, and
worshipped them instead of the living God.

ST JOHN THE BAPTIST.

Proceeding in due order, we must now treat of St John the Baptist, who,
according to the evangelical history--_i.e._, God's Word of Truth--was,
after being beheaded, buried by his disciples. Theodoret, the eminent
chronicler of the Church, relates that his grave was at Sebaste, a town in
Syria, and that some time after his burial the grave was opened by the
Pagans, who burnt his bones and scattered their ashes in the air. Eusebius
adds, however, that some men from Jerusalem, who were present on the
occasion, secretly took a little of these ashes and carried them to
Antioch, where they were buried in a wall by Athanasius.

With regard to his head, Sosomen, another chronicler, relates that it was
carried to Constantinople by the Emperor Theodosius; therefore, according
to these ancient historians, the whole body of John the Baptist was burnt
with the exception of his head, and the ashes were all lost excepting the
small portion secretly taken away by the hermits of Jerusalem. Now, let us
see what remains of the head are extant.

The face is shown at Amiens, and the mask which is there exhibited has a
mark above the eye, caused, they say, by the thrust of a knife, made by
Herodias. Amiens' claim to this relic is, however, disputed by the
inhabitants of St John d'Angeli, who show another face of St John.

With regard to the rest of the head, its top, from the forehead to the
back part, was at Rhodes, and I suppose must now be at Malta, at least the
knights boast that the Turks had restored it to them. The back of the head
is at St John's Church at Nemours, the brains at Nogent le Rotrou, a part
of the head is at St Jean Maximin, a jaw is at Besancon, a portion of a
jaw is at St John of the Lateran, and a part of the ear at St Flour in
Auvergne. All this does not prevent Salvatierra from possessing the
forehead and hair; at Noyon they have a lock of the hair, which is
considered to be very authentic, as well as that at Lucca, and many other
places.

Yet in order to complete this collection, we must go to the monastery of
St Sylvester at Rome, where the whole and real head of St John the Baptist
will be shown to us.

Poets tell us a legend about a king of Spain who had three heads; if our
manufacturers of relics could say the same of St John the Baptist, it
would greatly assist their lies; but as such a fable does not exist, how
are they to get ou