Page:Christianity in China, Tartary, and Thibet Volume I.djvu/19

Rh had in view nothing more than the praise of Augustus, his Eclogue was a harmonious echo of the prophetic rumours that were floating over the Roman World. All he did was to turn to the glory of his hero, Caesar, the Pacificator of the Empire, the predictions that really related to the Saviour of men.

The age of Gold foretold by the Sibyl of Cumse, and so melodiously sung by Virgil, was announced in the mysterious verses of all the sibyls, many of which were at that time extant, and enjoyed great celebrity. They were to be found in Egypt, Chaldea, Persia, Elis, and according to Pausanias, even in Judea. These prophetesses, dwelling in the midst of the pagan world, drew their inspiration from the antique faith of their respective countries; they were collectors of the primitive traditions which all referred to the redemption of the human race by a Divine Incarnation; so that they often unconsciously proclaimed the truth, and foretold future events. The great artists of the Middle Ages, who had so profound a comprehension of what related to Christianity, never failed to place on the magnificent stained windows of our cathedrals, the most renowned sibyls of antiquity by the side of the prophets of the Old Testament.

A short time before the birth of Jesus Christ, not only the Jews, but even the Romans, on the authority of the Sibylline books and the decision of the Sacred College of Augurs, in Etruria, considered that this important event was approaching. The capital of the Roman world was alarmed by prodigies, as well as by ancient prophecies, announcing that an emanation of the Divinity was about to appear, and a regeneration of the world to take place. One day the Senate was B 4