es, the collects to the Virgin, the
Te Deum, and Service to Christ, beginning with the Psalm 'The Lord
reigneth'; and then the collects to the greater individual saints,
closing with the Litany, or constant prayer for mercy to Christ, and
all saints; of whom the order is,--Archangels, Patriarchs, Apostles,
Disciples, Innocents, Martyrs, Confessors, Monks, and Virgins. Of
women the Magdalen _always_ leads; St. Mary of Egypt usually follows,
but _may_ be the last. Then the order varies in every place, and
prayer-book, no recognizable supremacy being traceable; except in
relation to the place, or person, for whom the book was written. In
St. Louis', St. Genevieve (the last saint to whom he prayed on his
death-bed) follows the two Maries; then come--memorable for you best,
as easiest, in this six-foil group,--Saints Catharine, Margaret, and
Scolastica, Agatha, Cecilia, and Agnes; and then ten more, whom
you may learn or not as you like: I note them now only for future
reference,--more lively and easy for your learning,--by their French
names,

Felicite,

Colombe,

Christine,

* * * * *

Auree, Honorine,

* * * * *

Radegonde,

Praxede,

Euphemie,

* * * * *

Bathilde, Eugenie.

Such was the system of Theology into which the Imaginative Religion of
Europe was crystallized, by the growth of its own best faculties, and
the influence of all accessible and credible authorities, during the
period between the eleventh and fifteenth centuries inclusive. Its
spiritual power is completely represented by the angelic and apostolic
dynasties, and the women-saints in Paradise; for of the men-saints,
beneath the apostles and prophets, none but St. Christopher, St.
Nicholas, St. Anthony, St. James, and St. George, attained anything
like the influence of Catharine or Cecilia; for the very curious
reason, that the men-saints were much more true, real, and numerous.
St. Martin was reverenced all over Europe, but definitely, as a man,
and the Bishop of Tours. So St. Ambrose at Milan, and St. Gregory at
Rome, and hundreds of good men more, all over the world; while the
really good women remained, though not rare, inconspicuous. The
virtues of French Clotilde, and Swiss Berthe, were painfully borne
down in the balance of visible judgment, by the guilt of the Gonerils,
Regans, and Lady Macbeths, whose spectral procession closes only
wi