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Probability with applications and R Second Edition Amy
Shepherd Wagaman Digital Instant Download
Author(s): Amy Shepherd Wagaman; Robert P. Dobrow
ISBN(s): 9781119692416, 1119692415
Edition: Second
File Details: PDF, 8.09 MB
Year: 2021
Language: english
PROBABILITY
PROBABILITY
With Applications and R

Second Edition

AMY S. WAGAMAN
Department of Mathematics and Statistics
Amherst College
Amherst, MA

ROBERT P. DOBROW
Department of Mathematics
Carleton College
Northfield, MN
This edition first published 2021
© 2021 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Edition History
John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (1e, 2014)

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any
form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by law.
Advice on how to obtain permission to reuse material from this title is available at
http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions.

The rights of Amy S. Wagaman and Robert P. Dobrow to be identified as the authors of this work has been asserted in
accordance with law.

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John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, USA

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Wagaman, Amy Shepherd, 1982- author. | Dobrow, Robert P., author.
Title: Probability : with applications and R / Amy S. Wagaman, Department
of Mathematics and Statistics, Amherst College, Amherst, MA, Robert P.
Dobrow, Department of Mathematics, Carleton College, Northfield, MN.
Description: Second edition. | Hoboken, NJ : Wiley, [2021] | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021007900 (print) | LCCN 2021007901 (ebook) | ISBN
9781119692386 (cloth) | ISBN 9781119692348 (adobe pdf) | ISBN
9781119692416 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Probabilities–Data processing. | R (Computer program
language)
Classification: LCC QA276.45.R3 D63 2021 (print) | LCC QA276.45.R3
(ebook) | DDC 519.20285/5133–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021007900
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021007901

Cover Design: Wiley

Cover Image: © D3Damon/Getty Images, NicoElNino/Shutterstock

Set in 10/12pt TimesLTStd by Straive, Chennai, India

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
 Amy: To my fantastic, supportive fiancé, Stephen,
my beloved parents (rest in peace, Mom), and my Aunt Pat
Bob: To my wonderful family
Angel, Joe, Danny, Tom
CONTENTS

Preface xi
Acknowledgments xv
About the Companion Website xvii
Introduction xix

1 First Principles 1
1.1 Random Experiment, Sample Space, Event 1
1.2 What Is a Probability? 3
1.3 Probability Function 4
1.4 Properties of Probabilities 7
1.5 Equally Likely Outcomes 11
1.6 Counting I 12
1.6.1 Permutations 13
1.7 Counting II 16
1.7.1 Combinations and Binomial Coefficients 17
1.8 Problem-Solving Strategies: Complements and Inclusion–Exclusion 26
1.9 A First Look at Simulation 29
1.10 Summary 34
Exercises 36

2 Conditional Probability and Independence 45

2.1 Conditional Probability 45
2.2 New Information Changes the Sample Space 50

vii
viii CONTENTS

2.3 Finding P(A and B) 51

2.3.1 Birthday Problem 56
2.4 Conditioning and the Law of Total Probability 60
2.5 Bayes Formula and Inverting a Conditional Probability 67
2.6 Independence and Dependence 72
2.7 Product Spaces 80
2.8 Summary 82
Exercises 83

3 Introduction to Discrete Random Variables 93

3.1 Random Variables 93
3.2 Independent Random Variables 97
3.3 Bernoulli Sequences 99
3.4 Binomial Distribution 101
3.5 Poisson Distribution 108
3.5.1 Poisson Approximation of Binomial Distribution 113
3.5.2 Poisson as Limit of Binomial Probabilities 115
3.6 Summary 116
Exercises 118

4 Expectation and More with Discrete Random Variables 125

4.1 Expectation 127
4.2 Functions of Random Variables 130
4.3 Joint Distributions 134
4.4 Independent Random Variables 139
4.4.1 Sums of Independent Random Variables 142
4.5 Linearity of Expectation 144
4.6 Variance and Standard Deviation 149
4.7 Covariance and Correlation 158
4.8 Conditional Distribution 165
4.8.1 Introduction to Conditional Expectation 168
4.9 Properties of Covariance and Correlation 171
4.10 Expectation of a Function of a Random Variable 173
4.11 Summary 174
Exercises 176

5 More Discrete Distributions and Their Relationships 185

5.1 Geometric Distribution 185
5.1.1 Memorylessness 188
5.1.2 Coupon Collecting and Tiger Counting 189
5.2 Moment-Generating Functions 193
5.3 Negative Binomial—Up from the Geometric 196
5.4 Hypergeometric—Sampling Without Replacement 202
5.5 From Binomial to Multinomial 207
5.6 Benford’s Law 213
5.7 Summary 216
Exercises 218
CONTENTS ix

6 Continuous Probability 227

6.1 Probability Density Function 229
6.2 Cumulative Distribution Function 233
6.3 Expectation and Variance 237
6.4 Uniform Distribution 239
6.5 Exponential Distribution 242
6.5.1 Memorylessness 243
6.6 Joint Distributions 247
6.7 Independence 256
6.7.1 Accept–Reject Method 258
6.8 Covariance, Correlation 262
6.9 Summary 264
Exercises 266

7 Continuous Distributions 273

7.1 Normal Distribution 273
7.1.1 Standard Normal Distribution 276
7.1.2 Normal Approximation of Binomial Distribution 278
7.1.3 Quantiles 282
7.1.4 Sums of Independent Normals 285
7.2 Gamma Distribution 288
7.2.1 Probability as a Technique of Integration 292
7.3 Poisson Process 294
7.4 Beta Distribution 302
7.5 Pareto Distribution 305
7.6 Summary 308
Exercises 311

8 Densities of Functions of Random Variables 319

8.1 Densities via CDFs 320
8.1.1 Simulating a Continuous Random Variable 326
8.1.2 Method of Transformations 329
8.2 Maximums, Minimums, and Order Statistics 330
8.3 Convolution 335
8.4 Geometric Probability 338
8.5 Transformations of Two Random Variables 344
8.6 Summary 348
Exercises 349

9 Conditional Distribution, Expectation, and Variance 357

Introduction 357
9.1 Conditional Distributions 358
9.2 Discrete and Continuous: Mixing it Up 364
9.3 Conditional Expectation 369
9.3.1 From Function to Random Variable 371
9.3.2 Random Sum of Random Variables 378
x CONTENTS

9.4 Computing Probabilities by Conditioning 378

9.5 Conditional Variance 382
9.6 Bivariate Normal Distribution 387
9.7 Summary 396
Exercises 398

10 Limits 407
10.1 Weak Law of Large Numbers 409
10.1.1 Markov and Chebyshev Inequalities 411
10.2 Strong Law of Large Numbers 415
10.3 Method of Moments 421
10.4 Monte Carlo Integration 424
10.5 Central Limit Theorem 428
10.5.1 Central Limit Theorem and Monte Carlo 436
10.6 A Proof of the Central Limit Theorem 437
10.7 Summary 439
Exercises 440

11 Beyond Random Walks and Markov Chains 447

11.1 Random Walks on Graphs 447
11.1.1 Long-Term Behavior 451
11.2 Random Walks on Weighted Graphs and Markov Chains 455
11.2.1 Stationary Distribution 458
11.3 From Markov Chain to Markov Chain Monte Carlo 462
11.4 Summary 474
Exercises 476

Appendix A Probability Distributions in R 481

Appendix B Summary of Probability Distributions 483

Appendix C Mathematical Reminders 487

Appendix D Working with Joint Distributions 489

Solutions to Exercises 497

References 511

Index 515
PREFACE

Probability: With Applications and R is a probability textbook for undergraduates.

