,transcribed from the #ahia ,macmillan and ,co4 edition by ,david ,price1 email ccx#jgdpglaf4org ,picture3 ,st4 ,brendan setting ,sail4--,p4 #bf ,,the ,,hermits 99 99 99 99 99 ,,by ,,charles ,,kingsley 99 99 99 99 99 ,,illustrated 99 99 99 99 99 ,london ,,macmillan ,,and ,,co4 ,,and ,,new ,,york #ahia ,the ,right of ,translation is ,reserved 99 99 99 99 99 ,,richard ,,clay ,,and ,,sons1 ,,limited1 ,,london ,,and ,,bungay4 ,first printed in parts #ahfh4 ,reprinted in #a ,volume1 ,crown #hvo4 #ahga1 #ahge1 #ahhj1 #ahhe1 #ahij1 #ahia4 ,,contents4 ,,page ,,introduction #a ,,saint ,,antony #ba ,,the ,,life ,,of ,,saint ,,paul1 ,,the ,,first ,,hermit #hc ,,hilarion #ajd ,,arsenius #adi ,,the ,,hermits ,,of ,,asia #aee ,,basil #afb ,,simeon ,,stylites #afg ,,the ,,hermits ,,of ,,europe #bai ,,st4 ,,severinus1 ,,the ,,apostle ,,of ,,noricum #bbd ,,the ,,celtic ,,hermits #bdf ,,st4 ,,malo #bgh ,,st4 ,,columba #bhb ,,st4 ,,guthlac #cjj ,,st4 ,,godric ,,of ,,finchale #cji ,,anchorites1 ,,strictly ,,so ,,called #cbi ,,list ,,of ,,illustrations ,,st4 ,,brendan ,,setting ,,sail ,frontispiece ,,life ,,of ,,st4 ,,anthony ,to face #ce 8,and having committed his sister to known and faithful virgins1 and given to her wherewith to be educated in a nunnery10 c4 ,,paul1 ,,the ,,first ,,hermit ,to face #ib 8,for entering the cave he saw1 with bended knees1 erect neck1 and hands spread out on high1 a lifeless corpse4 ,and at first1 thinking that it still lived10 c4 ,,introduction ,,st4 ,,paphnutius used to tell a story which may serve as a fit introduction to this book4 ,it contains a miniature sketch1 not only of the social state of ,egypt1 but of the whole ,roman ,empire1 and of the causes which led to the famous monastic movement in the beginning of the fifth century after ,christ4 ,now ,paphnutius was a wise and holy hermit1 the ,father1 ,abba1 or ,abbot of many monks2 and after he had trained himself in the desert with all severity for many years1 he besought ,god to show him which of ,his saints he was like4 ,and it was said to him1 8,thou art like a certain flute-player in the city40 ,then ,paphnutius took his staff1 and went into the city1 and found that flute-player4 ,but he confessed that he was a drunkard and a profligate1 and had till lately got his living by robbery1 and recollected not having ever done one good deed4 ,nevertheless1 when ,paphnutius questioned him more closely1 he said that he recollected once having found a holy maiden beset by robbers1 and having delivered her1 and brought her safe to town4 ,and when ,paphnutius questioned him more closely still1 he said he recollected having done another deed4 ,when he was a robber1 he met once in the desert a beautiful woman2 and she prayed him to do her no harm1 but to take her away with him as a slave1 whither he would2 for1 said she1 8,i am fleeing from the apparitors and the ,governor's curials for the last two years4 ,my husband has been imprisoned for #cjj pieces of gold1 which he owes as arrears of taxes2 and has been often hung up1 and often scourged2 and my three dear boys have been taken from me2 and ,i am wandering from place to place1 and have been often caught myself and continually scourged2 and now ,i have been in the desert three days without food40 ,and when the robber heard that1 he took pity on her1 and took her to his cave1 and gave her #cjj pieces of gold1 and went with her to the city1 and set her husband and her boys free4 ,then ,paphnutius said1 8,i never did a deed like that3 and yet ,i have not passed my life in ease and idleness4 ,but now1 my son1 since ,god hath had such care of thee1 have a care for thine own self40 ,and when the musician heard that1 he threw away the flutes which he held in his hand1 and went with ,paphnutius into the desert1 and passed his life in hymns and prayer1 changing his earthly music into heavenly2 and after three years he went to heaven1 and was at rest among the choirs of angels1 and the ranks of the just4 ,this story1 as ,i said1 is a miniature sketch of the state of the whole ,roman ,empire1 and of the causes why men fled from it into the desert4 ,christianity had reformed the morals of individuals2 it had not reformed the ,empire itself4 ,that had sunk into a state only to be compared with the worst despotisms of the ,east4 ,the ,emperors1 whether or not they called themselves ,christian1 like ,constantine1 knew no law save the basest maxims of the heathen world4 ,several of them were barbarians who had risen from the lowest rank merely by military prowess2 and who1 half maddened by their sudden elevation1 added to their native ignorance and brutality the pride1 cunning1 and cruelty of an ,eastern ,sultan4 ,rival ,emperors1 or ,generals who aspired to be ,emperors1 devastated the world from ,egypt to ,britain by sanguinary civil wars4 ,the government of the provinces had become altogether military4 ,torture was employed1 not merely1 as of old1 against slaves1 but against all ranks1 without distinction4 ,the people were exhausted by compulsory taxes1 to be spent in wars which did not concern them1 or in ,court luxury in which they had no share4 ,in the municipal towns1 liberty and justice were dead4 ,the curials1 who answered somewhat to our aldermen1 and who were responsible for the payment of the public moneys1 tried their best to escape the unpopular office1 and1 when compelled to serve1 wrung the money in self-defence out of the poorer inhabitants by every kind of tyranny4 ,the land was tilled either by oppressed and miserable peasants1 or by gangs of slaves1 in comparison with whose lot that even of the ,american negro was light4 ,the great were served in their own households by crowds of slaves1 better fed1 doubtless1 but even more miserable and degraded1 than those who tilled the estates4 ,private profligacy among all ranks was such as cannot be described in these or in any modern pages4 ,the regular clergy of the cities1 though not of profligate lives1 and for the most part1 in accordance with public opinion1 unmarried1 were able to make no stand against the general corruption of the age1 because--at least if we are to trust such writers as ,jerome and ,chrysostom--they were giving themselves up to ambition and avarice1 vanity and luxury1 intrigue and party spirit1 and had become the flatterers of fine ladies1 8silly women laden with sins1 ever learning1 and never coming to the knowledge of the truth40 ,such a state of things not only drove poor creatures into the desert1 like that fair woman whom the robber met1 but it raised up bands of robbers over the whole of ,europe1 ,africa1 and the ,east1--men who1 like ,robin ,hood and the outlaws of the ,middle ,age1 getting no justice from man1 broke loose from society1 and while they plundered their oppressors1 kept up some sort of rude justice and humanity among themselves4 ,many1 too1 fled1 and became robbers1 to escape the merciless conscription which carried off from every province the flower of the young men1 to shed their blood on foreign battle-fields4 ,in time1 too1 many of these conscripts became monks1 and the great monasteries of ,scetis and ,nitria were hunted over again and again by officers and soldiers from the neighbouring city of ,alexandria in search of young men who had entered the 8spiritual warfare0 to escape the earthly one4 ,and as a background to all this seething heap of decay1 misrule1 and misery1 hung the black cloud of the barbarians1 the ,teutonic tribes from whom we derive the best part of our blood1 ever coming nearer and nearer1 waxing stronger and stronger1 learning discipline and civilization by serving in the ,roman armies1 alternately the allies and the enemies of the ,emperors1 rising1 some of them1 to the highest offices of ,state1 and destined1 so the wisest ,romans saw all the more clearly as the years rolled on1 to be soon the conquerors of the ,csars1 and the masters of the ,western world4 ,no wonder if that1 in such a state of things1 there arose such violent contrasts to the general weakness1 such eccentric protests against the general wickedness1 as may be seen in the figure of ,abbot ,paphnutius1 when compared either with the poor man tortured in prison for his arrears of taxes1 or with the ,governor and the officials who tortured him4 ,no wonder if1 in such a state of things1 the minds of men were stirred by a passion akin to despair1 which ended in a new and grand form of suicide4 ,it would have ended often1 but for ,christianity1 in such an actual despair as that which had led in past ages more than one noble ,roman to slay himself1 when he lost all hope for the ,republic4 ,christianity taught those who despaired of society1 of the world--in one word1 of the ,roman ,empire1 and all that it had done for men--to hope at least for a kingdom of ,god after death4 ,it taught those who1 had they been heathens and brave enough1 would have slain themselves to escape out of a world which was no place for honest men1 that the body must be kept alive1 if for no other reason1 at least for the sake of the immortal soul1 doomed1 according to its works1 to endless bliss or endless torment4 ,but that the world--such1 at least1 as they saw it then--was doomed1 ,scripture and their own reason taught them4 ,they did not merely believe1 but see1 in the misery and confusion1 the desolation and degradation around them1 that all that was in the world1 the lust of the flesh1 the lust of the eye1 and the pride of life1 was not of the ,father1 but of the world2 that the world was passing away1 and the lust thereof1 and that only he who did the will of ,god could abide for ever4 ,they did not merely believe1 but saw1 that the wrath of ,god was revealed from heaven against all unrighteousness of men2 and that the world in general--above all1 its kings and rulers1 the rich and luxurious--were treasuring up for themselves wrath1 tribulation1 and anguish1 against a day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of ,god1 who would render to every man according to his works4 ,that they were correct in their judgment of the world about them1 contemporary history proves abundantly4 ,that they were correct1 likewise1 in believing that some fearful judgment was about to fall on man1 is proved by the fact that it did fall2 that the first half of the fifth century saw1 not only the sack of ,rome1 but the conquest and desolation of the greater part of the civilized world1 amid bloodshed1 misery1 and misrule1 which seemed to turn ,europe into a chaos1--which would have turned it into a chaos1 had there not been a few men left who still felt it possible and necessary to believe in ,god and to work righteousness4 ,under these terrible forebodings1 men began to flee from a doomed world1 and try to be alone with ,god1 if by any means they might save each man his own soul in that dread day4 ,others1 not ,christians1 had done the same before them4 ,among all the ,eastern nations men had appeared1 from time to time1 to whom the things seen were but a passing phantom1 the things unseen the only true and eternal realities2 who1 tormented alike by the awfulness of the infinite unknown1 and by the petty cares and low passions of the finite mortal life which they knew but too well1 had determined to renounce the latter1 that they might give themselves up to solving the riddle of the former2 and be at peace2 and free1 at least1 from the tyranny of their own selves4 ,eight hundred years before ,st4 ,antony fled into the desert1 that young ,hindoo rajah1 whom men call ,buddha now1 had fled into the forest1 leaving wives and kingdom1 to find rest for his soul4 ,he denounced caste2 he preached poverty1 asceticism1 self-annihilation4 ,he founded a religion1 like that of the old hermits1 democratic and ascetic1 with its convents1 saint-worships1 pilgrimages1 miraculous relics1 rosaries1 and much more1 which strangely anticipates the monastic religion2 and his followers1 to this day1 are more numerous than those of any other creed4 ,brahmins1 too1 had given themselves up to penance and mortification till they believed themselves able1 like ,kehama1 to have gained by self-torture the right to command1 not