ave bought unto myself."' This is done. There is some talk,
from which it appears that the cloth is one which Judas once gave to a
leper, the forks some which he had given to Priests whereon to hang
pots, and the stone whereon he sits, one with which he had once filled
up an hole in a public highway. The whole episode closes thus:--'At the
breaking of the day, when the man of God began to take his journey,
behold, an infinite multitude of devils covered the face of the deep,
speaking with dreadful voices and saying, "O man of God, cursed be thy
coming in and thy going out, for our prince hath scourged us this night
with grievous stripes, because we brought him not that accursed
prisoner." And the man of God saith unto them, "Let that curse be not
upon us but upon you, for blessed is he whom ye curse, and cursed is he
whom ye bless." The devils said, "That unhappy Judas shall suffer double
pains these six days, because ye have shielded him this night." The
saint saith unto them, "Ye have no power, neither your princes, for
power is of God." And he said, "In the name of the Lord, I command you
and your prince that ye put him to no greater torments than ye have been
wont." They answered him, "Art thou the Lord of all, that we should obey
thy words?" The man of God saith unto them, "I am the servant of the
Lord of all; and whatsoever I command in His Name, it is done; and I
have no ministry save of them whom he giveth me." And so they followed
him, continually blaspheming, until he was borne away from Judas; and
the devils went back and lifted up that most unhappy soul among them,
with a great rushing and shouting.'

This subject is one that ought not to be treated at all. It ought to be
left veiled in the unknown, as it has been left for us by the Infinite
Mercy from Whose revelation we know all that we know about it. As a
matter of fact, I am only aware, as I have stated, of one other writer
besides this Irish romancer, who has treated it. That writer is Dante.
At the lowest depth of his Inferno sits Satan munching Brutus, Cassius,
and Judas in his threefold mouth. Brutus and Cassius have their heads
and upper parts hanging outside the mouth.

'Quell' anima lassu, c' ha maggior pena,'
Disse 'l Maestro, 'e Giuda Scariotto,
Che 'l capo ha dentro, e fuor le gambe mena.'

The traditional epithet which the world has justly attached to the name
of Dante Alighieri is 'the Sublime'. I am almost afraid to say it,