The second edition contains modest changes from the first, including some reorga-
nization of material. It assumes knowledge of differential and integral calculus (two
semesters of calculus, rather than three semesters). Double integrals are introduced
to work with joint distributions in the continuous case, with instruction in working
with them provided in an appendix. While the material in this book stands on its
own as a “terminal” course, it also prepares students planning to take upper level
courses in statistics, stochastic processes, and actuarial sciences.
There are several excellent probability textbooks available at the undergraduate
level, and we are indebted to many, starting with the classic Introduction to Proba-
bility Theory and Its Applications by William Feller.
Our approach is tailored to our students and based on the experience of teach-
ing probability at a liberal arts college. Our students are not only math majors
but come from disciplines throughout the natural and social sciences, especially
biology, physics, computer science, and economics. Sometimes we will even get a
philosophy, English, or arts history major. They tend to be sophomores and juniors.
These students love to see connections with “real-life” problems, with applications
that are “cool” and compelling. They are fairly computer literate. Their mathemati-
cal coursework may not be extensive, but they like problem solving and they respond
well to the many games, simulations, paradoxes, and challenges that the subject
offers.
Several features of our textbook set it apart from others. First is the emphasis on
simulation. We find that the use of simulation, both with “hands-on” activities in
the classroom and with the computer, is an invaluable tool for teaching probability.

xi
xii PREFACE

We use the free software R and provide supplemental resources (on the text website)
for getting students up to speed in using and understanding the language. We rec-
ommend that students work through the introductory R supplement, and encourage
use of the other supplements that enhance the code and discussion from the textbook
with additional practice. The book is not meant to be an instruction manual in R;
we do not teach programming. But the book does have numerous examples where
a theoretical concept or exact calculation is reinforced by a computer simulation.
The R language offers simple commands for generating samples from probability
distributions. The book references numerous R script files, that are available for
download, and are contained in the R supplements, also available for download
from the text website. It also includes many short R “one-liners” that are easily
shown in the classroom and that students can quickly and easily duplicate on their
computer. Throughout the book are numerous “R” display boxes that contain these
code and scripts. Students and instructors may use the supplements and scripts to
run the book code without having to retype it themselves. The supplements also
include more detail on some examples and questions for further practice.
In addition to simulation, another emphasis of the book is on applications. We try
to motivate the use of probability throughout the sciences and find examples from
subjects as diverse as homelessness, genetics, meteorology, and cryptography. At
the same time, the book does not forget its roots, and there are many classical chest-
nuts like the problem of points, Buffon’s needle, coupon collecting, and Montmort’s
problem of coincidences. Within the context of the examples, when male and female
are referred to (such as in the example on colorblindness affecting males more than
females), we note that this refers to biological sex, not gender identity. As such, we
use the term “sex” not “gender” in the text.
Following is a synopsis of the book’s 11 chapters.
Chapter 1 begins with basics and general principles: random experiment, sample
space, and event. Probability functions are defined and important properties
derived. Counting, including the multiplication principle, permutations, and
combinations (binomial coefficients) are introduced in the context of equally
likely outcomes. A first look at simulation gives accessible examples of sim-
ulating several of the probability calculations from the chapter.
Chapter 2 emphasizes conditional probability, along with the law of total prob-
ability and Bayes formula. There is substantial discussion of the birthday
problem. It closes with a discussion of independence.
Random variables are the focus of Chapter 3. The most important discrete
distributions—binomial, Poisson, and uniform—are introduced early and
serve as a regular source of examples for the concepts to come.
Chapter 4 contains extensive material on discrete random variables, including
expectation, functions of random variables, and variance. Joint discrete
distributions are introduced. Properties of expectation, such as linearity, are
presented, as well as the method of indicator functions. Covariance and
correlation are first introduced here.
PREFACE xiii

Chapter 5 highlights several families of discrete distributions: geometric,

negative binomial, hypergeometric, multinomial, and Benford’s law.
Moment-generating functions are introduced to explore relationships
between some distributions.
Continuous probability begins with Chapter 6. Expectation, variance, and joint
distributions are explored in the continuous setting. The chapter introduces
the uniform and exponential distributions.
Chapter 7 highlights several important continuous distributions starting with the
normal distribution. There is substantial material on the Poisson process, con-
structing the process by means of probabilistic arguments from i.i.d. exponen-
tial inter-arrival times. The gamma and beta distributions are presented. There
is also a section on the Pareto distribution with discussion of power law and
scale invariant distributions. Moment-generating functions are used again to
illustrate relationships between some distributions.
Chapter 8 examines methods for finding densities of functions of random vari-
ables. This includes maximums, minimums, and sums of independent ran-
dom variables (via the convolution formula). Transformations of two or more
random variables are presented next. Finally, there is material on geometric
probability.
Chapter 9 is devoted to conditional distributions, both in the discrete and contin-
uous settings. Conditional expectation and variance are emphasized as well as
computing probabilities by conditioning. The bivariate normal is introduced
here to illustrate many of the conditional properties.
The important limit theorems of probability—law of large numbers and central
limit theorem—are the topics of Chapter 10. Applications of the strong law
of large numbers are included via the method of moments and Monte Carlo
integration. Moment-generating functions are used to prove the central limit
theorem.
Chapter 11 has optional material for supplementary discussion and/or projects.
These three sections center on random walks on graphs and Markov chains,
culminating in an introduction to Markov chain Monte Carlo. The treatment
does not assume linear algebra and is meant as a broad strokes introduction.
There is more than enough material in this book for a one-semester course. The
range of topics allows much latitude for the instructor. We feel that essential material
for a first course would include Chapters 1–4, 6, and parts of Chapters 7, 9, and 10.
The second edition adds learning outcomes for each chapter, the R supplements,
and many of the chapter review exercises, as well as fixes many typos from the first
edition (in both the text and the solutions).
Additional features of the book include the following:

• Over 200 examples throughout the text and some 800 end-of-chapter exercises.
Includes short numerical solutions for most odd-numbered exercises.
xiv PREFACE

• Learning outcomes at the start of each chapter provide information for instruc-
tors and students. The learning outcome with a (C) is a computational learning
outcome.
• End-of-chapter summaries highlight the main ideas and results from each
chapter for easy access.
• Chapter review exercises, which are provided online, offer a good source of
additional problems for students preparing for midterm and/or final exams.
• Starred subsections are optional and contain more challenging material and
may assume a higher mathematical level.
• The R supplements (available online) contain the book code and scripts with
enhanced discussion, additional examples, and questions for practice for inter-
ested students and instructors.
• The introductory R supplement introduces students to the basics of R.
(Enhanced version of first edition Appendix A, available online as part of the
R supplements.)
• A website containing relevant material (including the R supplements, script
files, and chapter review exercises) and errata has been established. The URL
is www.wiley.com/go/wagaman/probability2e.
• An instructor’s solutions manual with detailed solutions to all the exercises is
available for instructors who teach from this book.

Amy
Amherst, MA
September 2020
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

From Amy for the second edition:

We are indebted to many individuals who supported the work of creating a second
edition of this text. First, we thank Bob, for his thoughts and encouragement when
we inquired about revising the text. We also thank our student interns, especially
Sabir and Tyler, for their hard work reviewing the text, working on the new supple-
ments, and typing solutions for exercises. The students were generously supported
by funding from Amherst College. We also thank our colleagues Nick Horton and
Tanya Leise for helpful discussions of the first edition.
Wiley’s staff supported us well during the revision, especially Kimberly
Monroe-Hill, who had very helpful suggestions. We would also like to thank
Mindy Okura-Marszycki, Kathleen Santoloci, and Linda Christina, for their
support getting the project off the ground.

From Bob for the first edition:

We are indebted to friends and colleagues who encouraged and supported this
project. The students of my Fall 2012 Probability class were real troopers for
using an early manuscript that had an embarrassing number of typos and mistakes
and offering a volume of excellent advice. We also thank Marty Erickson, Jack
Goldfeather, Matthew Rathkey, WenliRui, and Zach Wood-Doughty. Professor
Laura Chihara field-tested an early version of the text in her class and has made
many helpful suggestions. Thank you to Jack O’Brien at Bowdoin College for a
detailed reading of the manuscript and for many suggestions that led to numerous
improvements.

xv
xvi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Carleton College and the Department of Mathematics were enormously

supportive, and I am grateful for a college grant and additional funding that
supported this work. Thank you to Mike Tie, the Department’s Technical Director,
and Sue Jandro, the Department’s Administrative Assistant, for help throughout
the past year.
The staff at Wiley, including Steve Quigley, Amy Hendrickson, and Sari Fried-
man, provided encouragement and valuable assistance in preparing this book.
ABOUT THE COMPANION WEBSITE

This book is accompanied by a companion website:

www.wiley.com/go/wagaman/probability2e

The book companion site is split into:

• The student companion site includes chapter reviews and is open to all.
• The instructor companion site includes the instructor solutions manual.

xvii
Random documents with unrelated
content Scribd suggests to you:
 “He takes a bow; he fits an arrow to the string; he aims at the
effigy.”
“Look on: as you love your life, when that arrow leaves the string,
plunge beneath the water till you hear me call.”
“He shoots!” exclaimed the knight as he dived beneath the water.
“Come out; look again at the mirror; what seest thou?”
“An arrow is sticking in the wall, by the side of the figure. The
sorcerer seems angry; he draws out the arrow, and prepares to shoot
again from a nearer place.”
“As you value your life, do as before.”
Again the good knight plunged, and at the old man’s call resumed
his inspection of the mirror.
“What seest thou now?” asked the old man.
“Maleficus has again missed the image; he makes great
lamentations; he says to my wife: ‘If I miss the third time, I die’; he
goes nearer to the image, and prepares to shoot.”
“Plunge!” cried the old man; and then, after a time: “Raise thyself,
and look again; why laughest thou?”
“To see the reward of the wicked; the arrow has missed, rebounded
from the wall, and pierced the sorcerer; he faints, he dies, my wife
stands over his body, and weeps; she digs a hole under the bed, and
buries the body.”
“Arise, sir knight: resume your apparel, and give God thanks for
your great deliverance.”
A year and more elapsed before the good knight returned from his
pilgrimage. His wife welcomed him with smiles and every
appearance of pleasure. For a few days the knight concealed his
knowledge of his wife’s conduct. At length he summoned all his and
her kinsfolk, and they feasted in commemoration of his return from
his dangerous pilgrimage.
“Brother,” said the knight during the feast, “how is it that I neither
hear nor see aught of Maleficus, the great magician?”
“He disappeared, we know not whither, the very day that you
departed for your pilgrimage.”
“And where did he die?” asked the knight, with a look at his wife.
 “We know not that he is dead,” replied the guests.
“How should a sorcerer die?” asked the knight’s wife with a sneer.
“If not dead, why did you bury him?” rejoined the knight.
“Bury him! what meanest thou, my lord? I bury him!”
“Yes, you bury him,” said the knight, calmly.
“Brothers, he is mad,” exclaimed the lady, turning pale and
trembling.
“Woman,” replied the knight, rising, and seizing the lady by the
wrist, “woman, I am not mad. Hear ye all: this woman loved
Maleficus; she called him here the day I sailed; she devised with him
my death; but God struck him with that death he would have
prepared for me, and now he lies buried in my chamber. Come, let us
see this great wonder.”
The hiding-place of the body was opened, and the remains found
where the knight had said; then did he declare before the judges and
the people the great crimes of his wife; and the judges condemned
her to death at the stake, and bade the executioner scatter her ashes
to the four winds of heaven.
“Few practices were more prevalent among the witches than that which your tale
illustrates, of effecting the death of an enemy through the medium of an enchanted
image of the person intended to be affected,” said Herbert.
“As old Ben Jonson sings:

“‘With pictures full,

Of wax and wool,
Their livers I stick,
With needles quick.’”

“Yes,” said Herbert; “it was a very approved method to melt a waxen image
before the fire, under the idea that the person by it represented would pine away,
as the figure melted; or to stick pins and needles into the heart or less vital parts of
the waxen resemblance, with the hopes of affecting, by disease and pain, the
portions of the human being thus represented and treated.”
“In one of the old ballad romances in which Alexander is celebrated, we find a
full account of the wondrous puppets of a king and magician named Nectabanus. I
will read you the old verses.
 “‘Barons were whilhome wise and good,
That this art well understood;
And one there was, Nectabanus,
Wise in this art, and malicious;
When king or earl came on him to war,
Quick he looked on the star;
Of wax, made him puppets,
And made them fight with bats (clubs);
And so he learned Je vous dis,
Aye to quell his enemy
With charms and with conjurisons:
Thus he assayed the regions,
That him came for to assail,
In very manner of battail;
By clear candle in the night,
He made each one with other fight.’”