nature merely1 but the gods themselves4 ,among the ,jews the ,essenes by the ,dead ,sea1 and the ,therapeut in ,egypt1 had formed ascetic communities1 the former more 8practical10 the latter more 8contemplative30 but both alike agreed in the purpose of escaping from the world into a life of poverty and simplicity1 piety and virtue2 and among the countless philosophic sects of ,asia1 known to ecclesiastical writers as 8heretics10 more than one had professed1 and doubtless often practised1 the same abstraction from the world1 the same contempt of the flesh4 ,the very ,neo-,platonists of ,alexandria1 while they derided the ,christian asceticism1 found themselves forced to affect1 like the hapless ,hypatia1 a sentimental and pharisaic asceticism of their own4 ,this phase of sight and feeling1 so strange to us now1 was common1 nay1 primval1 among the ,easterns4 ,the day was come when it should pass from the ,east into the ,west4 ,and ,egypt1 8the mother of wonders20 the parent of so much civilization and philosophy both ,greek and ,roman2 the half-way resting-place through which not merely the merchandise1 but the wisdom of the ,east had for centuries passed into the ,roman ,empire2 a land more ill-governed1 too1 and more miserable1 in spite of its fertility1 because more defenceless and effeminate1 than most other ,roman possessions--was the country in which naturally1 and as it were of hereditary right1 such a movement would first appear4 ,accordingly it was discovered1 about the end of the fourth century1 that the mountains and deserts of ,egypt were full of ,christian men who had fled out of the dying world1 in the hope of attaining everlasting life4 ,wonderful things were told of their courage1 their abstinence1 their miracles3 and of their virtues also2 of their purity1 their humility1 their helpfulness1 and charity to each other and to all4 ,they called each other1 it was said1 brothers2 and they lived up to that sacred name1 forgotten1 if ever known1 by the rest of the ,roman ,empire4 ,like the ,apostolic ,christians in the first fervour of their conversion1 they had all things in common2 they lived at peace with each other1 under a mild and charitable rule2 and kept literally those commands of ,christ which all the rest of the world explained away to nothing4 ,the news spread4 ,it chimed in with all that was best1 as well as with much that was questionable1 in the public mind4 ,that men could be brothers2 that they could live without the tawdry luxury1 the tasteless and often brutal amusements1 the low sensuality1 the base intrigue1 the bloody warfare1 which was the accepted lot of the many2 that they could find time to look stedfastly at heaven and hell as awful realities1 which must be faced some day1 which had best be faced at once2 this1 just as much as curiosity about their alleged miracles1 and the selfish longing to rival them in superhuman powers1 led many of the most virtuous and the most learned men of the time to visit them1 and ascertain the truth4 ,jerome1 ,ruffinus1 ,evagrius1 ,sulpicius ,severus1 went to see them1 undergoing on the way the severest toils and dangers1 and brought back reports of mingled truth and falsehood1 specimens of which will be seen in these pages4 ,travelling in those days was a labour1 if not of necessity1 then surely of love4 ,palladius1 for instance1 found it impossible to visit the ,upper ,thebaid1 and ,syene1 and that 8infinite multitude of monks1 whose fashions of life no one would believe1 for they surpass human life2 who to this day raise the dead1 and walk upon the waters1 like ,peter2 and whatsoever the ,saviour did by the holy ,apostles1 ,he does now by them4 ,but because it would be very dangerous if we went beyond ,lyco0 7,lycopolis871 on account of the inroad of robbers1 he 8could not see those saints40 ,the holy men and women of whom he wrote1 he says1 he did not see without extreme toil2 and seven times he and his companions were nearly lost4 ,once they walked through the desert five days and nights1 and were almost worn out by hunger and thirst4 ,again1 they fell on rough marshes1 where the sedge pierced their feet1 and caused intolerable pain1 while they were almost killed with the cold4 ,another time1 they stuck in the mud up to their waists1 and cried with ,david1 8,i am come into deep mire1 where no ground is40 ,another time1 they waded for four days through the flood of the ,nile by paths almost swept away4 ,another time they met robbers on the seashore1 coming to ,diolcos1 and were chased by them for ten miles4 ,another time they were all but upset and drowned in crossing the ,nile4 ,another time1 in the marshes of ,mareotis1 8where paper grows10 they were cast on a little desert island1 and remained three days and nights in the open air1 amid great cold and showers1 for it was the season of ,epiphany4 ,the eighth peril1 he says1 is hardly worth mentioning--but once1 when they went to ,nitria1 they came on a great hollow1 in which many crocodiles had remained1 when the waters retired from the fields4 ,three of them lay along the bank2 and the monks went up to them1 thinking them dead1 whereon the crocodiles rushed at them4 ,but when they called loudly on the ,lord1 8the monsters1 as if turned away by an angel10 shot themselves into the water2 while they ran on to ,nitria1 meditating on the words of ,job1 8,seven times shall ,he deliver thee from trouble2 and in the eighth there shall no evil touch thee40 ,the great ,st4 ,athanasius1 fleeing from persecution1 had taken refuge among these monks4 ,he carried the report of their virtues to ,trves in ,gaul1 and wrote a life of ,st4 ,antony1 the perusal of which was a main agent in the conversion of ,st4 ,augustine4 ,hilarion 7a remarkable personage1 whose history will be told hereafter7 carried their report and their example likewise into ,palestine2 and from that time ,juda1 desolate and seemingly accursed by the sin of the ,jewish people1 became once more the ,holy ,land2 the place of pilgrimage2 whose ruins1 whose very soil1 were kept sacred by hermits1 the guardians of the footsteps of ,christ4 ,in ,rome itself the news produced an effect which1 to the thoughtful mind1 is altogether tragical in its nobleness4 ,the ,roman aristocracy was deprived of all political power2 it had been decimated1 too1 with horrible cruelty only one generation before1 #ab by ,valentinian and his satellites1 on the charges of profligacy1 treason1 and magic4 ,mere rich men1 they still lingered on1 in idleness and luxury1 without art1 science1 true civilization of any kind2 followed by long trains of slaves2 punishing a servant with three hundred stripes if he were too long in bringing hot water2 weighing the fish1 or birds1 or dormice put on their tables1 while secretaries stood by1 with tablets to record all2 hating learning as they hated poison2 indulging at the baths in conduct which had best be left undescribed2 and 8complaining that they were not born among the ,cimmerians1 if amid their golden fans a fly should perch upon the silken fringes1 or a slender ray of the sun should pierce through the awning20 while1 if they 8go any distance to see their estates in the country1 or to hunt at a meeting collected for their amusement by others1 they think that they have equalled the marches of ,alexander or of ,csar40 ,on the wives1 widows1 and daughters of men of this stamp--and not half their effeminacy and baseness1 as the honest rough old soldier ,ammianus ,marcellinus describes it1 has been told here--the news brought from ,egypt worked with wondrous potency4 ,women of the highest rank awoke suddenly to the discovery that life was given them for nobler purposes than that of frivolous enjoyment and tawdry vanity4 ,despising themselves2 despising the husbands to whom they had been wedded in loveless marriages de convenance1 whose infidelities they had too often to endure3 they1 too1 fled from a world which had sated and sickened them4 ,they freed their slaves2 they gave away their wealth to found hospitals and to feed the poor2 and in voluntary poverty and mean garments they followed such men as ,jerome and ,ruffinus across the seas1 to visit the new found saints of the ,egyptian desert1 and to end their days1 in some cases1 in doleful monasteries in ,palestine4 ,the lives of such women as those of the ,anician house2 the lives of ,marcella and ,furia1 of ,paula1 of the ,melanias1 and the rest1 it is not my task to write4 ,they must be told by a woman1 not by a man4 ,we may blame those ladies1 if we will1 for neglecting their duties4 ,we may sneer1 if we will1 at the weaknesses--the aristocratic pride1 the spiritual vanity--which we fancy that we discover4 ,we may lament--and in that we shall not be wrong--the influence which such men as ,jerome obtained over them--the example and precursor of so much which has since then been ruinous to family and social life3 but we must confess that the fault lay not with the themselves1 but with their fathers1 husbands1 and brothers2 we must confess that in these women the spirit of the old ,roman matrons1 which seemed to have been so long dead1 flashed up for one splendid moment1 ere it sunk into the darkness of the ,middle ,age2 that in them woman asserted 7however strangely and fantastically7 her moral equality with man2 and that at the very moment when monasticism was consigning her to contempt1 almost to abhorrence1 as 8the noxious animal10 the 8fragile vessel10 the cause of man's fall at first1 and of his sin and misery ever since1 woman showed the monk 7to his navely-confessed surprise71 that she could dare1 and suffer1 and adore as well as he4 ,but the movement1 having once seized the ,roman ,empire1 grew and spread irresistibly4 ,it was accepted1 supported1 preached1 practised1 by every great man of the time4 ,athanasius1 ,basil1 ,chrysostom1 ,gregory of ,nazianzen in the ,east1 ,jerome1 ,augustine1 ,ruffinus1 ,evagrius1 ,fulgentius1 ,sulpicius ,severus1 ,vincent of ,lerins1 ,john ,cassian1 ,martin of ,tours1 ,salvian1 ,csarius of ,arles1 were all monks1 or as much of monks as their duties would allow them to be4 ,ambrose of ,milan1 though no monk himself1 was the fervent preacher of1 the careful legislator for1 monasticism male and female4 ,throughout the whole ,roman ,empire1 in the course of a century1 had spread hermits 7or dwellers in the desert71 anchorites 7retired from the world71 or monks 7dwellers alone74 ,the three names grew afterwards to designate three different orders of ascetics4 ,the hermits remained through the ,middle ,ages those who dwelt in deserts2 the anchorites1 or 8ankers0 of the ,english ,middle ,age1 seem generally to have inhabited cells built in1 or near1 the church walls2 the name of 8monks0 was transferred from those who dwelt alone to those who dwelt in regular communities1 under a fixed government4 ,but the three names at first were interchangeable2 the three modes of life alternated1 often in the same man4 ,the life of all three was the same1--celibacy1 poverty1 good deeds towards their fellow-men2 self-restraint1 and sometimes self-torture of every kind1 to atone 7as far as might be7 for the sins committed after baptism3 and the mental food of all three was the same likewise2 continued meditation upon the vanity of the world1 the sinfulness of the flesh1 the glories of heaven1 and the horrors of hell3 but with these the old hermits combined--to do them justice--a personal faith in ,god1 and a personal love for ,christ1 which those who sneer at them would do well to copy4 ,over all ,europe1 even to ,ireland1 #ae the same pattern of ,christian excellence repeated itself with strange regularity1 till it became the only received pattern2 and to 8enter religion10 or 8be converted10 meant simply to become a monk4 ,of the authentic biographies of certain of these men1 a few specimens are given in this volume4 ,if they shall seem to any reader uncouth1 or even absurd1 he must remember that they are the only existing and the generally contemporaneous histories of men who exercised for #a1cjj years an enormous influence over the whole of ,christendom2 who exercise a vast influence over the greater part