156
THE STAR IN THE WEST
Renan , before he assumes the biting satire of a Saladin ,
or the poetic iconoclasm
of a Swinburne
.
Christ , firstly , as the
Son
of God , is divine , omni
potent , in
fact
he is God ;
secondly , as the
Son
of
Man , is noble , generous , lovable , in fact , man ; but ,
thirdly , as the offspring of the carnalities
of a Byzan
tine
mob ,
which
is
the
true
Christ of
history ,
he
assumes
a vampire
form , a horror fed on the blood
of
children , the
virility
of
youths , the
chastity
of
maidens .
Hardly a single
evil of the
present
day , if
traced
back a few
hundred
years , and frequently
not
half so long as that , but
finds
its
birth
in
some cor
ruption
practised
by
the Harlot
of
the seven hills
,
or
the Monster
of
the six wives
.
It
is
only necessary
to
study such works
as
those
of
Buckle
or
Draper
,
of
White
or
Stewart Ross
,
or
better still
,
if
time permits
,
those
of
ecclesiastical
historians
,
written by the pens
of
divines
,
to
become
aware
of
the appalling gloom
that
was
cast
over
the splendour
that
was
Greece
,
and the grandeur
that was Rome
,
in
that dismal night
of
a
thousand
years which
lapped the Western world
in
a
sea
of
blood
and
tears
.
Ignorance crushed
the
mind
of
Europe
,
as
a
hammer
of
lead
,
from the time
that Constantine
-
tyrant
,
murderer
,
and debauchee
threw
in
his
lot
with the yelping
mob
of
Constantin
ople
.
On that fateful
day
a
fiery
cross
shone
in
the
sky
,'
and
to
this
day
it
has been our lot
to
carry
its
cankerous
form branded
on
our hearts
and corroded
in
our minds
.
Not
till
now
are we waking from the
turbid
dreams
,
the
feverish
lust
,
and dismal
super
stition
,
that
sprang
from
the
gaberlunzies
of
the
Suburra
:
In hoc signo vinces
.