Vicksburg weekly herald. (Vicksburg, Miss.) 1868-1883, 1870-03-12


Ths rrua meaAimg IS lAs
ThcfollOwing letter appears
the London Herald
"fhe new work ofthe posi- m
reate will be peFsuad b lhod
Of delighted readers. u uiauf nf
whoms however,, the lltle q ha
chief ? gn, srhe Holy Gran Il
reqaire explanation, allhanRl NJ
lgEm q familiar 70 arehaaQIpg
But Il may be observed dEailE, sah
The Laureate departs from
legend which hes usually been g-
rent when he makes the .kaB
Grail, TO y : cup, instead Of 8 ba-
sin or dish:
"'The cap. thssup i'sols FrOn shlsa eur
Drank as the last Ssd supper VIII hls daa.t
ALLOW me to quote dlaerIplIon
Of what is generally regarded by
antiquarles as the 'Ssn Hfall.
"1'he celebrated sangraaI or
sacr0 calinO, preserved q Genoa,
Is referred TO In manuscript as carly
o. The seventh century. II u .
bowl or tureen Of dark green glass
Of Roman manufacture. about
twenty inches In diameter end three
inches deep, with hexagonal border
and two handles, frat moulded aud
then turned In the lathe; L derives
It's name rom Tue kwOru great 0r
grayle, deep diel used In themld-
die ages to contain meat. This
Saint Greal was said TO bethe ideufl-
cal dish OH which the Paschal Lamb
was placed at Our Savior's Last
Suppar, and preserved by Acaenh
Of Arimathea. Il was formerly
supposed to have been cut 0ul q
emerald. Bonaparte transported
1t to Paris In lsU6, when Il s
broken and It was then ascersaln-
cd to be glass. II has been engh-
fully repaired, aud returned
Genoa. Among the adventures ok
King Arthur'S knights Of TIE
Round Table was their search ''ia
quest of Sangreal.' Which could
only be revealed to a knight 81
once accomplished IN earthly ehIF
airy, aud pure aud gniHless Of evil
conversation.
THUS, for / 200 years this sacred
vessel has been alluded 70, aud aa
dish; the Italian word catino
can only apply 10 a dish or basin,
derived from the Latin, aud UNDER
stood to be a vessel on which meat
or fish was served up at the fenhts
among the Romans. Thus Horace
used the term Augustus catinus
to imply @ scanty bill Of fare.a One
Of the most celebrated Of King
Arthui's knights was Sir Launces
lot of the Lake, who went In search
of the holy vessel. 6ir Walter
Scott alludes TO him Ia the intro
duction to the first canto to Mar
mion:
"'A sinful man and unconfesEed
He sought the sangreal'a holKnueae
And slumberlnE. saw the sllieh high.
40 might Hot view win naked ega'
"And this explanation ls given
in note:
'One day when Arthur was
holding q high feast with bis
Knights of the Round Table, the
sangreal, or vessel ont Of which
the last pass0vea was eaten,
precious relic which had long re-
mained concealed from human eyes,
because Of the sins OF the land, sud-
denly appeared TO him and All bis
chavalry. The consequences ef the
vision was that the knights took on
them q solemn vow to oseek the san-
greal, Sc.
"The substitution ofa cup for 8
dish aS the vessel supposed 20 have
been used by our Blessed Lord at
His Last Supper, e, no doubt,
quite within Q poets privilege, and
will not IN the least affect the high
and noble character Of the poem.
II is only as q matter Of antioua-
rian interest that tho foregoing ex-
planaiion has been given Of an OBJ
jeet which, for many centuries, has
attracted notice, and which Is evil
IDENTIFY Of very early date.
"YOnrs &C., ~
GEORGE RUSSELL FREnoH.
~ Powis Place, VIC. December 2" /"
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