of it to this day4 ,they are the biographies of men who were regarded1 during their lives and after their deaths1 as divine and inspired prophets2 and who were worshipped with boundless trust and admiration by millions of human beings4 ,their fame and power were not created by the priesthood4 ,the priesthood rather leant on them1 than they on it4 ,they occupied a post analogous to that of the old ,jewish prophets2 always independent of1 sometimes opposed to1 the regular clergy2 and dependent altogether on public opinion and the suffrage of the multitude4 ,when ,christianity1 after three centuries of repression and persecution1 emerged triumphant as the creed of the whole civilized world1 it had become what their lives describe4 ,the model of religious life for the fifth century1 it remained a model for succeeding centuries2 on the lives of ,st4 ,antony and his compeers were founded the whole literature of saintly biographies2 the whole popular conception of the universe1 and of man's relation to it2 the whole science of dmonology1 with its peculiar literature1 its peculiar system of criminal jurisprudence4 ,and their influence did not cease at the ,reformation among ,protestant divines4 ,the influence of these ,lives of the ,hermit ,fathers is as much traceable1 even to style and language1 in 8,the ,pilgrim's ,progress0 as in the last ,papal ,allocution4 ,the great hermits of ,egypt were not merely the founders of that vast monastic system which influenced the whole politics1 and wars1 and social life1 as well as the whole religion1 of the ,middle ,age2 they were a school of philosophers 7as they rightly called themselves7 who altered the whole current of human thought4 ,those who wish for a general notion of the men1 and of their time1 will find all that they require 7set forth from different points of view1 though with the same honesty and learning7 in ,gibbon2 in ,m4 de ,montalembert's 8,moines d',occident10 in ,dean ,milman's 8,history of ,christianity0 and 8,latin ,christianity10 and in ,ozanam's 8,etudes ,germaniques40 #ag;a ,but the truest notion of the men is to be got1 after all1 from the original documents2 and especially from that curious collection of them by the ,jesuit ,rosweyde1 commonly known as the 8,lives of the ,hermit ,fathers40 #ag;b ,after an acquaintance of now five-and-twenty years with this wonderful treasury of early ,christian mythology1 to which all fairy tales are dull and meagre1 ,i am almost inclined to sympathise with ,m4 de ,montalembert's questions1--8,who is so ignorant1 or so unfortunate1 as not to have devoured these tales of the heroic age of monachism8 ,who has not contemplated1 if not with the eyes of faith1 at least with the admiration inspired by an incontrollable greatness of soul1 the struggles of these athletes of penitence8 4 4 4 4 ,everything is to be found there--variety1 pathos1 the sublime and simple epic of a race of men1 nafs as children1 and strong as giants40 ,in whatever else one may differ from ,m4 de ,montalembert--and it is always painful to differ from one whose pen has been always the faithful servant of virtue and piety1 purity and chivalry1 loyalty and liberty1 and whose generous appreciation of ,england and the ,english is the more honourable to him1 by reason of an utter divergence in opinion1 which in less wide and noble spirits produces only antipathy--one must at least agree with him in his estimate of the importance of these 8,lives of the ,fathers10 not only to the ecclesiologist1 but to the psychologist and the historian4 ,their influence1 subtle1 often transformed and modified again and again1 but still potent from its very subtleness1 is being felt around us in many a puzzle--educational1 social1 political2 and promises to be felt still more during the coming generation2 and to have studied thoroughly one of them--say the life of ,st4 ,antony by ,st4 ,athanasius--is to have had in our hands 7whether we knew it or not7 the key to many a lock1 which just now refuses either to be tampered with or burst open4 ,i have determined1 therefore1 to give a few of these lives1 translated as literally as possible4 ,thus the reader will then have no reason to fear a garbled or partial account of personages so difficult to conceive or understand4 ,he will be able to see the men as wholes2 to judge 7according to his light7 of their merits and their defects4 ,the very style of their biographers 7which is copied as literally as is compatible with the ,english tongue7 will teach him1 if he be wise1 somewhat of the temper and habits of thought of the age in which they lived2 and one of these original documents1 with its honesty1 its vivid touches of contemporary manners1 its intense earnestness1 will give1 perhaps1 a more true picture of the whole hermit movement than 7with all respect1 be it said7 the most brilliant general panorama4 ,it is impossible to give in this series all the lives of the early hermits--even of those contained in ,rosweyde4 ,this volume will contain1 therefore1 only the most important and most famous lives of the ,egyptian1 ,syrian1 and ,persian hermits1 followed1 perhaps1 by a few later biographies from ,western ,europe1 as proofs that the hermit-type1 as it spread toward the ,atlantic1 remained still the same as in the ,egyptian desert4 ,against one modern mistake the reader must be warned2 the theory1 namely1 that these biographies were written as religious romances2 edifying1 but not historical2 to be admired1 but not believed4 ,there is not the slightest evidence that such was the case4 ,the lives of these1 and most other saints 7certainly those in this volume71 were written by men who believed the stories themselves1 after such inquiry into the facts as they deemed necessary2 who knew that others would believe them2 and who intended that they should do so2 and the stones were believed accordingly1 and taken as matter of fact for the most practical purposes by the whole of ,christendom4 ,the forging of miracles1 like the forging of charters1 for the honour of a particular shrine1 or the advantage of a particular monastery1 belongs to a much later and much worse age2 and1 whatsoever we may think of the taste of the authors of these lives1 or of their faculty for judging of evidence1 we must at least give them credit for being earnest men1 incapable of what would have been in their eyes1 and ought to be in ours1 not merely falsehood1 but impiety4 ,let the reader be sure of this--that these documents would not have exercised their enormous influence on the human mind1 had there not been in them1 under whatever accidents of credulity1 and even absurdity1 an element of sincerity1 virtue1 and nobility4 ,,saint ,,antony ,,the life of ,antony1 by ,athanasius1 is perhaps the most important of all these biographies2 because first1 ,antony was generally held to be the first great example and preacher of the hermit life2 because next1 ,athanasius1 his biographer1 having by his controversial writings established the orthodox faith as it is now held alike by ,romanists1 ,greeks1 and ,protestants1 did1 by his publication of the life of ,antony1 establish the hermit life as the ideal 7in his opinion7 of ,christian excellence2 and lastly1 because that biography exercised a most potent influence on the conversion of ,st4 ,augustine1 the greatest thinker 7always excepting ,st4 ,paul7 whom the world had seen since ,plato1 whom the world was to see again till ,lord ,bacon2 the theologian and philosopher 7for he was the latter1 as well as the former1 in the strictest sense7 to whom the world owes1 not only the formulizing of the whole scheme of the universe for a thousand years after his death1 but ,calvinism 7wrongly so called7 in all its forms1 whether held by the ,augustinian party in the ,church of ,rome1 or the 8,reformed0 ,churches of ,geneva1 ,france1 and ,scotland4 ,whether we have the exact text of the document as ,athanasius wrote it to the 8,foreign ,brethren0--probably the religious folk of ,trves--in the ,greek version published by ,heschelius in #afaa1 and in certain earlier ,greek texts2 whether the ,latin translation attributed to ,evagrius1 which has been well known for centuries past in the ,latin ,church1 be actually his2 whether it be exactly that of which ,st4 ,jerome speaks1 and whether it be exactly that which ,st4 ,augustine saw1 are questions which it is now impossible to decide4 ,but of the genuineness of the life in its entirety we have no right to doubt1 contrary to the verdicts of the most distinguished scholars1 whether ,protestant or ,catholic2 and there is fair reason to suppose that the document 7allowing for errors and variations of transcribers7 which ,i have tried to translate1 is that of which the great ,st4 ,augustine speaks in the eighth book of his ,confessions4 ,he tells us that he was reclaimed at last from a profligate life 7the thought of honourable marriage seems never to have entered his mind71 by meeting1 while practising as a rhetorician at ,trves1 an old ,african acquaintance1 named ,potitanius1 an officer of rank4 ,what followed no words can express so well as those of the great genius himself4 8,when ,i told him that ,i was giving much attention to those writings 7the ,epistles of ,paul71 we began to talk1 and he to tell1 of ,antony1 the monk of ,egypt1 whose name was then very famous among thy servants3 #bc but was unknown to us till that moment4 ,when he discovered that1 he spent some time over the subject1 detailing his virtues1 and wondering at our ignorance4 ,we were astounded at hearing such well-attested marvels of him1 so recent and almost contemporaneous1 wrought in the right faith of the ,catholic ,church4 ,we all wondered3 we1 that they were so great2 and he1 that we had not heard of them4 ,thence his discourse ran on to those flocks of hermit-cells1 and the morals of thy sweetness1 and the fruitful deserts of the wilderness1 of which we knew nought4 ,there was a monastery1 too1 at ,milan1 full of good brethren1 outside the city walls1 under the tutelage of ,ambrosius1 and we knew nothing of it4 ,he went on still speaking1 and we listened intently2 and it befell that he told us how1 ,i know not when1 he and three of his mess companions at ,trves1 while the emperor was engaged in an afternoon spectacle in the circus1 went out for a walk in the gardens round the walls2 and as they walked there in pairs1 one with him alone1 and the two others by themselves1 they parted4 ,and those two1 straying about1 burst into a cottage1 where dwelt certain servants of thine1 poor in spirit1 of such as is the kingdom of heaven2 and there found a book1 in which was written the life of ,antony4 ,one of them began to read it1 and to wonder1 and to be warned2 and1 as he read1 to think of taking up such a life1 and leaving the warfare of this world to serve thee4 ,now1 he was one of those whom they call ,managers of ,affairs4 #bd ,then1 suddenly filled with holy love and sober shame1 angered at himself1 he cast his eyes on his friend1 and said1 #8,tell me1 prithee1 with all these labours of ours1 whither are we trying to get8 ,what are we seeking8 ,for what are we soldiering8 ,can we have a higher hope in the palace1 than to become friends of the emperor8 ,and when there1 what is not frail and full of dangers8 ,and through how many dangers we do not arrive at a greater danger still8 ,and how long will that last8 ,but if ,i choose to become a friend of ,god1 ,i can do it here and now4' ,he spoke thus1 and1 swelling in the labour-pangs of a new life1 he fixed his eyes again on the pages and read1 and was changed inwardly as thou lookedst on him1 and his mind was stripped of the world1 as soon appeared4 ,for while he read1 and rolled over the billows of his soul1 he shuddered and hesitated from time to time1 and resolved better things2 and already thine1 he said to his friend1 #8,i have already torn myself from that hope of ours1 and have settled to serve ,god2 and this ,i begin from this hour1 in this very place4 ,if you do not like to imitate me1 do not oppose me4' ,he replied that he would cling to his companion in such a great service and so great a warfare4 ,and both1 now thine1 began building1 at their own cost1 the tower of leaving all things and following thee4 ,then ,potitianus1 and the man who was talking with him elsewhere in the garden1 seeking them1 came to the same place1 and warned them to return1 as the sun was getting low4 ,they1 however1 told their resolution1 and how it had sprung up and taken strong hold in them1 and entreated the others not to give them pain4 ,they1 not altered from their former mode of life1 yet wept 7as he told us7 for themselves2 and congratulated them piously1 and commended themselves to their prayers2 and then dragging their hearts along the earth1 went back to the palace4 ,but the others1 fixing their hearts on heaven1 remained in the cottage4 ,and both of them had affianced brides1 who1 when they heard this1 dedicated their virginity to thee40 ,the part which this incident played in ,st4 ,augustine's own conversion must be told hereafter in his life4 ,but the scene which his master-hand has drawn is not merely the drama of his own soul or of these two young officers1 but of a whole empire4 ,it is1 as ,i said at first1 the tragedy and suicide of the old empire2 and the birth-agony of which he speaks was not that of an individual soul here or there1 but of a whole new world1 for good and evil4 ,the old ,roman soul was dead within1 the body of it dead without4 ,patriotism1 duty1 purpose of life1 save pleasure1 money1 and intrigue1 had perished4 ,the young ,roman officer had nothing left for which to fight2 the young ,roman gentleman nothing left for which to be a citizen and an owner of lands4 ,even the old ,roman longing 7which was also a sacred duty7 of leaving an heir to perpetuate his name1 and serve the state as his fathers had before him--even that was gone4 ,nothing was left1 with the many1 but selfishness1 which could rise at best into the desire of saving every man his own soul1 and so transform worldliness into other-worldliness4 ,the old empire could do nothing more for man2 and knew that it could do nothing2 and lay down in the hermit's cell to die4 ,trves was then 8the second metropolis of the empire10 boasting1 perhaps1 even then1 as it boasts still1 that it was standing thirteen hundred years before ,rome was built4 ,amid the low hills1 pierced by rocky dells1 and on a strath of richest soil1 it had grown1 from the mud-hut town of the ,treviri1 into a noble city of palaces1 theatres1 baths1 triumphal-arches1 on either side the broad and clear ,moselle4 ,the bridge which ,augustus had thrown across the river1 four hundred years before the times of hermits and of saints1 stood like a cliff through all barbarian invasions1 through all the battles and sieges of the ,middle ,age1 till it was blown up by the ,french in the wars of ,louis ,,xiv41 and nought remains save the huge piers of black lava stemming the blue stream2 while up and down the dwindled city1 the colossal fragments of ,roman work--the ,black ,gate1 the ,heidenthurm1 the baths1 the ,basilica or ,hall of ,justice1 now a ,lutheran church--stand out half ruined1 like the fossil bones of giants amid the works of weaker1 though of happier times2 while the amphitheatre was till late years planted thick with vines1 fattening in soil drenched with the blood of thousands4 ,trves had been the haunt of emperor after emperor1 men wise and strong1 cruel and terrible2--of ,constantius1 ,constantine the ,great1 ,julian1 ,valentinian1 ,valens2 and lastly1 when ,potitianus's friends found those poor monks in the garden #bg of ,gratian1 the gentle hunter who thought day and night on sport1 till his arrows were said to be instinct with life1 was holding his military court within the walls of ,trves1 or at that hunting palace on the northern downs1 where still on the bath-floors lie the mosaics of hare and deer1 and boar and hound1 on which the feet of ,emperors trod full fifteen hundred years ago4 ,still glorious outwardly1 like the ,roman empire itself1 was that great city of ,trves2 but inwardly it was full of rottenness and weakness4 ,the ,roman empire had been1 in spite of all its crimes1 for four hundred years the salt of the earth3 but now the salt had lost its savour2 and in one generation more it would be trodden under foot and cast upon the dunghill1 and another empire would take its place1--the empire1 not of brute strength and self-indulgence1 but of sympathy and self-denial1--an empire1 not of ,csars1 but of hermits4 ,already was ,gratian the friend and pupil of ,st4 ,ambrose of ,milan2 already1 too1 was he persecuting1 though not to the death1 heretics and heathens4 ,nay1 some fifty years before 7if the legend can be in the least trusted7 had ,st4 ,helena1 the mother of ,constantine the ,great1 returned from ,palestine1 bearing with her--so men believed--not only the miraculously discovered cross of ,christ1 but the seamless coat which he had worn2 and1 turning her palace into a church1 deposited the holy coat therein3 where--so some believe--it remains until this day4 ,men felt that a change was coming1 but whence it would come1 or how terrible it would be1 they could not tell4 ,it was to be1 as the prophet says1 8like the bulging out of a great wall1 which bursteth suddenly in an instant40 ,in the very amphitheatre where ,gratian sat that afternoon1 with all the folk of ,trves about him1 watching1 it may be1 lions and antelopes from ,africa slaughtered--it may be criminals tortured to death--another and an uglier sight had been twice seen some seventy years before4 ,constantine1 so-called the ,great1 had there exhibited his 8,frankish sports10 the 8magnificent spectacle10 the 8famous punishments10 as his flattering court-historians called them3 thousands of ,frank prisoners1 many of them of noble1 and even of royal blood1 torn to pieces by wild beasts1 while they stood fearless1 smiling with folded arms2 and when the wild beasts were gorged1 and slew no more1 weapons were put into the hands of the survivors1 and they were bidden to fight to the death for the amusement of their ,roman lords4 ,but fight they would not against their own flesh and blood3 and as for life1 all chance of that was long gone by4 ,so every man fell joyfully upon his brother's sword1 and1 dying like a ,german man1 spoilt the sport of the good folk of ,trves4 ,and it seemed for a while as if there were no ,god in heaven who cared to avenge such deeds of blood4 ,for the kinsmen1 it may be the very sons1 of those ,franks were now in ,gratian's pay2 and the ,frank ,merobaudes was his 8,count of the ,domestics10 and one of his most successful and trusted generals2 and all seemed to go well1 and brute force and craft to triumph on the earth4 ,and yet those two young staff officers1 when they left the imperial court for the hermit's cell1 judged1 on the whole1 prudently and well1 and chose the better part when they fled from the world to escape the 8dangers0 of ambition1 and the 8greater danger still0 of success4 ,for they escaped1 not merely from vice and worldliness1 but1 as the event proved1 from imminent danger of death if they kept the loyalty which they had sworn to their emperor2 or the worse evil of baseness if they turned traitors to him to save their lives4 ,for little thought ,gratian1 as he sat in that amphitheatre1 that the day was coming when he1 the hunter of game--and of heretics--would be hunted in his turn2 when1 deserted by his army1 betrayed by ,merobaudes--whose elder kinsfolk were not likely to have kept him ignorant of 8the ,frankish sports0--he should flee pitiably towards ,italy1 and die by a ,german hand2 some say near ,lyons1 some say near ,belgrade1 calling on ,ambrose with his latest breath4 #bi ,little thought1 too1 the good folk of ,trves1 as they sat beneath the vast awning that afternoon1 that within the next half century a day of vengeance was coming for them1 which should teach them that there was a ,god who 8maketh inquisition for blood20 a day when ,trves should be sacked in blood and flame by those very 8barbarian0 ,germans whom they fancied their allies--or their slaves4 ,and least of all did they fancy that1 when that great destruction fell upon their city1 the only element in it which would pass safely through the fire and rise again1 and raise their city to new glory and power1 was that which was represented by those poor hermits in the garden-hut outside4 ,little thought they that above the awful arches of the ,black ,gate--as if in mockery of the ,roman ,power--a lean anchorite would take his stand1 ,simeon of ,syracuse by name1 a monk of ,mount ,sinai1 and there imitate1 in the far ,west1 the austerities of ,st4 ,simeon ,stylites in the ,east1 and be enrolled in the new ,pantheon1 not of ,csars1 but of ,saints4 ,under the supposed patronage of those ,saints1 ,trves rose again out of its ruins4 ,it gained its four great abbeys of ,st4 ,maximus 7on the site of ,constantine's palace72 ,st4 ,matthias1 in the crypt whereof the bodies of the monks never decay2 #cj ,st4 ,martin2 and ,st4 ,mary of the ,four ,martyrs1 where four soldiers of the famous ,theban legion are said to have suffered martyrdom by the house of the ,roman prefect4 ,it had its cathedral of ,st4 ,peter and ,st4 ,helena1 supposed to be built out of ,st4 ,helena's palace2 its exquisite ,liebfrauenkirche2 its palace of the old ,archbishops1 mighty potentates of this world1 as well as of the kingdom of heaven4 ,for they were princes1 arch-chancellors1 electors of the empire1 owning many a league of fertile land1 governing1 and that kindly and justly1 towns and villages of ,christian men1 and now and then going out to war1 at the head of their own knights and yeomen1 in defence of their lands1 and of the saints whose servants and trustees they were2 and so became1 according to their light and their means1 the salt of that land for many generations4 ,and after a while that salt1 too1 lost its savour1 and was1 in its turn1 trodden under foot4 ,the ,french republican wars swept away the ecclesiastical constitution and the wealth of the ancient city4 ,the cathedral and churches were stripped of relics1 of jewels1 of treasures of early art4 ,the ,prince-bishop's palace is a barrack2 so was lately ,st4 ,maximus's shrine2 ,st4 ,martin's a china manufactory1 and ,st4 ,matthias's a school4 ,trves belongs to ,prussia1 and not to 8,holy ,church20 and all the old splendours of the 8empire of the saints0 are almost as much ruinate as those of the 8empire of the ,romans40 ,so goes the world1 because there is a living ,god4 8,the old order changeth1 giving place to the new2 ,and ,god fulfils himself in many ways1 ,lest one good custom should corrupt the world40 ,but though palaces and amphitheatres be gone1 the gardens outside still bloom on as when ,potitianus his friends wandered through them1 perpetual as ,nature's self2 and perpetual as ,nature1 too1 endures whatever is good and true of that afternoon's work1 and of that finding of the legend of ,st4 ,antony in the monk's cabin1 which fixed the destiny of the great genius of the ,latin ,church4 ,the story of ,st4 ,antony1 as it has been handed down to us1 #cb runs thus3-- 99 99 99 99 99 ,the life and conversation of our holy ,father ,antony1 written and sent to the monks in foreign parts by our ,father among the saints1 ,athanasius1 ,archbishop of ,alexandria4 ,you have begun a noble rivalry with the monks of ,egypt1 having determined either to equal or even to surpass them in your training towards virtue2 for there are monasteries already among you1 and the monastic life is practised4 ,this purpose of yours one may justly praise2 and if you pray1 ,god will bring it to perfection4 ,but since you have also asked me about the conversation of the holy ,antony1 wishing to learn how he began his training1 and who he was before it1 and what sort of an end he made to his life1 and whether what is said of him is true1 in order that you may bring yourselves to emulate him1 with great readiness ,i received your command4 ,for to me1 too1 it is a great gain and benefit only to remember ,antony2 and ,i know that you1 when you hear of him1 after you have wondered at the man1 will wish also to emulate his purpose4 ,for the life of ,antony is for monks a perfect pattern of ascetic training4 ,what1 then1 you have heard about him from other informants do not disbelieve1 but rather think that you have heard from them a small part of the facts4 ,for in any case1 they could hardly relate fully such great matters1 when even ,i1 at your request1 howsoever much ,i may tell you in my letter1 can only send you a little which ,i remember about him4 ,but do not cease to inquire of those who sail from hence2 for perhaps1 if each tells what he knows1 at last his history may be worthily compiled4 ,i had wished1 indeed1 when ,i received your letter1 to send for some of the monks who were wont to be most frequently in his company1 that ,i might learn something more1 and send you a fuller account4 ,but since both the season of navigation limited me1 and the letter-carrier was in haste1 ,i hastened to write to your piety what ,i myself know 7for ,i have often seen him71 and what ,i was able to learn from one who followed him for no short time1 and poured water upon his hands2 always taking care of the truth1 in order that no one when he hears too much may disbelieve1 nor again1 if he learns less than is needful1 despise the man4 ,antony was an ,egyptian by race1 born of noble parents1 #cc who had a sufficient property of their own3 and as they were ,christians1 he too was ,christianly brought up1 and when a boy was nourished in the house of his parents1 besides whom and his home he knew nought4 ,but when he grew older1 he would not be taught letters1 #cd not wishing to mix with other boys2 but all his longing was 7according to what is written of ,jacob7 to dwell simply in his own house4 ,but when his parents took him into the ,lord's house1 he was not saucy1 like a boy1 nor inattentive as he grew older2 but was subject to his parents1 and attentive to what was read1 turning it to his own account4 ,nor again 7as a boy who was moderately well off7 did he trouble his parents for various and expensive dainties1 nor did he run after the pleasures of this life2 but was content with what he found1 and asked for nothing more4 ,when his parents died1 he was left alone with a little sister1 when he was about eighteen or twenty years of age1 and took care both of his house and of her4 ,but not six months after their death1 as he was going as usual to the ,lord's house1 and collecting his thoughts1 he meditated as he walked how the ,apostles had left all and followed the ,saviour2 and how those in the ,acts brought the price of what they had sold1 and laid it at the ,apostles' feet1 to be given away to the poor2 and what and how great a hope was laid up for them in heaven4 ,with this in his mind1 he entered the church4 ,and it befell then that the ,gospel was being read2 and he heard how the ,lord had said to the rich man1 8,if thou wilt be perfect1 go1 sell all thou hast1 and give to the poor2 and come1 follow me1 and thou shalt have treasure in heaven40 ,antony1 therefore1 as if the remembrance of the saints had come to him from ,god1 and as if the lesson had been read on his account1 went forth at once from the ,lord's house1 and gave away to those of his own village the possessions he had inherited from his ancestors 7three hundred plough-lands1 fertile and very fair71 that they might give no trouble either to him or his sister4 ,all his moveables he sold1 and a considerable sum which he received for them he gave to the poor4 ,but having kept back a little for his sister1 when he went again into the ,lord's house he heard the ,lord saying in the ,gospel1 8,take no thought for the morrow10 and1 unable to endure any more delay1 he went out and distributed that too to the needy4 ,and having committed his sister to known and faithful virgins1 and given to her wherewith to be educated in a nunnery1 he himself thenceforth devoted himself1 outside his house1 to training2 #ce taking heed to himself1 and using himself severely4 ,for monasteries were not then common in ,egypt1 nor did any monks at all know the wide desert2 but each who wished to take heed to himself exercised himself alone1 not far from his own village4 ,there was then in the next village an old man1 who had trained himself in a solitary life from his youth4 ,when ,antony saw him1 he emulated him in that which is noble4 ,and first he began to stay outside the village2 and then1 if he heard of any earnest man1 he went to seek him1 like a wise bee2 and did not return till he had seen him1 and having got from him 7as it were7 provision for his journey toward virtue1 went his way4 ,so dwelling there at first1 he settled his mind neither to look back towards his parents' wealth nor to recollect his relations2 but he put all his longing and all his earnestness on training himself more intensely4 ,for the rest he worked with his hands1 because he had heard1 8,if any man will not work1 neither let him eat20 and of his earnings he spent some on himself and some on the needy4 ,he prayed continually1 because he knew that one ought to pray secretly1 without ceasing4 ,he attended1 also1 so much to what was read1 that1 with him1 none of the ,scriptures fell to the ground1 but he retained them all1 and for the future his memory served him instead of books4 ,behaving thus1 ,antony was beloved by all2 and submitted truly to the earnest men to whom he used to go4 ,and from each of them he learnt some improvement in his earnestness and his training3 he contemplated the courtesy of one1 and another's assiduity in prayer2 another's freedom from anger2 another's love of mankind3 he took heed to one as he watched2 to another as he studied3 one he admired for his endurance1 another for his fasting and sleeping on the ground2 he laid to heart the meekness of one1 and the long-suffering of another2 and stamped upon his memory the devotion to ,christ and the mutual love which all in common possessed4 ,and thus filled full1 he returned to his own place of training1 gathering to himself what he had got from each1 and striving to show all their qualities in himself4 ,he never emulated those of his own age1 save in what is best2 and did that so as to pain no one1 but make all rejoice over him4 ,and all in the village who loved good1 seeing him thus1 called him the friend of ,god2 and some embraced him as a son1 some as a brother4 ,picture3 ,life of ,st4 ,anthony ,but the devil1 who hates and envies what is noble1 would not endure such a purpose in a youth3 but attempted against him all that he is wont to do2 suggesting to him the remembrance of his wealth1 care for his sister1 relation to his kindred1 love of money1 love of glory1 the various pleasures of luxury1 and the other solaces of life2 and then the harshness of virtue1 and its great toil2 and the weakness of his body1 and the length of time2 and altogether raised a great dust-cloud of arguments in his mind1 trying to turn him back from his righteous choice4 ,but when the enemy saw himself to be too weak for ,antony's determination1 but rather baffled by his stoutness1 and overthrown by his great faith1 and falling before his continual prayers1 then he attacked him with the temptations which he is wont to use against young men2 4 4 4 4 but he protected his body with faith1 prayers1 and fastings1 4 4 4 setting his thoughts on ,christ1 and on his own nobility through ,christ1 and on the rational faculties of his soul1 4 4 4 and again on the terrors of the fire1 and the torment of the worm1 4 4 4 and thus escaped unhurt4 ,and thus was the enemy brought to shame4 ,for he who thought himself to be equal with ,god was now mocked by a youth2 and he who boasted against flesh and blood was defeated by a man clothed in flesh4 ,for the ,lord worked with him1 who bore flesh on our account1 and gave to the body victory over the devil1 that each man in his battle may say1 8,not ,i1 but the grace of ,god which is with me40 ,at last1 when the dragon could not overthrow ,antony even thus1 but saw himself thrust out of his heart1 then gnashing his teeth 7as is written71 and as if beside himself1 he appeared to the sight1 as he is to the reason1 as a black child1 and as it were falling down before him1 no longer attempted to argue 7for the deceiver was cast out71 but using a human voice1 said1 8,i have deceived many2 ,i have cast down many4 ,but now1 as in the case of many1 so in thine1 ,i have been worsted in the battle40 ,then when ,antony asked him1 8,who art thou who speakest thus to me80 he forthwith replied in a pitiable voice1 8,i am the spirit of impurity404 4 4 ,then ,antony gave thanks to ,god1 and gaining courage1 said1 8,thou art utterly despicable2 for thou art black of soul1 and weak as a child2 nor shall ,i henceforth cast one thought on thee4 ,for the ,lord is my helper1 and ,i shall despise my enemies40 ,that black being1 hearing this1 fled forthwith1 cowering at his words1 and afraid thenceforth of coming near the man4 ,this was ,antony's first struggle against the devil3 or rather this mighty deed in him was the ,saviour's1 who condemned sin in the flesh that the righteousness of the ,lord should be fulfilled in us1 who walk not after the flesh1 but after the ,spirit4 ,but neither did ,antony1 because the dmon had fallen1 grow careless and despise him2 neither did the enemy1 when worsted by him1 cease from lying in ambush against him4 ,for he came round again as a lion1 seeking a pretence against him4 ,but ,antony had learnt from ,scripture that many are the devices of the enemy2 and continually kept up his training1 considering that1 though he had not deceived his heart by pleasure1 he would try some other snares4 ,for the dmon delights in sin4 ,therefore he chastised his body more and more1 and brought it into slavery1 lest1 having conquered in one case1 he should be tripped up in others4 ,he determined1 therefore1 to accustom himself to a still more severe life2 and many wondered at him3 but the labour was to him easy to bear4 ,for the readiness of the spirit1 through long usage1 had created a good habit in him1 so that1 taking a very slight hint from others1 he showed great earnestness in it4 ,for he watched so much1 that he often passed the whole night without sleep2 and that not once1 but often1 to the astonishment of men4 ,he ate once a day1 after the setting of the sun1 and sometimes only once in two days1 often even in four2 his food was bread with salt1 his drink nothing but water4 ,to speak of flesh and wine there is no need1 for such a thing is not found among other earnest men4 ,when he slept he was content with a rush-mat3 but mostly he lay on the bare ground4 ,he would not anoint himself with oil1 saying that it was more fit for young men to be earnest in training1 than to seek things which softened the body2 and that they must accustom themselves to labour1 according to the ,apostle's saying1 8,when ,i am weak1 then ,i am strong20 for that the mind was strengthened as bodily pleasure was weakened4 ,and this argument of his was truly wonderful4 ,for he did not measure the path of virtue1 nor his going away into retirement on account of it1 by time2 but by his own desire and will4 ,so forgetting the past1 he daily1 as if beginning afresh1 took more pains to improve1 saying over to himself continually the ,apostle's words1 8,forgetting what is behind1 stretching forward to what is before20 and mindful1 too1 of ,elias' speech1 8,the ,lord liveth1 before whom ,i stand this day40 ,for he held1 that by mentioning to-day1 he took no account of past time3 but1 as if he were laying down a beginning1 he tried earnestly to make himself day by day fit to appear before ,god1 pure in heart1 and ready to obey his will1 and no other4 ,and he said in himself that the ascetic ought for ever to be learning his own life from the manners of the great ,elias1 as from a mirror4 ,antony1 having thus1 as it were1 bound himself1 went to the tombs1 which happened to be some way from the village2 and having bidden one of his acquaintances to bring him bread at intervals of many days1 he entered one of the tombs1 and1 shutting the door upon himself1 remained there alone4 ,but the enemy1 not enduring that1 but rather terrified