“No bad way,” said Thompson, “of testing the advantage of that royal and
national luxury—war.”
“The rhymer makes his charms successful, especially in the case of one King
Philip, a great and powerful prince, who brought nine-and-twenty great lords to
battle against Nectabanus. Once put into his charmed basin, the magician saw the
end of the battle, the defeat and death of his enemy.”
“The old Romans had as much fear of the waxen image, as good King James,”
remarked Herbert; “and were as firm believers in the feats of Canidia over the
enchanted model, as the Scottish King in the modelling of his national wiches, and
the secret cavern on the hill, where Satan and his imps manufacture devils’ arrows
to shoot at the enemies of the witches.”
“‘Sympathia Magica works wondrous charms,’ says Scott; and so before him
dreamt the Arabian philosophers, and the royal witch-finder, who founds his
arguments against waxen images on the doctrine of sympathy,” said Thompson.
“It is worth remarking,” said Herbert, “how witchcraft degenerated, not in its
powers, but in its persons of the supposed witches. Joan of Arc, the wife of the
protector Somerset, the mistress of Richard III., were in early days deemed worthy
of being punished as witches. In later days, the charge was confined to the oldest,
the ugliest, and generally the poorest crone in the neighborhood.”
“With the fashion of political-witchcraft, the custom of charging persons of rank
with the crime, died away,” replied Lathom. “Instead of torturing images, or
raising spirits for the sake of crowns and thrones, the witches became content to
tease a neighbor’s child, or render a farmer’s cow barren. The last instance of such
a charge against a person of rank, is the case of the Countess of Essex. The charges
of sorcery, however, formed but a small portion of the accusations against the
countess.”
“We are forgetting the moral,” said Thompson.
 “It is short and plain,” answered Lathom, “and intended to be illustrative of the
advantage of the confession of sins. The good knight is the soul of man, and his
wicked wife the flesh of his body. The pilgrimage represents our good deeds. The
wise magician, a prudent priest. Maleficus stands as the representative of the
Devil, and the image is human pride and vanity; add to these the bath of
confession, and the mirror of the sacred writings, by which the arrows of sin are
warded off, and the allegory is complete.”
“Does your storehouse afford another magical tale?” asked Thompson.
“Many more; I will read one that is short, but curious, from its being founded on
a generally received legend of the monk Gerbert, afterwards Pope Sylvester. I will
call it, for want of a better name,
 “THE CLERK AND THE IMAGE.”
In the city of Rome stood an image: its posture was erect, with the
right hand extended; on the middle finger of the outstretched hand
was written: “Strike here.” Years and years had the image stood
there, and no one knew the secret of the inscription. Many wise men
from every land came and looked at the statue, and many were the
solutions of the mystery attempted by them; each man was satisfied
with his own conclusion, but no one else agreed with him.
Among the many that attempted to unravel the mystery of the
figure was a certain priest. As he looked at the image, he noticed that
when the sun shone on the figure, the shadow of the outstretched
finger was discernible on the ground at some distance from the
statue. He marked the spot, and waited until the night was come; at
midnight, he began to dig where the shadow ceased; for three feet he
found nothing but earth and stones; he renewed his labor, and felt
his spade strike against something hard; he continued his work with
greater zeal, and found a trap-door, which he soon cleared, and
proceeded to raise.
Below the door, a flight of marble steps descended into the earth,
and a bright light streamed upward from below. Casting down his
spade, the priest descended; at the foot of the stairs he entered a vast
hall; a number of men, habited in costly apparel, and sitting in
solemn silence, occupied the centre; around, and on every side, were
riches innumerable: piles of gold and enamelled vases; rich and
glittering robes, and heaps of jewels of the brightest hue.
The hall was lighted by one jewel alone; a carbuncle so bright, so
dazzling, that the priest could hardly bear to gaze upon it, where it
stood in a corner of the hall. At the opposite end of the hall stood an
armed archer; his bow was strung, and the arrow fitted to the string,
and he seemed to take aim at the carbuncle; his brow blazed with
reflected light, and on it was written: “I am, that I am; my shaft is
inevitable: yon glittering jewel cannot escape its stroke.”
Beyond the great hall appeared another chamber, into which the
priest, amazed at what he saw, entered. It was fitted as a
bedchamber, couches of every kind ornamented it, and many
beautiful women, arrayed in robes as costly as those worn in the
great hall, occupied the chamber. Here too all was mute; the
beautiful damsels sat in silence.
Still the priest went onward. There were rooms after rooms,
stables filled with horses and asses, and granaries stored with
abundant forage. He placed his hand on the horses, they were cold,
lifeless stone. Servants stood round about, their lips were closed—all
was silent as the grave; and yet what was there wanting—what but
life?
“I have seen to-day what no man wall believe,” said the priest, as
he re-entered the great hall; “let me take something whereby to prove
the credit of my story.”
As he thus spake to himself, he saw some vases and jewel-handed
knives on a marble table beside him; he raised his hand, he clasped
them, he placed them in the bosom of his garment—all was dark.
The archer had shot with his arrow; the carbuncle was broken into
a thousand pieces—a thick darkness covered the place; hour after
hour he wandered about the halls and passages—all was dark—all
was cold—all was desolate; the stairs seemed to have fled, he found
no opening, and he laid him down and died a miserable death, amid
those piles of gold and jewels, his only companions the lifeless
images of stone. His secret died with him.
“Spenser in his Fairy Queen seems to have had some such tale as this in his
mind, in his scene in the House of Riches,” remarked Herbert.
“You allude to the fiend watching Sir Gouyon, and hoping that he will be
tempted to snatch some of the treasures of the subterraneous palace, so freely
displayed to his view.”
“Sir Gouyon fares better than your priest,” replied Herbert; he resists the
temptation, and escapes the threatened doom; as the poet says:

