ecla. The wild beasts of the circus gather together, and
with tails interlaced, prepare a throne for Saint Euphemia; in the
pit, aspics form a pleasing necklace for Saint Christina. It is not
the will of the divine Spouse for whom they endure anguish that they
should suffer in their modesty. When the executioner tears off Saint
Agnes's garments, her hair grows thicker and clothes her in a
miraculous garment. When Saint Barbara is to be taken naked through
the streets, an angel brings her a white tunic. These Agneses and
these Dorotheas, these Catherines and these Margarets, this legion of
innocent conquerors prepared men's minds to believe in the miracle of
a virgin stronger than armed men. Had not Saint Genevieve turned away
Attila and his barbarian warriors from Paris?

The fable of the Maid and the Unicorn, so widely known in those days,
is a lively expression of this belief in a special virtue residing in
the state of virginity.

The unicorn was half goat and half horse, of immaculate whiteness; it
bore a marvellous sword upon its forehead. Hunters, when they saw it
pass in the thicket, had never been able to reach it, so rapid was its
course. But if a virgin in the forest called the unicorn, the creature
obeyed, came and laid its head on her lap, and allowed such feeble
hands to take and bind it. If however a damsel corrupt and no longer a
maid approached it, the unicorn slew her immediately.[778]

[Footnote 778: _De l'unicorne qu'une jeune fille seduit_, in the
_Bestiaire_ of R. de Fournival (Paulin Paris, _Manuscrits francais_,
vol. iv, p. 25). Berger de Xivrey, _Traditions teratologiques_, p.
559. J. Doublet, _Histoire de l'abbaye de Saint-Denys_, vol. i, p.
320. Vallet de Viriville, _Nouvelles recherches sur Agnes Sorel_, in
_Bulletin de la Societe des Antiquaires de Picardie_, vol. vi, p. 621.
A. Maury, _Croyances et legendes du moyen age_, pp. 262 _et seq._]

It was even said that a virgin had the power to cure king's evil, by
reciting, fasting and naked, certain magic words; but they were not
words from the Gospel.[779]

[Footnote 779: Leber, _Des ceremonies du sacre_, Paris, 1825, in 8vo,
p. 459.]

While mystics and visionaries were glorifying virginity, the Church,
bent on governing the body as well as the soul, condemned opinions
denying the lawfulness of marriage, which she had constituted a
sacrament. Those who would anathematise all works of the flesh she
held to be abominable and impious. A mai