lest in a little while he should fill the desert with his training1 coming one night with a multitude of dmons1 beat him so much with stripes1 that he lay speechless from the torture4 ,for he asserted that the pain was so great that no blows given by men could cause such agony4 ,but by the providence of ,god 7for the ,lord does not overlook those who hope in him71 the next day his acquaintance came1 bringing him the loaves4 ,and having opened the door1 and seeing him lying on the ground for dead1 he carried him to the ,lord's house in the village1 and laid him on the ground2 and many of his kinsfolk and the villagers sat round him1 as round a corpse4 ,but about midnight1 ,antony coming to himself1 and waking up1 saw them all sleeping1 and only his acquaintance awake1 and1 nodding to him to approach1 begged him to carry him back to the tombs1 without waking any one4 ,when that was done1 the doors were shut1 and he remained as before1 alone inside4 ,and1 because he could not stand on account of the dmons' blows1 he prayed prostrate4 ,and after his prayer1 he said with a shout1 8,here am ,i1 ,antony3 ,i do not fly from your stripes2 yea1 if you do yet more1 nothing shall separate me from the love of ,christ40 ,and then he sang1 8,if an host be laid against me1 yet shall not my heart be afraid40 ,thus thought and spoke the man who was training himself4 ,but the enemy1 hater of what is noble1 and envious1 wondering that he dared to return after the stripes1 called together his dogs1 and bursting with rage1--8,ye see10 he said1 8that we have not stopped this man by the spirit of impurity2 nor by blows3 but he is even growing bolder against us4 ,let us attack him some other way40 #da ,for it is easy for the devil to invent schemes of mischief4 ,so then in the night they made such a crash1 that the whole place seemed shaken1 and the dmons1 as if breaking in the four walls of the room1 seemed to enter through them1 changing themselves into the shapes of beasts and creeping things2 #db and the place was forthwith filled with shapes of lions1 bears1 leopards1 bulls1 and snakes1 asps1 scorpions1 and wolves1 and each of them moved according to his own fashion4 ,the lion roared1 longing to attack2 the bull seemed to toss2 the serpent did not cease creeping1 and the wolf rushed upon him2 and altogether the noises of all the apparitions were dreadful1 and their tempers cruel4 ,but ,antony1 scourged and pierced by them1 felt a more dreadful bodily pain than before3 but he lay unshaken and awake in spirit4 ,he groaned at the pain of his body3 but clear in intellect1 and as it were mocking1 he said1 8,if there were any power in you1 it were enough that one of you should come on2 but since the ,lord has made you weak1 therefore you try to frighten me by mere numbers4 ,and a proof of your weakness is1 that you imitate the shapes of brute animals40 ,and taking courage1 he said again1 8,if ye can1 and have received power against me1 delay not1 but attack2 but if ye cannot1 why do ye disturb me in vain8 ,for a seal to us and a wall of safety is our faith in the ,lord40 ,the dmons1 having made many efforts1 gnashed their teeth at him1 because he rather mocked at them1 than they at him4 ,but neither then did the ,lord forget ,antony's wrestling1 but appeared to help him4 ,for1 looking up1 he saw the roof as it were opened and a ray of light coming down towards him4 ,the dmons suddenly became invisible1 and the pain of his body forthwith ceased1 and the building became quite whole4 ,but ,antony1 feeling the succour1 and getting his breath again1 and freed from pain1 questioned the vision which appeared1 saying1 8,where wert thou8 ,why didst thou not appear to me from the first1 to stop my pangs80 ,and a voice came to him1 8,antony1 ,i was here1 but ,i waited to see thy fight4 ,therefore1 since thou hast withstood1 and not been worsted1 ,i will be to thee always a succour1 and will make thee become famous everywhere40 ,hearing this1 he rose and prayed1 and was so strong1 that he felt that he had more power in his body than he had before4 ,he was then about thirty-and-five years old4 ,and on the morrow he went out1 and was yet more eager for devotion to ,god2 and1 going to that old man aforesaid1 he asked him to dwell with him in the desert4 ,but when he declined1 because of his age1 and because no such custom had yet arisen1 he himself straightway set off to the mountain4 ,but the enemy again1 seeing his earnestness1 and wishing to hinder it1 cast in his way the phantom of a great silver plate4 ,but ,antony1 perceiving the trick of him who hates what is noble1 stopped4 ,and he judged the plate worthless1 seeing the devil in it2 and said1 8,whence comes a plate in the desert8 ,this is no beaten way1 nor is there here the footstep of any traveller4 ,had it fallen1 it could not have been unperceived1 from its great size2 and besides1 he who lost it would have turned back and found it1 because the place is desert4 ,this is a trick of the devil4 ,thou shalt not hinder1 devil1 my determination by this3 let it go with thee into perdition40 ,and as ,antony said that1 it vanished1 as smoke from before the face of the fire4 ,then again he saw1 not this time a phantom1 but real gold lying in the way as he came up4 ,but whether the enemy showed it him1 or whether some better power1 which was trying the athlete1 and showing the devil that he did not care for real wealth2 neither did he tell1 nor do we know1 save that it was real gold4 ,antony1 wondering at the abundance of it1 so stepped over it as over fire1 and so passed it by1 that he never turned1 but ran on in haste1 until he had lost sight of the place4 ,and growing even more and more intense in his determination1 he rushed up the mountain1 and finding an empty inclosure full of creeping things on account of its age1 he betook himself across the river1 and dwelt in it4 ,the creeping things1 as if pursued by some one1 straightway left the place3 but he blocked up the entry1 having taken with him loaves for six months 7for the ,thebans do this1 and they often remain a whole year fresh71 and having water with him1 entering1 as into a sanctuary1 into that monastery1 #dd he remained alone1 never going forth1 and never looking at any one who came4 ,thus he passed a long time there training himself1 and only twice a year received loaves1 let down from above through the roof4 ,but those of his acquaintance who came to him1 as they often remained days and nights outside 7for he did not allow any one to enter71 used to hear as it were crowds inside clamouring1 thundering1 lamenting1 crying--8,depart from our ground4 ,what dost thou even in the desert8 ,thou canst not abide our onset40 ,at first those without thought that there were some men fighting with him1 and that they had got in by ladders3 but when1 peeping in through a crack1 they saw no one1 then they took for granted that they were dmons1 and being terrified1 called themselves on ,antony4 ,but he rather listened to them than cared for the others4 ,for his acquaintances came up continually1 expecting to find him dead1 and heard him singing1 8,let the ,lord arise1 and his enemies shall be scattered2 and let them who hate him flee before him4 ,as wax melts from before the face of the fire1 so shall sinners perish from before the face of ,god40 ,and again1 8,all nations compassed me round about1 and in the name of the ,lord ,i repelled them40 ,he endured then for twenty years1 thus training himself alone2 neither going forth1 nor seen by any one for long periods of time4 ,but after this1 when many longed for him1 and wished to imitate his training1 and others who knew him came1 and were bursting in the door by force1 ,antony came forth as from some inner shrine1 initiated into the mysteries1 and bearing the ,god4 #de ,and then first he appeared out of the inclosure to those who were coming to him4 ,and when they saw him they wondered2 for his body had kept the same habit1 and had neither grown fat1 nor lean from fasting1 nor worn by fighting with the dmons4 ,for he was just such as they had known him before his retirement4 ,they wondered again at the purity of his soul1 because it was neither contracted as if by grief1 nor relaxed by pleasure1 nor possessed by laughter or by depression2 for he was neither troubled at beholding the crowd1 nor over-joyful at being saluted by too many2 but was altogether equal1 as being governed by reason1 and standing on that which is according to nature4 ,many sufferers in body who were present did the ,lord heal by him2 and others he purged from dmons4 ,and he gave to ,antony grace in speaking1 so that he comforted many who grieved1 and reconciled others who were at variance1 exhorting all to prefer nothing in the world to the love of ,christ1 and persuading and exhorting them to be mindful of the good things to come1 and of the love of ,god towards us1 who spared not his own son1 but delivered him up for us all4 ,he persuaded many to choose the solitary life2 and so thenceforth cells sprang up in the mountains1 and the desert was colonized by monks1 who went forth from their own1 and registered themselves in the city which is in heaven4 ,and when he had need to cross the ,arsenoite ,canal 7and the need was the superintendence of the brethren71 the canal was full of crocodiles4 ,and having only prayed1 he entered it2 and both he and all who were with him went through it unharmed4 ,but when he returned to the cell1 he persisted in the noble labours of his youth2 and by continued exhortations he increased the willingness of those who were already monks1 and stirred to love of training the greater number of the rest2 and quickly1 as his speech drew men on1 the cells became more numerous2 and he governed them all as a father4 ,and when he had gone forth one day1 and all the monks had come to him desiring to hear some word from him1 he spake to them in the ,egyptian tongue1 thus--8,that the ,scriptures were sufficient for instruction1 but that it was good for us to exhort each other in the faith40 4 4 4 ,here follows a long sermon1 historically important1 as being the earliest ,christian attempt to reduce to a science dmonology and the temptation of dmons3 but its involved and rhetorical form proves sufficiently that it could not have been delivered by an unlettered man like ,antony4 ,neither is it1 probably1 even composed by ,st4 ,athanasius2 it seems rather1 like several other passages in this biography1 the interpolation of some later scribe4 ,it has been1 therefore1 omitted4 ,and when ,antony had spoken thus1 all rejoiced2 and in one the love of virtue was increased1 in another negligence stirred up1 and in others conceit stopped1 while all were persuaded to despise the plots of the devil1 wondering at the grace which had been given to ,antony by the ,lord for the discernment of spirits4 ,so the cells in the mountains were like tents filled with divine choirs1 singing1 discoursing1 fasting1 praying1 rejoicing over the hope of the future1 working that they might give alms thereof1 and having love and concord with each other4 ,and there was really to be seen1 as it were1 a land by itself1 of piety and justice2 for there was none there who did wrong1 or suffered wrong3 no blame from any talebearer3 but a multitude of men training themselves1 and in all of them a mind set on virtue4 ,so that any one seeing the cells1 and such an array of monks1 would have cried out1 and said1 8,how fair are thy dwellings1 ,o ,jacob1 and thy tents1 ,o ,israel2 like shady groves and like parks beside a river1 and like tents which the ,lord hath pitched1 and like cedars by the waters40 ,he himself1 meanwhile1 withdrawing1 according to his custom1 alone to his own cell1 increased the severity of his training4 ,and he groaned daily1 considering the mansions in heaven1 and setting his longing on them1 and looking at the ephemeral life of man4 ,for even when he was going to eat or sleep1 he was ashamed1 when he considered the rational element of his soul2 so that often1 when he was about to eat with many other monks1 he remembered the spiritual food1 and declined1 and went far away from