192 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2nd S. VIII. Sept. 3. '59. 



Tinder Justinian I,, in Ada, a city of Cicilia. The 

 office of bishop fell to him, but he declined it, and 

 remained vicedominus. The new bishop wished 

 to depose him, and therefore Theophilus applied 

 to a Jew, who had the reputation of being a ne- 

 cromancer. The Jew made an appointment with 

 him for the next night in order to bring him be- 

 fore his patron. When he came, the Jew said to 

 him, " Do not be afraid at what you may hear or 

 see, whatever it may be ; forbear also from mak- 

 ing the sign of the cross." The Jew conducted 

 him to the neighbourhood of the city, and after 

 he had made the required engagement, the Jew 

 showed him a multitude of people in white clothes, 

 and provided with lights, who uttered loud cries, 

 and with the prince sitting in their midst. This 

 was the devil, and these were his servants. The 

 Jew took Theophilus by the hand, and led him 

 before Satan. Theophilus promised all, and kissed 

 Satan's feet. " If he will be my servant," said 

 Satan, " I will help him." Theophilus must, in the 

 first place, renounce Christ the son of Mary and 

 then the Blessed Virgin, and bind himself to a 

 document signed with his own hand. According 

 to his wish, he was the next day installed by the 

 bishop in all honour. The good (sic) vicedomi- 

 nus soon repented of his devilish step. He threw 

 himself down before a temple to Mary, and fasted 

 and prayed, in the manner of our Lord, forty 

 days and nights. At length the Blessed Virgin 

 appeared to him at midnight. Theopliilus recited 

 an orthodox confession of faith, and begged she 

 would intercede for him with her Son. Mary 

 vanished, and appeared again beaming with radi- 

 ance. After the bishop (sic) had again fasted and 

 wept for three days and nights, and she made pro- 

 mises to him in her Son's name, the repentant 

 Theophilus vowed reformation once more, and was 

 so circumspect as to long to get back the docu- 

 ment which he gave ip the devil. After three 

 days of prayer the Blessed Virgin appeared to 

 him the third time with the document, which she 

 laid upon his breast while asleep. With this 

 document he went into the church on a Sunday 

 morning, gave it to the bishop, related, repent- 

 ingly, his contract with Satan ; and the bishop, 

 who received him to grace, commanded him, in 

 the presence of the people, to commit the fatal 

 contract with the devil to the flames. The face of 

 Theophilus, on this occasion, beamed like the sun. 

 The good vicedominus lay three days on the spot 

 where Mary first appeared to him, took leave of 

 his friends, and departed. The repentant vicedo- 

 minus was declared to be holy.* The legend of 

 Militarius is said to be founded on that of Theo- 

 philus : a bibliographical work on the literature of 

 the Faust legends, to the end of 1850, was com- 

 piled and published in a thin 8vo. hj Franz Peter. 



* Vincent. Belluac. Hist. Spec. b. xxi. c. G9, 70. 



A 2nd, enlarged, and improved edition appeared 

 in 1851 (Leipzig). J. Macray. 



TRICOLOK, OHIGIN OF, AS THE FLAG OF FRANCE. 



(2"^ S. vi. 164., &c.) 



I ventured, on the authority of an eminent 

 Frenchman, to state that the tricolor flag was 

 originally the colours of the Orleans family, and 

 adopted by the people at the time Philippe I'Ega- 

 lite was in the height of his popularity. Several 

 correspondents denied this, giving the usual story 

 of the union of the white of Bourbon with the red 

 and blue colours of the city of Paris : they did 

 not, however, state the authorities when asked for 

 them (p. 335.). It always appeared to me most 

 incomprehensible that the people should adopt 

 the colour of the monarch against whom they had 

 rebelled, and of the troops .they were about to 

 attack. On looking into the interesting Memoirs 

 of Mrs. Elliott, I find (p. 33.) her account is 

 exactly that of my friend — that the populace took 

 the Orleans colours, red, blue, and white, instead 

 of green, which colour they had formerly adopted. 

 From the nature of her connexion with the un- 

 happy Duke of Orleans, and her presence at all 

 these events, that lady must have known the truth 

 of all particulars she relates. For my own part I 

 did not chance to remember that green was ever 

 the republican colour, and thought it a good point 

 on which to test her accuracy ; but on consulting 

 the large work — Tableaux Bistoriques de la Re- 

 volution, Paris, large folio, 1789, &c, — there is 

 this account: — On the night of the 11th July, 

 after the dismissal of Necker, was the first meet- 

 ing of the populace in the Palais Royal. They 

 were there harangued by Camille Desmoullns, who 

 told them " there was no resource but to fly to* 

 arms, and take a cockade by which to recognise 

 each other." He was rapturously applauded, and 

 went on: "What colours will you have? Cry 

 out ! Choose ! Will you have green, the colour 

 of hope ? or the blue of Cincinnatus, the colour of 

 the liberty of America and of democracy ?" The 

 people cried, " The green, the colour of hope." 

 This seems, however, to have been in use for a 

 very short time : for in the same volume, only a 

 few days after (see p. 44,), a story is told of the 

 sale of tricolor cockades — "qui venolent d'etre 

 substltuc 'h la cocarde verte." The truth of 

 Mrs. Elliott's account being thus confirmed in 

 one point, is it unreasonable to believe her on the 

 other, more especially as it is confirmed by the 

 testimony of a very intelligent Frenchman ? Your 

 readers must remember it is not a question whe- 

 ther the National Assembly adopted the tricolor, 

 or that it was oflfered to the king, or that Lafayette 

 made a thrasonical speech about it, but whence 

 was it originally taken ? Perhaps some readers 