“‘Thereat the fiend his gnashing teeth did grate,

And grieved so long to lack his greedy prey;
For well he weened, that so glorious bait
Would tempt his guest to take thereof assay;
Had he so done, he had him snatched away,
More light than Culver in the falcon’s fist.’”
 “Pope Sylvester, I presume,” said Thompson, “was a clever mechanician, and a
good astronomer, as far as knowledge extended in his day.”
“Precisely so, and hence all the wondrous tales of his magic,” rejoined Lathom.
“Born in France, and naturally of an acquisitive mind, he proceeded to Spain, to
gain in the Saracenic university of Seville some little of the Eastern sciences.
Arithmetic and astronomy, or, as Malmesbury calls the last, astrology, were then
flourishing in Spain, and when introduced by him into his native country, soon
gained for him the reputation of a magician.”
“Friar Bacon experienced in this country,” remarked Herbert, “that a knowledge
of mechanics sufficient to create automatons, of acoustics to regulate the
transmission of sounds through long, concealed pipes, and of astronomy to
attempt some predictions of the weather from planetary movements, was quite
enough to ensure him the name of magician among our rude ancestors.”
“One of the magic arts attributed to Gerbert,” remarked Lathom, “clearly
indicates, that a knowledge of mechanism was the source of this reputation in his
case. Malmesbury tells us that Gerbert framed a bridge, beyond which were golden
horses of gigantic size, with riders of gold, richly glittering with jewels and
embroidery. A party attempted to pass the bridge, in order to steal the treasures on
the further side. As the first stept on the bridge, it rose gradually in the air, and
stood perpendicularly on one end. A brazen man rose from beneath, and as he
struck the water with a mace of brass, the sky was overshadowed, and all was thick
darkness.”
“Setting aside the darkness,” said Thompson, “the result of accident, or an
addition of the chroniclers, a little clever mechanism will account for the movable
bridge of Gerbert.”
“The same explanation applies to the ever-burning lamp of the Rosicrucians,
held in the hand of a figure armed with a mace, with which he dashes the lamp to
atoms, on the entrance of any person into the secret vault.”
“Most undoubtedly, Herbert,” said Thompson; “for in this instance, the legend
describes the figure as raising his hand at the first step of the intruder, preparing to
strike as he draws nearer and nearer, and at last, when almost within reach, the
secret springs on which he is walking dash down the armed hand of the figure, and
the lamp and the secret perish in darkness.”
“The tales of natural magic,” said Herbert, “remind me of the legends of one of
the Jameses of Scotland, in the subterraneous cavern of Halidon Hill.”
“I hardly know to what legend you allude,” replied Lathom.
“The one in which the king enters a long hall, where a hundred knights stand on
either side, each with his armor on, and his horse ready caparisoned by his side. At
the end of the hall stand a bugle and a sword. All is silence; the knights stand as
statues, and their warhorses do not seem to breathe. The whole charm depends
upon which is performed first, the bugle blown, or the sword drawn from its
scabbard. The king seizes the bugle; the effect is that the whole melts into
darkness, and the charm is gone.”
 “As you have led the way to traditions of the northern part of our island,” said
Lathom, “one form, if not the original one of the legend, which Scott has worked up
in his Marmion, will not be out of place. I allude to the encounter of Marmion with
De Wilton, under the guise of the spectral champion of the Pictish camp.”
“Your old monk’s book would have been a treasure to Sir Walter Scott,” said
Herbert.
“That he would duly have appreciated its contents, no one can doubt,” replied
Lathom, “but he was so well read in the later forms of the legends, which he would
have found in its pages, that though apparently unknown to him, he required but
little of its aid. Our writer would wish his readers to see in this legend an allegory
of the discomfiture of the Devil armed with pride, by the Christian armed with
faith. I will call it by the name of
 “THE DEMON KNIGHT OF THE VANDAL
CAMP.”
On the borders of the diocese of Ely, stands an old castle, now
crumbling into ruins, below which is a place called by the people
Wandlesbury; commemorating by this name the camp of the
Vandals, which they pitched hard by this castle, after laying waste
the country and cruelly slaughtering the inhabitants. The camp was
on the summit of a hill, on a round plain; round about it ran a trench
which
“The Vandal race
——long since in blood did trace;
The moor around was brown and bare,
The space within was green and fair,
The spot the village children knew,
For there the wild flowers earliest grew;
But wo betide the wandering wight,
That treads its circle in the night!
The breadth across, a bow-shot clear,
Gives ample space for full career:
Opposed to the four points of heaven,
By four deep gaps was entrance given.”

Wo indeed to the adventurous man who dared to go armed into that

camp, and call upon an adversary to meet him! Even as he called,
another knight rode into the camp, armed at all points, and met the
challenger in combat. The encounter was always fatal to one of the
combatants.
The knight Albert sat in the hall of the castle of Wandlesbury, and
shared the hospitality of the lord. At night, after supper, the
household closed round the great fire, and each man in his turn told
his tale of arms, love, or sorcery. The demon knight of the Vandal
camp figured in many a tale, and Albert hastened to prove the truth
of the legend. It was in vain that the lord of the castle endeavored to
dissuade his guest from seeking the phantom knight. Armed at all
points, the English knight sallied from the castle gate; and his trusty
squire, a youth of noble blood, rode by his master’s side.
Some hours passed: the hall was sadly silent during the knight’s
absence, for they all feared the worst for him; anon, a horn was heard
at the gate, the warder hastened to open the doors, and the knight
rode into the castle court; his squire followed him close, and he led
by the bridle a horse of perfect form and figure, of enormous size,
and coal-black.
The knight hastened to the hall; all clustered round him to hear his
tale; but the good lord of the castle bade them first release him of his
armor, and bring in refreshment. One by one the pieces of his armor
were taken off, and neither wound nor bruise appeared; at last they
proceeded to take off one of his cuishes; it was filled with blood, and
even then a few drops were seen to ooze from a slight wound in the
thigh. His wound dressed, his fatigue refreshed with good wine and
meat, the lord of the castle requested the knight’s account of his
meeting with the demon champion.
“My lord,” replied the English knight, “you know how, in despite of
your earnest remonstrances, I rode from your castle gate. The moon
was bright and clear, and I soon reached the entrance of the Vandal
camp; without a pause I rode in and blew my bugle.
‘Methought an answer met my ear,—
Yet was the blast so low and drear,
So hollow and so faintly blown,
It might be echo of my own.’

I waited for a moment in doubt.

‘Then sudden in the ring I view,
In form distinct of shape and hue,
A mounted champion rise.’

Without a word the demon prepared for the charge; I raised my

shield, couched my lance, and rushed to the attaint; we both
staggered with the charge; our lances broke in half, but the points
glided harmlessly from our armor. I still pressed on, and my
adversary’s horse stumbled and fell; the demon was rolled on the
ground. In a moment I was by his side, and seized his horse’s rein;
the demon seemed to revive; he saw my action, snatched a portion of
his broken lance, and darted it at me as a javelin. It struck me on my
thigh, but in my eagerness I felt it not. In a moment
‘He seem’d to vanish from my sight:
The moonbeam droop’d, and deepest night
Sunk down upon the heath.’

