the title of a female saint."[398:3]

In many parts of Italy are to be seen pictures of the "Holy Family," of
extreme antiquity, the grounds of them often of gold.

These pictures represent the mother with a child on her knee, and a
little boy standing close by her side; the _Lamb_ is generally seen in
the picture. They are inscribed "_Deo Soli_," and are simply ancient
representations of Isis and Horus. The _Lamb_ is "The Lamb that taketh
away the sins of the world," which, as we have already seen, was
believed on in the Pagan world centuries before the time of Christ
Jesus.[399:1] Some half-pagan Christian went so far as to forge a book,
which he attributed to Christ Jesus himself, which was for the purpose
of showing that he--Christ Jesus--was in no way against these heathen
gods.[399:2]

The _Icelanders_ were induced to embrace Christianity, with its legends
and miracles, and sainted divinities, as the Christian monks were ready
to substitute for Thor, their warrior-god, Michael, the warrior-angel;
for Freyja, their goddess, the Virgin Mary; and for the god Vila, a St.
Valentine--probably manufactured for the occasion.

"The statues of Jupiter, Apollo, Mercury, Orpheus, did duty for _The
Christ_.[399:3] The Thames River god officiates at the baptism of Jesus
in the Jordan. Peter holds the keys of Janus.[399:4] Moses wears the
horns of Jove. Ceres, Cybele, Demeter assume new names, as '_Queen of
Heaven_,' '_Star of the Sea_,' '_Maria Illuminatrix_;' Dionysius is St.
Denis; Cosmos is St. Cosmo; Pluto and Proserpine resign their seats in
the hall of final judgment to the Christ and his mother. The Parcae
depute one of their number, Lachesis, the disposer of lots, to set the
stamp of destiny upon the deaths of Christian believers. The _aura
placida_ of the poets, the gentle breeze, is personified as Aura and
Placida. The _perpetua felicitas_ of the devotee becomes a lovely
presence in the forms of St. Perpetua and St. Felicitas, guardian angels
of the pious soul. No relic of Paganism was permitted to remain in its
casket. The depositories were all ransacked. The shadowy hands of
Egyptian priests placed the urn of holy water at the porch of the
basilica, which stood ready to be converted into a temple. Priests of
the most ancient faiths of Palestine, Assyria, Babylon, Thebes, Persia
were permitted to erect the altar at the point where the transverse beam
of the cross meets the main stem. The hands that constructed t