The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1864-04-23
Who Was st. George!

5 GUS to call IN question the claims of so renowne
a SAINT. LIS he not, say they, a saint both of tn
Greek and of the Roman Calendar? Is he nc
styled in the service of the knights Of the Ga,
Ter "that blessed martyr and soldier of Jesu
ChrlstF' Besides, he is the ideal of chivalry
the protector OF the iilustrious order of the Gar
ter, the patron of England, and his red eros
IS blazoned on the British standard. His histor,
forms the basis of the first book of Spencer
" Faerie Queen" in which he is called,
"st- George of merrie England, the signe Of victoree."
True, such Is the st. George of poetry, of Legend
and romance. But who is St. George of history
BY all accounts, George of Cappadoeia was a
dishonest man, a hereto and prosecutor, and al
intruder into the see Of the orthodox Athana.
slus, who was then in exile. In early life George
appears to have been a parasite, a hanger on of
the wealthy, 8 one that would sell himself for q
cake," according to Gregory Nazianzer. He OBJ
tanned from his patrons a lucrative contract to
supply the army with bacon, and seems to have
been the prototype of the " shoddy'' contractors
OF the present day. Being detected in population
he was stripped of his Office, and was glad to es-
cape without bodily chastisement.
lie afterwards turns up as a receiver Of some
branch OF the revenue iii Constantinople, under
the emperor Constantine. Athanasius asserts
that up to this time he was a Pagan. The EN-
peror was an Arian, and George consequently be-
came Jealous Arian, cultivated theology and col
lected a valuable library. By the Arian council
OF Antioch, A. D. 354, he was appointed bishop
OF Alexandria,, from whence the venerable Atha-
nasius had been previously expelled by military
force. On his arrival in his new see, he carried
on n nrnQl nprcQanfIn na;,, ~ o-xI
Many of them were plundered, Others tortured
SO that several died of their injuries, and others
still were banished to the desert. George and
mis- partizans at first refused to give up for burial
the bodies OF those who died, ssitting," saws
Theodoret, sc like demons about the tombs."
His %cruelties led to a revolt, and he was COM
PEELED to flee for his life but being soon reinstat-
ed by the Emperor, he became more tyrannical
than ever. True to his old instincts he sought
to enrich himself by obtaining a monopoly of
nltre, OF the salt works, Of the paper reeds, rs
well as of the undertaker's business in Alexan-
drla. His luxury and arrogance served to in
crease the hatred felt against him. But the
cause of his downfall was his persecu-
ton or the Pagans, whose temples he had plum
dered and insulted, enchanting, How long shall
these sepulchres stand ?'
The news of the death of Constantine and the
of Julian (November, A. d. 26I was
the signal for an insurrection. George was nut
in prison by the authorities for safety, but q few
days after, the Pagan mob forced the prison
doors, carried his body in triumph through the
streets on a camel, burnt the mangled remains
and threw them into the sea.
by his death, however, he gained the title of
martyr and consequently IF saint. His claim TO
be a saint was recognized by Pope Gelasius in A.
D. 494, but his "Acta" were rejected as written
~ heretics. In the words Of Gibbon, the
'dIous stranger. Disgusting every circumstance of
me- and place, assumed she mask of a MARTYR.
amt and Christian hero, and the infamous
george of Cappadocia has been transformed into
he renowned st. George Of England, the patron
f arms. of chivalry and the Garter" AS time
-ent on various legendary lives or &c Acta" were
In these st. George appears as a SOL ,
Ter, under Diocletian, and a martyr. He sus- ,
inns a combat before Queen Alexandria against d,
lie magician AhanaSiuS. The story of the a
appears only in the later legends. This '
.onster, who seems to be a representative of
is described as lurking about a lake u
ar the tabled city of SIlera, in Lydia. .
Among the Greeks st. George is known as the y
and in England his renown increased I'll
ter the crusades to such a degree that under G
lward Ill, he came to be regarded as the tute- q
saint of the nation. His story furnishes a Is
liking example of the rapid growth of religious
,end in a superstitious age, and shows how So
ignorance is the mother of devotion.' "
- =.
p We have received several communications III
referring to l.. B., which we must respect Ia
ly decline to insert, for the simple reason, en-
ich will be apparent to all, that there has We
N enough said already. We did not encour- "
the insertion of the original letter which
evoked SO many replies but on the other be
I'd we objected to it, and stated to the writer NJ
at would be the effect if inserted, and it has -
ned out very much as anticipated by us. !"
lad our correspondent been here long enough
nave learned more of our local politics before
ting, he would not have insisted on the inser- 4.
of his letter. The replies to it which have s.
cared were but a natural outburst of that ocl