Had I not that dark black horse as a witness of the combat, I should
begin to doubt whether I had met the demon.”
“Let us see the demon’s steed,” said the old lord, after he had
thanked the knight for his relation of the adventure; “even now the
dawn is about to break, and we must seek some little rest before day
shines out.”
In the court-yard they found the black steed; his eye lustrous, his
neck proudly arched, his coat of shining black, and a glittering war
saddle on his back. The first streaks of the dawn began to appear as
they entered the castle yard; the black steed grew restless, and tried
to break from the hands of the groom; he champed his bit, snorted as
in pain and anger, and struck the ground with his feet, until the
sparks flew. The cock crowed—the black steed had disappeared.
Every year, on the self-same night, at that self-same hour, did the
wound of the English knight burst out afresh, and torment him with
severe anguish; to his dying day he bore this memorial of his
encounter with the demon champion of the Vandal camp.
“You have made good use of Scott’s version of the tale in Marmion,” said
Thompson, “to whom I should think your version of the story was hardly known.”
“No; if I remember rightly, he gives the old Durham tale of Ralph Bulmer as its
immediate source, and the strange tale of the Bohemian knights as related by
Heywood, in his Hierarchie of the Blessed Angels.”
“The introduction to the story recalls the custom so adroitly used by Chaucer to
introduce his Canterbury tales,” remarked Herbert; “tale-telling round the fire.”
“When there was neither juggler nor minstrel present,” replied Lathom, “it
seems to have been the custom of our ancestors to entertain themselves by relating
or hearing a series of adventures.”
“So that Chaucer’s plan, at first sight so ingenious an invention, is in truth an
equally ingenious adaptation of an ancient fashion.”
“But to return to our demonology,” said Lathom; “what notion was more
common than that spirits could assume the human form, and live on earth, and
mingle as mortals in social life? This belief we find illustrated by the author or
authors of the Gesta.”
“The stay, however, of these spirits is generally but a lease of life for so many
years,” remarked Herbert.
“Generally; but not in the case which my author gravely lays down as true, under
the title of
 “THE SEDUCTIONS OF THE EVIL ONE.”
It often happens that the devils are permitted to transform
themselves into angels of light, or to assume the human form, in
order to foster in human hearts whatever is wicked. So did it happen
in France, when Valentine was bishop of Arles.
On the very borders of his diocese stood a knight’s castle, with lofty
and strong battlements. The knight had travelled in many lands, and
seen many nations that none others had looked upon or heard of. He
was a good man, and a constant attendant on the services of the
Church. His wife was very fair to look upon; her figure was light and
tall; her face delicately white, and her eyes ever bright, and sparkling
with almost unearthly brilliancy. Attracted by cries of distress, whilst
on one of his distant pilgrimages, he had hastened into a dark wood,
where he discovered this fair lady, almost denuded of her garments,
bound to a tree, and being beaten with rods by two men of fierce
countenances and powerful frames.
His sword flashed in the air as the knight rode against the men;
with one blow he struck down the nearest of the lady’s torturers; with
the second he pierced the breast of the other monster; whilst with a
third stroke of his trenchant blade he cut in pieces the cords that
bound the lady to the tree.
The lady’s tale was simple: she was the daughter of a powerful
prince of a far-off land; had been seized by those in whose hands the
knight discovered her; carried for days and months over seas and
lands, and at last bound to the tree, and scourged because she would
not yield to the desires of her tormentors. She knew not where her
father’s kingdom lay, and its name was unknown even to the knight,
though he had travelled far and often.
After a time, the knight married the lady of the wood; happy were
they by their union, for he loved her dearly, and the lady seemed to
return his love. One thing alone grieved the good knight. Every day
that she came to the service of the Church, she stayed no longer than
the beginning of the consecration of the elements of the Sacrament.
Often and often had the good knight remonstrated with his wife on
her conduct, and sought from her some reason for her action. There
was ever some excuse, but it was always unsatisfactory.
One holiday the knight and the lady were at church. The priest was
proceeding to the celebration of the Sacrament, and the lady rose as
usual.
“Nay,” said the knight, forcibly arresting his wife’s departure; “nay,
not for this once.”
The lady struggled, her eyes gleamed with redoubled brilliancy,
and her whole body seemed wrung with violent pain.
“In the name of God, depart not,” said the knight.
That holy name was all-powerful. The bodily form of the lady
melted away, and was seen no more; whilst, with a cry of anguish
and of terror, an evil spirit of monstrous form rose from the ground,
clave the chapel roof asunder, and disappeared in the air.
“Such stories might be multiplied by hundreds,” said Herbert. “Every country
has its good and evil angels that live among men and assume their forms.”
“It illustrates the curious fact,” remarked Lathom, “that the earliest accusations
of sorcery in Christian ages are connected with relapses from the faith of Christ.
The Anglo-Saxon laws against witchcraft are levelled against those who still
adhered to the heathen practices of their ancestors, or sought to combine the pure
faith of the Bible with the superstitions of their ancestral idolatry.”
“Was not such the fact in the south of Europe?” said Herbert; “the still lingering
worship of the gods and goddesses of the woods was visited as sorcery. The
demons do but occupy their places under forms, and with opinions, gradually
adapted to the religious opinions of the age.”
“Many a secret meeting for the worship of God has been made the foundation of
the mysteries of a witch’s Sabbath,” said Lathom; “sorcery was a common charge
against the early Christians when they met in their secret caves and hiding-places;
it was an equally current accusation centuries afterwards, when the Albigenses and
Waldenses held their religious assemblages in secret, for fear of the power of that
Church whose teaching they seceded from.”
“The same charges were made, in Sweden and Scotland, in the seventeenth
century, against witches, as four centuries before, so little changed is superstition,”
said Herbert.
“We must beat a truce,” said Lathom, “and be content to leave the rest of our
illustrations of natural magic, witchcraft, and demoniacal agency, until our next
meeting.”
“Good-night, then,” said Thompson; “remember, the witches’ time of night
approaches—
“‘The owl is abroad, the bat, and the toad,
And so is the cat-a-mountain,
The ant and the mole, sit both in a hole,
And the frog peeps out of the fountain.’”
 CHAPTER X.

The Three Maxims—The Monk’s Errors in History—The Trials of Eustace—

Sources of its Incidents—Colonel Gardiner—St. Herbert—Early English
Romance of Sir Isumbras.

