2n<» S. X. Aug. 25. '60.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



151 



5. " Manipulus Curatorum. Autore Guidone de Monte 

 Kocherii. Lovanii, 1553." 



6. " Summa Doctrinae Doctoris Petro Canisio, Societatis 

 Jesu. Andouerpiae, 1571." 



This last shows that the secretion of these books 

 ■was not earlier than the time of Thomas Andrews, 

 rector of Addington 1559 — 1587 ; and besides his 

 initials appear on some of them, and also on the 

 super- al tare, which is a small slab of slate, let 

 into an oaken frame, and measuring 7J in. by 5|. 

 There were also eighty- seven pieces of glass, 

 painted, tinted, and plain ; some window lead, and 

 .a piece of (probably) an old sacring bell. 



CARNIVAL AT MILAN. 

 (2"* S. ix. 197. 312. 405.; x. 18.) 



I readily concede to your learned correspondent 

 Mr. Buckton, that " historical evidence " and 

 contemporaneous " testimony," if unexceptionable, 

 are to be preferred to the " opinions " of moderns. 

 This is self-evident. But what he advances as 

 historical evidence is either not to the purpose, or 

 untrustworthy ; and of the two testimonies re- 

 ferred to, from St. Gregory an<J St. Augustin, the 

 one is beside the mark ; the other, I doubt not, 

 will prove to be spurious, when I succeed in 

 finding it. 



The question between us is — did the primitive 

 church of Milan begin the fast of Lent from the 

 sixth or the seventh week before Easter ? That it 

 began from the seventh, I stated on the authority 

 of Martene ; who, though a modern, was, never- 

 theless, so stored with the knowledge of eccle- 

 siastical and liturgical history, that his statement 

 would be entitled to be received, not merely as an 

 opinion, but almost as an authoritative decision. 

 He refers for that statement to St. Ambrose, " De 

 Elia et jejunio, cap. 10." I have since examined 

 the passage referred to, and find that what the 

 Saint says, is simply to this effect — that at Milan, 

 during the observance of Quadragesima, the 

 Saturdays as well as the Sundays were excepted 

 from the fast. Hence Martene infers that, as a 

 matter of course, the Milanese began Lent from 

 the seventh Sunday like the Orientals : as they 

 followed these in excepting the Saturdays, so 

 they necessarily imitated them as to the com- 

 mencement of the fast. I freely acknowledge 

 that St. Ambrose does not mention a seven weeks' 

 fast, totidem verbis ; and so far, the passage is not 

 perfectly conclusive. 



Still less, however, does Mr. Buckton es- 

 tablish his position by the testimonies he refers 

 to, — St. Augustin and St. Gregory. As to St. 

 Gregory there is no dispute. He says that at 

 Home they began from the sixth Sunday, and no 

 one disputes it. It was the same in the Western 

 Churches generally. The clergy at Kome, how- 

 ever, I will observe in passing, began the fast 



from Quinquagesima, even from a very remote 

 period, if the letter of Telesphorus, anno 127, is 

 to be considered as genuine : — 



" Quapropter cognoscite . . . statutum esse, at septem 

 hebdomadas plenas ante sanctum Pascha, omnes clerici 

 in sortem Domini vocati, h, carne jeiiment; quia sicut 

 discreta esse debet vita clericorum a laicorum conversa- 

 tione, ita et in jejunio debet fieri discretio." 



As to Mb. Buckton's reference to St. Ambrose, 

 nothing can be more puzzling. He gives no quo- 

 tation, but merely a reference, thus — " (Serm. 

 xxxii., Amb. Op. v. 22. B)." I presume the B 

 refers to the Benedictine edition ; by far the best. 

 Now I have examined this edition, and have failed 

 to discover it among the Sermons, or -indeed in 

 any part of the Saint's works. As to the " Ser- 

 mons " so called, they are shown by the learned 

 editors to be spurious, and are thus classed — 

 " Sermones S*°. Ambrosio hactenus adscripti." 

 But even among these I have not succeeded in 

 finding the passage alluded to, in which the Saint 

 " assigns as a reason for its consisting of forty-two 

 days, that such was the number of stations of the 

 Israelites in passing from Egypt to the promised 

 land." There is a treatise entitled " De XLII. 

 mansionibus filiorum Israel." This, however, ac- 

 cording to the editors, is decidedly spurious. 

 But even here I have failed to discover any allu- 

 sion to the connexion of the quadragesimal ob- 

 servance with the stations of the Israelites. Will 

 Mb. Buckton, therefore, kindly produce the 

 quotation, or give us a more intelligible refer- 

 ence ? If the passage be taken from the genuine 

 works, and if it assert distinctly that Lent at 

 Milan commenced only from the sixth Sunday 

 before Easter, / will gladly acknowledge that to be 

 irrefragable evidence, and will say " causa finita 

 est." I seek only the truth. 



The historical evidence, also, from Sozomen 

 and Socrates, has no direct bearing on the ques- 

 tion. That adduced from Sozomen, in which he 

 states that the faithful at Constantinople and the 

 neighbouring countries as far as Phoenicia, kept 

 a fast of seven weeks, does not in any way show 

 that there was not in the Western Church an 

 exceptional city which did the same. And as to 

 Socrates, — even If the passage quoted touched the 

 question — he is on this subject most untrust- 

 worthy. In a few lines immediately preceding 

 the very extract produced by Mb. Buckton, 

 Socrates says : — 



" avTcfCa Tas irpo Tov IIa<rxa vi7<rTeio9, aAX(i)S Trap aAAois 

 <^v\aTTO(X€Vos ka-Tiv evptlv' ol ixiv yap iv Pw/117?, rptis Tpb rov 

 Udo'xa ejSSo/itofias, TrKr]V Sa^/Sarov Kai KVpiaKfj^, <rvvriy.niv<i.i 

 yijcrrevovo-t." (Lib. V. 22.) 



At Rome they fasted only three weeks before 

 Easter ; and out of these, deducted the Saturdays 

 and Sundays ! So says Socrates. Surely Mb. 

 Buckton must have overlooked this passage; 

 otherwise he would never have quoted this author, 

 thus contradicting, point blank, the very testi- 



