e purpose of verifying its contents.
Accordingly the bishop came, and on opening the casket, there proceeded
from it such an abominable stench, that no man could endure it,
infecting, as it did, the whole of the chapel. The bishop thereupon
ordered all the vials to be taken out, and carefully examined one by
one, hoping to ascertain the cause of this strange incident, which did
not long remain a mystery, for they soon {235} found the very vial from
which this pestilent odour was issuing. It contained a small fragment
of cloth, which was thus labelled, '_Ex caligis Divi Martini Lutheri_,'
that is to say, '_A bit of the Breeches of Saint Martin Luther_,' which
the aforesaid two Lutheran ministers, by way of mockery of our piety,
had slily packed up with the holy relics in the casket. The bishop
instantly gave orders to burn this abominable rag of the great
heresiarch, and forthwith, not only the stench ceased, but there
proceeded from the true relics such a delicious and heavenly odour as
perfumed the entire building."

* * * * *

ILLUSTRATIONS OF CHAUCER, NO. II.

_Complaint of Mars and Venus._

I am not aware that the obvious astronomical allegory, which lurks in
Chaucer's "Complaint of Mars and Venus," has been pointed out, or that any
attempt has been made to explain it. In Tyrwhitt's slight notice of that
poem, prefixed to his glossary, there is not the most remote hint that he
perceived its astronomical significance, or that he looked upon it in any
other light than "that it was intended to describe the situation of _some_
two lovers under a veil of mystical allegory."

But, as I understand it, it plainly describes an astronomical conjunction
of the planets Mars and Venus, in the last degree of Taurus, and on the
12th of April.

These three conditions are not likely to concur except at very rare
intervals--it is possible they may have been only theoretical--but it is
also possible that they may have really occurred under Chaucer's
observation; it might therefore well repay the labour bestowed upon it if
some person, possessed of time, patience, and the requisite tables, would
calculate whether any conjunction, conforming in such particulars, did
really take place within the latter half of the fourteenth century: if it
was considered worth while to search out a described conjunction 2500 years
before Christ, in order to t