“W hat marvellous tale of sorcery are we to be regaled with to-night?” asked

Thompson, when the tenth evening with the old story-tellers came round.
“We must adjourn that subject for to-night; for I have chanced on a point, in
illustration of one of the tales intended for this evening’s reading, that will require
another day’s looking up.”
“Are we to go to bed supperless, then?”
“No, no; not quite; here are two specimens that will both amuse and, I hope,
instruct us. To those who remember the Turkish tales, and have not forgotten the
story of The King, The Sofi, and The Surgeon, the three maxims of Domitian will
hardly appear a novelty. But without further preface, I will commence the monk’s
account of the three maxims, for each of which Domitian thankfully gave a
thousand florins.”
 THE THREE MAXIMS.
There was an emperor of Rome named Domitian, a good and a
wise prince, who suffered no offenders to escape. There was a high
feast in his hall, the tables glittered with gold and silver, and groaned
with plenteous provision; his nobles feasted with him—
“And ’twas merry with all
In the king’s great hall,
When his nobles and kinsmen, great and small,
Were keeping their Christmas holiday.”

The porter in his lodge made his fire blaze brightly, and solaced
himself with Christmas cheer, every now and then grumbling at his
office, that kept him from the gayeties of the retainers’ hall. The wind
blew cold, the sleet fell quick, as the bell of the king’s gate sounded
heavy and dull.
“Who comes now?” grumbled the porter; “a pretty night to turn
out from fire and food. Why, the very bell itself finds it too cold to
clank loudly. Well, well—duty is duty; some say it’s a pleasure—
humph! Hilloa, friend, who are you? what do you want, man?”
The traveller whom the porter thus addressed was a tall, weather-
beaten man, with long white hair that fluttered from beneath his cap
of furs, and whose figure, naturally tall and robust, seemed taller and
larger from the vast cloak of bearskins with which he was enveloped.
“I am a merchant from a far country,” said the man; “many
wonderful things do I bring to your emperor, if he will purchase of
my valuables.”
“Well, come in, come in, man,” said the porter; “the king keeps
high Christmas feast, and on this night all men may seek his
presence. Wilt take some refreshment, good sir?”
“I am never hungry, nor thirsty, nor cold.”
“I’m all,—there—straight before you, good sir—the hall porter will
usher you in—straight before,” muttered the old porter, as he
returned to his fire and his supper. “Never hungry, thirsty, nor cold—
what a good poor man he would make; humph! he loses many a
pleasure, though,” continued the porter, as he closed the door of the
lodge.
The strange merchant presented himself to the hall porter, and
was ushered by him into the presence of the emperor.
“Whom have we here?” said Domitian, as the strange visitor made
his obeisance. “What seekest thou of me?”
“I bring many things from far countries. Wilt thou buy of my
curiosities?”
“Let us see them,” rejoined Domitian.
“I have three maxims of especial wisdom and excellence, my lord.”
“Let us hear them.”
“Nay, my lord; if thou hearest them, and likest not, then I have lost
both my maxims and my money.”
“And if I pay without hearing them, and they are useless, I lose my
time and my money. What is the price?”
“A thousand florins, my lord.”
“A thousand florins for that of which I know not what it is,” replied
the king.
“My lord,” rejoined the merchant, “if the maxims do not stand you
in good stead, I will return the money.”
“Be it so then; let us hear your maxims.”
“The first, my lord, is on this wise: Never begin any thing until
you have calculated what the end will be.”
“I like your maxim much,” said the king; “let it be recorded in the
chronicles of the kingdom, inscribed on the walls and over the doors
of my palaces and halls of justice, and interwoven on the borders of
the linen of my table and my chamber.”
“The second, my lord, is: Never leave a highway for the bye-
way.”
“I see not the value of this maxim; but to the third.”
“Never sleep in the house where the master is an old man
and the wife a young woman. These three maxims, if attended to,
my lord, will stand you in good stead.”
“We shall see,” said the king; “a year and a day for the trial of each,
at the end of this time we will settle accounts.”
 “Good master,” said the king’s jester, “wilt sell thy chance of the
thousand florins for my fool’s cap?”
“Wait, and see what the end will be,” rejoined the merchant; “a
year and a day hence I will return to see how my first maxim has
fared. Farewell, my lord....”

The year and a day were nearly elapsed, and yet the first maxim
had not been clearly proved. Domitian remained severely just, and
the ill-intentioned of his nobles plotted his destruction in the hopes
of indulging their vices more freely under the rule of his successor.
Many were the plots they concocted to put him to death, but all were
foiled by his foresight and prudence.
“Every failure,” said the conspirators at a midnight meeting,
“brings danger nearer to ourselves.”
“Even so, brothers, but this time we will not fail,” said one of the
number; “do ye not mind that I am the king’s barber; every day he
bares his throat to my razor, it is but one slash, and we are free;
promise me the crown: in return for this, I will give you freedom by
the king’s death, and free license during my reign.”
“It is well spoken,” cried all the conspirators; “the barber shall be
our king.”
On the next morning, the barber entered the chamber of Domitian,
and prepared to shave the king. The razor was stropped, the lather
spread upon the royal chin, and the towel fastened round the royal
breast. On the edge of the napkin were these words in letters of gold:
“Never begin any thing until you have calculated what the end will
be.”
The barber’s eye fell on these words, they arrested his attention, he
paused in his labors.
“What am I about to do?” thought he to himself, “to kill the king,
to gain his crown; am I sure of the crown? shall I not rather be slain
miserably, and die amid unheard-of tortures and infamy? whilst
those that plot with me will turn against me, and make me their
scape-goat.”
“Art dreaming, sir barber?” exclaimed the king.
 At the king’s voice, the barber trembled exceedingly, he dropt the
razor from his hand, and fell at his sovereign’s feet.
“What means all this?”
“Oh, my good lord!” exclaimed the barber, as he knelt trembling at
Domitian’s feet, “this day was I to have killed thee; but I saw the
maxim written on the napkin; I thought of the consequences, and
now repent me of my wickedness. Mercy, my good lord, mercy!”
“Be faithful, and fear not,” replied the king.
“The merchant, my lord the king,” said a servant of the chamber,
who entered at that moment, followed by the old merchant.
“Thou art come at a good time, sir merchant; the first maxim has
been proved; it has saved my life; it was worthy of its price.”
“Even as I expected, my lord; a year and a day hence expect me
again.”

