private churches, as a commemoration of the Holy Face of Lucca, which is a very ancient crucifix in the Chapel of the Holy Cross in the Cathedral dedicated to St. Martin at Lucca. A copy of the true Veronica is kept in the Cistertian Nunnery at Montreuil, a present of Urban IV., to this house; his sister being nun there, 1249. Some private writers and churches have given the name of St. Veronica to the devout woman who is said to have presented this linen cloth to our divine Redeemer, but without sufficient authority.""

SECTION L.

OATHS OF OFFICE.

It must be confessed that promissory oaths, of all
kinds, and oaths of office in particular, have the
countenance of a very remote antiquity; though,
as it appears from a curious passage in the Politics
of Aristotle*, in the earliest times, whilst their
kings were sworn in some states to be faithful in
their high trust, other states dispensed with the
oath. Indeed I can entertain no doubt that the
words in the original, though differently inter-
preted, rather imply that it was only in their
character of judges they were sworn. The philo-
sopher's words are these: "The kings had sove-
reign authority as to the conduct of wars, and as
to all such sacrifices as did not appertain exclusively
to the priesthood; and besides these duties they sate
as judges in trials; and this they did, some on
oath, and others not on oath. Their form of oath
was the lifting up of the sceptre."

Judges in early times always swore to discharge the duties of their office without fear or favour : we have, at least, so large a number and variety of individual instances, as would authorize us to draw

*Arist. Pol. iii. 10.

1

that conclusion almost universally. Pollux records the oath of the judges of Athens, after their election, which was, that they would give judgment according to the laws in those cases on which laws existed, and in cases not determined by law, they would give the most righteous judgment*. The Archons' oath is also preserved. It ran thus, that "They would observe the laws and administer justice without partiality; would never be corrupted by bribes, or if they were, (for they were allowed this alternative,) they would dedicate a statue of gold to the Delphian Apollo." This oath they first took in the royal portico, and again repeated it in the Acropolis.

I

In Rome, also, we find that the public officers were admitted to their station with an oath. We have referred to the case of the consuls, and others, before, and we need not cite more instances. believe we may assume it as a fact that, in Athens and in Rome, oaths of office were generally required. There are passages which seem to intimate, more or less clearly, that judges not only took their oath of office on their appointment, but also repeated it, in the most solemn manner, at the very time of their giving sentence. Clement† (or rather the writer whose work is improperly assigned

* Pollux, lib. viii. c. 9 and 10.

Clem. lib. ii. De Constitut. Apost. c. 62.

to Clement of Rome,) in urging upon Christians their imperative duty, dwells upon the care and painful anxiety shown by the judges of this world in pursuing their examination into the truth, and refers to the custom of the judge, before pronouncing sentence of death, lifting up his hands towards the sun, and testifying that he is innocent of the criminal's blood. Seneca* tells us distinctly that, when on the point of passing sentence, they swore that they gave nothing for favour or entreaty.

Among the laws of Lombardy one provides that the oath of a judge shall bind him to do justice to the utmost of his skill and understanding, and neither to pervert nor defer justice for any reward or human favour.

In the curious little book before referred to, entitled "The Pleasant History of the Conquest of the West India, now called New Spain, translated out of the Spanish Tongue by T. N., anno 1578," among other ceremonies observed at the coronation of the kings of Mexico,' we find the following: Upon his, the new king's, left arm they bound a little bag of incense, and then brought unto him a chaffing-dish of embers made of the bark of an oakThen the king arose, and with his own hand threw of the same incense into the chaffing-dish, and with great reverence brought the same unto

tree.

* Seneca, Controv. ix. 2.

miraculously, as they pretend, and which they say still continues to work miracles. They call it "Il santo volto di Lucca," and are so proud of possessing it, that it is stamped on their coin with this legend, Sanctus vultus de Luca."" In an Italian book published in 1721, called "Il Forestiere informato delle cose di Lucca," the legend is given in detail at great length, with much pomp of circumstance. The author calls it the Holy Cross, and says it is the Image of Jesus crucified. He tells us it was made in consequence of a miraculous command given to the Nicodemus of the Gospel to go to mount Cedron, and carve that image; where he formed it under the immediate guidance of "Con arte divina e non sua. heaven, An angel long afterwards, by a new miracle, commanded the Bishop of Lucca, to go with all his clergy to Porto di Luni, whither it had been miraculously transported from the Holy Land, and to bring so vast an acquisition to their own city: and after stating that Nicodemus had enclosed in it many precious relics, which had been handled by the Most Holy Virgin; he further adds, "that as the first Christians devoutly worshipped it, he is not deceived, who believes that it was also adored even by the Holy Virgin herself, and by our dear St. Paul, by St. Peter the Head of the Church, and by all the Apostles and Disciples who were stationed together there."