recorded, that from that time forth, every child, as it sat on its mother’s knee, was, even for the sake of that Prince of Peace, regarded as sacred—­as the heir of a divine nature—­as one whose tiny limbs enfolded a spirit which was to expand into the man, the king, the God.  Such a result was, perhaps, reserved for other times, when the whole mission of that divine Child should be better understood than it was then, or is now.  But there is an ancient oriental tradition, that about forty years later, when St. Thomas the apostle travelled into the Indies, he found these Wise Men there, and did administer to them the rite of baptism; and that afterwards, in carrying the light of truth into the far East, they fell among barbarous Gentiles, and were put to death; thus each of them receiving in return for the earthly crowns they had cast at the feet of the Saviour, the heavenly crown of martyrdom and of everlasting life.

Their remains, long afterwards discovered, were brought to Constantinople by the Empress Helena; thence in the time of the first Crusade they were transported to Milan, whence they were carried off by the Emperor Barbarossa, and deposited in the cathedral at Cologne, where they remain to this day, laid in a shrine of gold and gems; and have performed divers great and glorious miracles.

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Such, in few words, is the church legend of the Magi of the East, the “three Kings of Cologne,” as founded on the mysterious Gospel incident.  Statesmen and philosophers, not less than ecclesiastics, have, as yet, missed the whole sense and large interpretation of the mythic as well as the scriptural story; but well have the artists availed themselves of its picturesque capabilities!  In their hands it has gradually expanded from a mere symbol into a scene of the most dramatic and varied effect and the most gorgeous splendour.  As a subject it is one of the most ancient in the whole range of Christian art.  Taken in the early religions sense, it signified the calling of the Gentiles; and as such we find it carved in bas-relief on the Christian sarcophagi of the third and fourth centuries, and represented with extreme simplicity.  The Virgin mother is seated on a chair, and holds the Infant upright on her knee.  The Wise Men, always three in number, and all alike, approach in attitudes of adoration.  In some instances they wear Phrygian caps, and their camels’ heads are seen behind them, serving to express the land whence they came, the land of the East, as well as their long journey; as on one of the sarcophagi in the Christian Museum of the Vatican.  The star in these antique sculptures is generally omitted; but in one or two instances it stands immediately over the chair of the Virgin.  On a sarcophagus near the entrance of the tomb of Galla Placidia, at Ravenna, they are thus represented.

The mosaic in the church of Santa Maria Maggiore at Rome, is somewhat later in date than these sarcophagi (A.D. 440), and the representation is very peculiar and interesting.  Here the Child is seated alone on a kind of square pedestal, with his hand raised in benediction; behind the throne stand two figures, supposed to be the Virgin and Joseph; on each side, two angels.  The kings approach, dressed as Roman warriors, with helmets on their heads.