“We will trust no more to a single hand,” said one of the

conspirators, when they met again after the barber’s repentance;
“this time we will all share.”
“I propose,” said one of the rebel lords, “an ambush on the road to
Naples. Every year, on the day after Christmas, the king journeys
thither; the bye-path near to the city gates is the nearest road,
peradventure he will go that way.”
When the Christmas night was over, the king prepared to journey
to Naples; a great company of nobles, knights, and men-at-arms,
went with him. Not far from the city, he came to the place where the
highway and bye-path diverged.
“My lord,” said an old noble, “the day is far spent, the sun sinks
fast in the horizon; will not my lord turn by the bye-path, as it is far
shorter than the high-road?”
“Nay,” said the king, “it’s a year and a day since the merchant’s
first maxim saved my life; now will I test the second admonition,
‘never leave a highway for a bye-path,’ but go part of ye by that
path, and prepare for me in the city; I and the rest will pursue the
highway.”
Onward rode the knights and the soldiers by the bye-path, and
hastened towards the city; as they neared the ambush, the traitors
sprang upon them, for they thought the king was among them. Every
man slew his opponent, and there remained not one of the king’s
company, to bear the tidings to the king, but a youth, a little page
whom the conspirators did not remark during the attack.
At the city gates, the king found the merchant who had sold him
his maxims.
“Halt, O king!” said he, “the second maxim has been proved.”
“How so?” replied the king.
“The company that rode by the bye-path are slain, every one of
them save this little page, who is here to tell the sad tale.”
“Is this so, good youth?”
“Alas, my lord, it is too true; from behind the trees they rushed
upon our company as we rode lightly and merrily, and no one, save
your poor page, lives to tell the tale.”
“For a second time is my life saved by thy maxim; let it be
inscribed in gold: ‘Never leave a highway for a bye-way.’”
“For a year and a day, O king, fare thee well.”

“A murrain on the old fool’s maxims,” grumbled the chief of the

conspirators, when they discovered that the king had escaped their
design; “we are beaten out of every plot, and had best submit to his
dominion.”
“Nay,” exclaimed a young and licentious noble, “there is luck in
odd numbers, let us have one more trial, a sink or a swim.”
“I care not if we try once more,” said the old rebel; “but come, who
suggests a scheme?”
“I, and I, and I!” exclaimed several at once; but their schemes were
pronounced futile.
“What say ye to this?” said the young man who had spoken before:
“every year the king goes to the small village town where his old
nurse lives; there is but one house in the village where he can be
lodged, let us bribe the master of the house, that he slay our tyrant
while he sleeps.”
The plan was approved by the rebel lords, the bribe offered and
accepted by the old man, to whose house the king always came. The
king came as usual to the village town, and to his old lodgings. As he
entered, the old man received him with humility and feigned delight,
and a young damsel, not eighteen years of age, attended at the door
step. The king noticed the damsel, he arrested his steps, and called to
the old man.
“Good father,” asked he, “is yonder damsel thy daughter or thy
niece?”
“Neither, my lord,” replied the old man; “she is my newly married
wife.”
“Away, away,” said the king to his chamberlain, “prepare me a bed
in another house, for I will not sleep here to-night.”
“Even as my lord wishes,” rejoined the chamberlain; “but my lord
knows there is no other house in this place fit for a king’s residence,
save this one; here every thing is prepared, every thing
commodious.”
“I have spoken,” replied the king; “remain thou here; I will sleep
elsewhere.”
In the night, the old man and his wife arose, stole on tiptoe to the
chamber which was prepared for the king, and where the
chamberlain now slept in the royal bed; all was dark as they
approached the bed, and plunged a dagger into the breast of the
sleeping noble.
“It is done,” said they; “to bed, to bed.”
Early the next morning the king’s page knocked at the door of the
humble abode where the king had passed the night.
“Why so early, good page?” asked the king.
“My lord, the old merchant waits thy rising; and even now strange
news is come from the village.”
“Let the merchant and the messenger come in.”
The merchant seemed greatly elated, his eye glistened with joy,
and his figure appeared dilated beyond its ordinary height. The
messenger was pale and trembling, and staring aghast with fear.
“My lord, my good lord,” exclaimed the pallid messenger, “a
horrible murder has been committed on your chamberlain; he lies
dead in the royal bed.”
“The third maxim is tried and proved,” said the merchant.
 “Give God the praise,” said the king; “thy reward is earned: a robe
of honor, and thrice thy bargained price; to the old man and his wife,
immediate death.”
“What theological application does the author append to this clever tale?” said
Herbert, “for moral it wants not, as it tells its own.”
“The emperor is any good Christian; the porter, none other than free will; whilst
the merchant represents our blessed Saviour. The florins are virtues, given in
exchange for the maxims; the grace and favor of God. The conspirators are devils;
the highway is the Ten Commandments; the bye-way, a bad life; the rebels in
ambush, heretics.”
“So far as it goes, I do not object to the explanation; it requires great additions,
however,” replied Herbert.
“Which the author considered to be compensated for by adding more characters
than the tale contained, in several of his other explanations.”
“Domitian is obliged to the old monk,” said Thompson, “for such a pretty
character of justice and mercy.”
“See again the system of compensation; in the next story Adrian is as much
traduced, as Domitian flattered in this. But, remember, the old monk was writing
neither histories nor biographies; any name that occurred to him served his
purpose; he looks more to the effect of his incidents than to the names of his
characters. With this prelude I will give you
 “THE TRIALS OF EUSTACE.”
When Trajan was emperor of Rome, Sir Placidus, a knight of great
prowess, and a most skilful commander, was chief of the armies of
the empire. Like his imperial master, he was merciful, just, and
charitable, but a worshipper of idols, a despiser of the Christian faith.
His wife was worthy of his virtues, and was of one accord with him in
his religion. Two sons had he, educated in all the magnificence that
befitted their father’s station; but, as was to be expected, the faith of
the parents was the faith of their children; they were idolaters.
It was a fair, soft day, the southerly wind blew lightly over the
meadows, and the fleecy clouds, ever and anon obscuring the sun,
proclaimed the hunters’ day. Sir Placidus rode to the chase. His
friends and his retainers were with him, and a right gallant company
were they. A herd of deer was soon found, the dogs loosed from their
leashes, the bugles sounded, and the whole of the company in full
and eager pursuit. One stag of lofty stature, and many-branching
antlered head, separated itself from the rest of the herd, and made
for the depths of the neighboring forest. The company followed the
herd, but Sir Placidus gave his attention to the noble animal, and
tracked it through the mazes of the wood.
Swift and long was the chase. Sir Placidus rode after the stag, ever
gaining just near enough to the noble animal to inspire him with a
hope of its ultimate capture, yet never so near as to strike it with his
hunting spear. On, on they went with untiring speed. The wood and
its thickets were passed, a lofty hill rose to the view. He pressed the
stag up its sides, and gained rapidly on the chase. In a moment the
stag turned and faced the knight; he prepared to strike, but his hand
was stayed as he saw between the horns of the creature a cross
encircled with a ring of glorious light. Whilst he mused on the
wonder, a voice addressed him. The stag seemed to speak thus to the
knight:
“Why persecutest thou me, Placidus? for thy sake have I assumed
this shape; I am the God whom thou ignorantly worshippest; I am
Christ. Thine alms and thy prayers have gone up before me, and
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