plaſter on which the Holy Croſs ſeries was painted to bits, and whitewaſhed all the other paintings. It is preſumed they ſtill exiſt, for, when the Chapel was thoroughly reſtored in 1835, traces of the other pictures were viſible under the whitewaſh. Theſe pictures of the Invention, and Exaltation, of the Holy Croſs are eſpecially intereſting, not only on account of their age and artiſtic merit, but from the fact that they are of Engliſh work, and ſhow the Engliſh idea of treating the ſubject. I have reproduced them all but two; one, the fight on the bridge over the Danube between Heraclius and the ſon of Choſroes, and the other repreſenting Heraclius ſmiting off Choſroes’ head. [Illustration] [Illustration: A]