Page:Gesta Romanorum - Swan - Wright - 1.djvu/327

Rh, the meaning of the inscription is this: "Pater patriæ perditur." [The father of his country is lost.] "Sapientia secum sustollitur." [Wisdom has departed with him.] "Ruunt reges Romæ." [The kings of Rome perish.] "Ferro, flamma, fame." [By the sword, by fire, by famine.] The event afterwards fully approved the veracity of the prediction.

My beloved, spiritually speaking, the father of his country is Charity, which is the result of love to God; when that is lost, wisdom also departs. Hence, the kings of the earth fall; and the sword, fire, and dearth, devour mankind.