them2 thinking that he should blush if he was seen by others eating4 ,he ate1 nevertheless1 by himself1 on account of the necessities of the body2 and often1 too1 with the brethren1 being bashful with regard to them1 but plucking up heart for the sake of saying something that might be useful2 and used to tell them that they ought to give all their leisure rather to the soul than to the body2 and that they should grant a very little time to the body1 for mere necessity's sake3 but that their whole leisure should be rather given to the soul1 and should seek her profit1 that she may not be drawn down by the pleasures of the body1 but rather the body be led captive by her4 ,for this 7he said7 was what was spoken by the ,saviour1 8,be not anxious for your soul1 what ye shall eat2 nor for your body1 what ye shall put on4 ,and seek not what ye shall eat1 nor what ye shall drink1 neither let your minds be in suspense3 for after all these things the nations of the world seek3 but your ,father knoweth that ye need all these things4 ,rather seek first his kingdom2 and all these things shall be added unto you40 ,after these things1 the persecution which happened under the ,maximinus of that time1 #di laid hold of the ,church2 and when the holy martyrs were brought to ,alexandria1 ,antony too followed1 leaving his cell1 and saying1 8,let us depart too1 that we may wrestle if we be called1 or see them wrestling40 ,and he longed to be a martyr himself1 but1 not choosing to give himself up1 he ministered to the confessors in the mines1 and in the prisons4 ,and he was very earnest in the judgment-hall to excite the readiness of those who were called upon to wrestle2 and to receive and bring on their way1 till they were perfected1 those of them who went to martyrdom4 ,at last the judge1 seeing the fearlessness and earnestness of him and those who were with him1 commanded that none of the monks should appear in the judgment-hall1 or haunt at all in the city4 ,so all the rest thought good to hide themselves that day2 but ,antony cared so much for the order1 that he all the rather washed his cloak1 and stood next day upon a high place1 and appeared to the ,general in shining white4 ,therefore1 when all the rest wondered1 and the ,general saw him1 and passed by with his array1 he stood fearless1 showing forth the readiness of us ,christians4 ,for he himself prayed to be a martyr1 as ,i have said1 and was like one grieved1 because he had not borne his witness4 ,but the ,lord was preserving him for our benefit1 and that of the rest1 that he might become a teacher to many in the training which he had learnt from ,scripture4 ,for many1 when they only saw his manner of life1 were eager to emulate it4 ,so he again ministered continually to the confessors2 and1 as if bound with them1 wearied himself in his services4 ,and when at last the persecution ceased1 and the blessed ,bishop ,peter had been martyred1 he left the city1 and went back to his cell4 ,and he was there1 day by day1 a martyr in his conscience1 and wrestling in the conflict of faith2 for he imposed on himself a much more severe training than before2 and his garment was within of hair1 without of skin1 which he kept till his end4 ,he neither washed his body with water1 nor ever cleansed his feet1 nor actually endured putting them into water unless it were necessary4 ,and no one ever saw him unclothed till he was dead and about to be buried4 ,when1 then1 he retired1 and had resolved neither to go forth himself1 nor to receive any one1 one ,martinianus1 a captain of soldiers1 came and gave trouble to ,antony4 ,for he had with him his daughter1 who was tormented by a dmon4 ,and while he remained a long time knocking at the door1 and expecting him to come to pray to ,god for the child1 ,antony could not bear to open1 but leaning from above1 said1 8,man1 why criest thou to me8 ,i1 too1 am a man1 as thou art4 ,but if thou believest1 pray to ,god1 and it comes to pass40 ,forthwith1 therefore1 he believed1 and called on ,christ2 and went away1 with his daughter cleansed from the dmon4 ,and many other things the ,lord did by him1 saying1 8,ask1 and it shall be given you40 ,for most of the sufferers1 when he did not open the door1 only sat down outside the cell1 and believing1 and praying honestly1 were cleansed4 ,but when he saw himself troubled by many1 and not being permitted to retire1 as he wished1 being afraid lest he himself should be puffed up by what the ,lord was doing by him1 or lest others should count of him above what he was1 he resolved to go to the ,upper ,thebaid1 to those who knew him not4 ,and1 in fact1 having taken loaves from the brethren1 he sat down on the bank of the river1 watching for a boat to pass1 that he might embark and go up in it4 ,and as he watched1 a voice came to him3 8,antony1 whither art thou going1 and why80 ,and he1 not terrified1 but as one accustomed to be often called thus1 answered when he heard it1 8,because the crowds will not let me be at rest2 therefore am ,i minded to go up to the ,upper ,thebaid1 on account of the many annoyances which befall me2 and1 above all1 because they ask of me things beyond my strength40 ,and the voice said to him1 8,even if thou goest up to the ,thebaid1 even if1 as thou art minded to do1 thou goest down the cattle pastures1 #eb;a thou wilt have to endure more1 and double trouble2 but if thou wilt really be at rest1 go now into the inner desert40 ,and when ,antony said1 8,who will show me the way1 for ,i have not tried it80 forthwith it showed him ,saracens who were going to journey that road4 ,so1 going to them1 and drawing near them1 ,antony asked leave to depart with them into the desert4 ,but they1 as if by an ordinance of ,providence1 willingly received him2 and1 journeying three days and three nights with them1 he came to a very high mountain2 #eb;b and there was water under the mountain1 clear1 sweet1 and very cold2 and a plain outside2 and a few neglected date-palms4 ,then ,antony1 as if stirred by ,god1 loved the spot2 for this it was what he had pointed out who spoke to him beside the river bank4 ,at first1 then1 having received bread from those who journeyed with him1 he remained alone in the mount1 no one else being with him4 ,for he recognised that place as his own home1 and kept it thenceforth4 ,and the ,saracens themselves1 seeing ,antony's readiness1 came that way on purpose1 and joyfully brought him loaves2 and he had1 too1 the solace of the dates1 which was then little and paltry4 ,but after this1 the brethren1 having found out the spot1 like children remembering their father1 were anxious to send things to him2 but ,antony saw that1 in bringing him bread1 some there were put to trouble and fatigue2 and1 sparing the monks even in that1 took counsel with himself1 and asked some who came to him to bring him a hoe and a hatchet1 and a little corn2 and when these were brought1 having gone over the land round the mountain1 he found a very narrow place which was suitable1 and tilled it2 and1 having plenty of water to irrigate it1 he sowed2 and1 doing this year by year1 he got his bread from thence1 rejoicing that he should be troublesome to no one on that account1 and that he was keeping himself free from obligation in all things4 ,but after this1 seeing again some people coming1 he planted also a very few pot-herbs1 that he who came might have some small solace after the labour of that hard journey4 ,at first1 however1 the wild beasts in the desert1 coming on account of the water1 often hurt his crops and his tillage2 but he1 gently laying hold of one of them1 said to them all1 8,why do you hurt me1 who have not hurt you8 ,depart1 and1 in the name of the ,lord1 never come near this place40 ,and from that time forward1 as if they were afraid of his command1 they never came near the place4 ,so he was there alone in the inner mountain1 having leisure for prayer and for training4 ,but the brethren who ministered to him asked him that1 coming every month1 they might bring him olives1 and pulse1 and oil2 for1 after all1 he was old4 ,and while he had his conversation there1 what great wrestlings he endured1 according to that which is written1 8,not against flesh and blood1 but against the dmons who are our adversaries10 we have known from those who went in to him4 ,for there also they heard tumults1 and many voices1 and clashing as of arms2 and they beheld the mount by night full of wild beasts1 and they looked on him1 too1 fighting1 as it were1 with beings whom he saw1 and praying against them4 ,and those who came to him he bade be of good courage1 but he himself wrestled1 bending his knees1 and praying to the ,lord4 ,and it was truly worthy of wonder that1 alone in such a desert1 he was neither cowed by the dmons who beset him1 nor1 while there were there so many four-footed and creeping beasts1 was at all afraid of their fierceness3 but1 as is written1 trusted in the ,lord like the ,mount ,zion1 having his reason unshaken and untost2 so that the dmons rather fled1 and the wild beasts1 as is written1 were at peace with him4 ,nevertheless1 the devil 7as ,david sings7 watched ,antony1 and gnashed upon him with his teeth4 ,but ,antony was comforted by the ,saviour1 remaining unhurt by his craft and manifold artifices4 ,for on him1 when he was awake at night1 he let loose wild beasts2 and almost all the hynas in that desert1 coming out of their burrows1 beset him round1 and he was in the midst4 ,and when each gaped on him and threatened to bite him1 perceiving the art of the enemy1 he said to them all1 8,if ye have received power against me1 ,i am ready to be devoured by you3 but if ye have been set on by dmons1 delay not1 but withdraw1 for ,i am a servant of ,christ40 ,when ,antony said this1 they fled1 pursued by his words as by a whip4 ,next after a few days1 as he was working--for he took care1 too1 to labour--some one standing at the door pulled the plait that he was working4 ,for he was weaving baskets1 which he used to give to those who came1 in return for what they brought him4 ,and rising up1 he saw a beast1 like a man down to his thighs1 but having legs and feet like an ass2 and ,antony only crossed himself and said1 8,i am a servant of ,christ4 ,if thou hast been sent against me1 behold1 here ,i am40 ,and the beast with its dmons fled away1 so that in its haste it fell and died4 ,now the death of the beast was the fall of the dmons4 ,for they were eager to do everything to bring him back out of the desert1 but could not prevail4 ,and being once asked by the monks to come down to them1 and to visit awhile them and their places1 he journeyed with the monks who came to meet him4 ,and a camel carried their loaves and their water2 for that desert is all dry1 and there is no drinkable water unless in that mountain alone whence they drew their water1 and where his cell is4 ,but when the water failed on the journey1 and the heat was most intense1 they all began to be in danger2 for going round to various places1 and finding no water1 they could walk no more1 but lay down on the ground1 and they let the camel go1 and gave themselves up4 ,but the old man1 seeing them all in danger1 was utterly grieved1 and groaned2 and departing a little way from them1 and bending his knees and stretching out his hands1 he prayed1 and forthwith the ,lord caused water to come out where he had stopped and prayed4 ,and thus all of them drinking took breath again2 and having filled their skins1 they sought the camel1 and found her2 for it befell that the halter had been twisted round a stone1 and thus she had been stopped4 ,so1 having brought her back1 and given her to drink1 they put the skins on her1 and went through their journey unharmed4 ,and when they came to the outer cells all embraced him1 looking on him as a father4 ,and he1 as if he brought them guest-gifts from the mountain1 gave them away to them in his words1 and shared his benefits among them4 ,and there was joy again in the mountains1 and zeal for improvement1 and comfort through their faith in each other4 ,and he too rejoiced1 seeing the willingness of the monks1 and his sister grown old in maidenhood1 and