Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1914-09-04

a work Of art that its great fame was
attributed. Its history was. however.
most picturesque and its antiquity
was never disputed even when its mer-
its as q work Of art began to be Ques-
toned.
When in 1101 the crusaders under
Baldwin I penetrated the mosque Of
Cesarea, the ancient temple Of Herod.
they found . wonderful green tinted
octagonal dish which they believed
from its appearance to have been fash
ioned out Of single emerald. A cen.
tury later James de Voragine, arch
bishop of Genoa. the author of the
Golden Legend, declared the vessel to
be surely the holy grail. According
to the archbishop's chronicles the VIC
tors of Cesarea had divided the war
booty into three parts. The first COM
prised all the land OF the city, the sec.
ond all movabie treasure and mer-
chandise and the third was the emer-
aid dish. The Genoese crusaders un-
der Guglielmo Embrace chose the lat
ter as more valuable than all the other
spoils. After the thirteenth century
the grail became the most venerated
relic Of Genoa. It was preserved with
the most reverent care in the chapel
of st. John the Baptist Of the San
Lorenzo cathedral. A guard of honor
selected from the most noble Genoese
families was formed for its protection.
The severest penalties were imposed
for touching the grail with q touch
stone or any other object
It was the popular belief that the
vessel was not made by the hand Of
man, but that Christ himself had fash
ioned it miraculously out Of common
clay on the day Of the supper. 9th
ers maintained the view that its origin
dated back to the time Of the queen
Of Sheba. It was asserted that she
presented It az the most precious gift
among all her treasures to King Solo
mon in Jerusalem. by whom 1t was
used In the ceremony Of the paschal
lamb. However much opinion differed
az regards the origin and competition
of the relic. there was no divergence
on the point that the grail was the
most priced possession Of the mighty
republic-nay. the greatest treasure In
all Christendom.
Skeptics did not dare to raise their
voices until the eighteenth century,
when some French visitors, on close
inspection, claimed to have discovered
air bubbles in the glary substance Of
the basin.
Napoleon did not overlook the grail
Of Genoa. He ordered 1t to be con-
veyed to the cabinet Of antiquities Of
the national library Of Paris. A spe-
cial committee was then appointed Of
members OF the French institute Of
sciences, and they. after prolonged ex-
animation, declared the vessel to con-
sist Of mere colored glass of very little
intrinsic value. When Napoleon's
spoils, after his final defeat, were re-
turned again to their rightful owners.
the grail was, in 1915. restored to
its shrine in the cathedral of Genoa.
but much of its mystic atmosphere had
vanished, never to return. Lately the
view was almost universally accepted
that although the extreme antiquity OF
the dish was not disputed-it is now
said to be Of old oriental, probably
Phoenician, origin-it has never been
employed as a table utensil, but prob
ably served as q priests hand rinsins
basin or az q sacridcial vessel fol
casting fragrant substances upon the
altar.