herself the leader of other virgins4 ,and so after certain days he went back again to the mountain4 ,and after that many came to him2 and others who suffered dared also to come4 ,now to all the monks who came to him he gave continually this command3 ,to trust in the ,lord and love him1 and to keep themselves from foul thoughts and fleshly pleasures2 and1 as is written in the ,parables1 not to be deceived by fulness of bread2 and to avoid vainglory2 and to pray continually2 and to sing before sleep and after sleep2 and to lay by in their hearts the commandment of ,scripture2 and to remember the works of the saints1 in order to have their souls attuned to emulate them4 ,but especially he counselled them to meditate continually on the ,apostle's saying1 8,let not the sun go down upon your wrath20 and this he said was spoken of all commandments in common1 in order that not on wrath alone1 but on every other sin1 the sun should never go down2 for it was noble and necessary that the sun should never condemn us for a baseness by day1 nor the moon for a sin or even a thought by night2 therefore1 in order that that which is noble may be preserved in us1 it was good to hear and to keep what the ,apostle commanded3 for he said3 8,judge yourselves1 and prove yourselves40 ,let each then take account with himself1 day by day1 of his daily and nightly deeds2 and if he has not sinned1 let him not boast1 but let him endure in what is good and not be negligent1 neither condemn his neighbour1 neither justify himself1 as said the blessed ,apostle ,paul1 until the ,lord comes who searches secret things4 ,for we often deceive ourselves in what we do1 and we indeed know not3 but the ,lord comprehends all4 ,giving therefore the judgment to ,him1 let us sympathise with each other2 and let us bear each other's burdens1 and examine ourselves2 and what we are behind in1 let us be eager to fill up4 ,and let this1 too1 be my counsel for safety against sinning4 ,let us each note and write down the deeds and motions of the soul as if he were about to relate them to each other2 and be confident that1 as we shall be utterly ashamed that they should be known1 we shall cease from sinning1 and even from desiring anything mean4 ,for who when he sins wishes to be harmed thereby8 ,or who1 having sinned1 does not rather lie1 wishing to hide it8 ,as therefore when in each other's sight we dare not commit a crime1 so if we write down our thoughts1 and tell them to each other1 we shall keep ourselves the more from foul thoughts1 for shame lest they should be known4 4 4 4 ,and thus forming ourselves we shall be able to bring the body into slavery1 and please the ,lord on the one hand1 and on the other trample on the snares of the enemy40 ,this was his exhortation to those who met him3 but with those who suffered he suffered1 and prayed with them4 ,and often and in many things the ,lord heard him2 and neither when he was heard did he boast2 nor when he was not heard did he murmur3 but1 remaining always the same1 gave thanks to the ,lord4 ,and those who suffered he exhorted to keep up heart1 and to know that the power of cure was none of his1 nor of any man's2 but only belonged to ,god1 who works when and whatsoever he chooses4 ,so the sufferers received this as a remedy1 learning not to despise the old man's words1 but rather to keep up heart2 and those who were cured learned not to bless ,antony1 but ,god alone4 ,for instance1 one called ,fronto1 who belonged to the palace1 and had a grievous disease 7for he gnawed his own tongue1 and tried to injure his eyes71 came to the mountain and asked ,antony to pray for him4 ,and when he had prayed he said to ,fronto1 8,depart1 and be healed40 ,and when he resisted1 and remained within some days1 ,antony continued saying1 8,thou canst not be healed if thou remainest here2 go forth1 and as soon as thou enterest ,egypt1 thou shalt see the sign which shall befall thee40 ,he1 believing1 went forth2 and as soon as he only saw ,egypt he was freed from his disease1 and became sound according to the word of ,antony1 which he had learnt by prayer from the ,saviour 4 4 4 ,here follows a story of a girl cured of a painful complaint3 which need not be translated4 ,but when two brethren were coming to him1 and water failed them on the journey1 one of them died1 and the other was about to die4 ,in fact1 being no longer able to walk1 he too lay upon the ground expecting death4 ,but ,antony1 as he sat on the mountain1 called two monks who happened to be there1 and hastened them1 saying1 8,take a pitcher of water1 and run on the road towards ,egypt2 for of two who are coming hither one has just expired1 and the other will do so if you do not hasten4 ,for this has been showed to me as ,i prayed40 ,so the monks going found the one lying dead1 and buried him2 and the other they recovered with the water1 and brought him to the old man4 ,now the distance was a day's journey4 ,but if any one should ask why he did not speak before one of them expired1 he does not question rightly2 for the judgment of that death did not belong to ,antony1 but to ,god1 who both judged concerning the one2 and revealed concerning the other4 ,but this alone in ,antony was wonderful1 that sitting on the mountain he kept his heart watchful1 and the ,lord showed him things afar off4 ,for once again1 as he sat on the mountain and looked up1 he saw some one carried aloft1 and a great rejoicing among some who met him4 ,then wondering1 and blessing such a choir1 he prayed to be taught what that might be2 and straightway a voice came to him that this was the soul of ,ammon1 the monk in ,nitria1 #fj who had persevered as an ascetic to his old age2 and the distance from ,nitria to the mountain where ,antony was1 is thirteen days' journey4 ,those then who were with ,antony1 seeing the old man wondering1 asked the reason1 and heard that ,ammon had just expired1 for he was known to them on account of his having frequently come thither1 and many signs having been worked by him1 of which this is one4 4 4 4 ,here follows the story 7probably an interpolation7 of ,ammon's being miraculously carried across the river ,lycus1 because he was ashamed to undress himself4 ,but the monks to whom ,antony spoke about ,ammon's death noted down the day2 and when brethren came from ,nitria after thirty days1 they inquired and learnt that ,ammon had fallen asleep at the day and hour in which the old man saw his soul carried aloft4 ,and all on both sides wondered at the purity of ,antony's soul2 how he had learnt and seen instantly what had happened thirteen days' journey off4 ,moreover1 ,archeleas the ,count1 finding him once in the outer mountain praying alone1 asked him concerning ,polycratia1 that wonderful and ,christ-bearing maiden in ,laodicea2 for she suffered dreadful internal pain from her extreme training1 and was altogether weak in body4 ,antony1 therefore1 prayed2 and the ,count noted down the day on which the prayer was offered4 ,and going back to ,laodicea1 he found the maiden cured2 and asking when and on what day her malady had ceased1 he brought out the paper on which he had written down the date of the prayer4 ,and when she told him1 he showed at once the writing on the paper4 ,and all found that the ,lord had stopped her sufferings while ,antony was still praying and calling for her on the goodness of the ,saviour4 ,and concerning those who came to him1 he often predicted some days1 or even a month1 beforehand1 and the cause why they were coming4 ,for some came only to see him1 and others on account of sickness1 and others because they suffered from dmons1 and all thought the labour of the journey no trouble nor harm1 for each went back aware that he had been benefited4 ,and when he spoke and looked thus1 he asked no one to marvel at him on that account1 but to marvel rather at the ,lord1 because he had given us1 who are but men1 grace to know him according to our powers4 ,and as he was going down again to the outer cells1 and was minded to enter a boat and pray with the monks1 he alone perceived a dreadfully evil odour1 and when those in the boat told him that they had fish and brine on board1 and that it was they which smelt1 he said that it was a different smell2 and while he was yet speaking1 a youth1 who had an evil spirit1 had gone before them and hidden in the boat1 suddenly cried out4 ,but the dmon1 being rebuked in the name of our ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 went out of him1 and the man became whole1 and all knew that the smell had come from the evil spirit4 ,and there was another man of high rank who came to him1 having a dmon1 and one so terrible1 that the possessed man did not know that he was going to ,antony1 but showed the common symptoms of mania4 ,those who brought him entreated ,antony to pray over him1 which he did1 feeling for the young man1 and he watched beside him all night4 ,but about dawn1 the young man1 suddenly rushing on ,antony1 assaulted him4 ,when those who came with him were indignant1 ,antony said1 8,be not hard upon the youth1 for it is not he1 but the dmon in him2 and because he has been rebuked1 and commanded to go forth into dry places1 he has become furious1 and done this4 ,glorify1 therefore1 the ,lord for his having thus rushed upon me1 as a sign to you that the dmon is going out40 ,and as ,antony said this1 the youth suddenly became sound1 and1 recovering his reason1 knew where he was1 and embraced the old man1 giving thanks to ,god4 ,and most of the monks agree unanimously that many like things were done by him3 yet are they not so wonderful as what follows4 ,for once1 when he was going to eat1 and rose up to pray about the ninth hour1 he felt himself rapt in spirit2 and 7wonderful to relate7 as he stood he saw himself as it were taken out of himself1 and led into the air by some persons2 and then others1 bitter and terrible1 standing in the air1 and trying to prevent his passing upwards4 ,and when those who led him fought against them1 they demanded whether he was not accountable to them4 ,and when they began to take account of his deeds from his birth1 his guides stopped them1 saying1 8,what happened from his birth upwards1 the ,lord hath wiped out3 but of what has happened since he became a monk1 and made a promise to ,god1 of that you may demand an account40 ,then1 when they brought accusations against him1 and could not prove them1 the road was opened freely to him4 ,and straightway he saw himself as if coming back and standing before himself1 and was ,antony once more4 ,then1 forgetting that he had not eaten1 he remained the rest of the day and all night groaning and praying1 for he wondered when he saw against how many enemies we must wrestle1 and through how many labours a man must traverse the air2 and he remembered that it is this which the ,apostle means with regard to the ,prince of the power of the air2 for it is in the air that the enemy has his power1 fighting against those who pass through it1 and trying to hinder them4 ,wherefore1 also he especially exhorts us3 8,take the whole armour of ,god1 that the enemy1 having no evil to say about us1 may be ashamed40 ,but when we heard this1 we remembered the ,apostle's saying1 8,whether in the body ,i cannot tell1 or out of the body ,i cannot tell3 ,god knoweth40 ,but ,paul was caught up into the third heaven1 and1 having heard unspeakable words1 descended again2 but ,antony saw himself rapt in the air1 and wrestling till he seemed to be free4 ,again1 he had this grace1 that as he was sitting alone in the mountain1 if at any time he was puzzled in himself1 the thing was revealed to him by ,providence as he prayed2 and the blessed man was1 as ,scripture says1 taught of ,god4 ,after this1 at all events1 when he had been talking with some who came to him concerning the departure of the soul1 and what would be its place after this life1 the next night some one called him from without1 and said1 8,rise up1 ,antony2 come out and see40 ,so coming out 7for he knew whom he ought to obey71 he beheld a tall being1 shapeless and terrible1 standing and reaching to the clouds1 and as it were winged beings ascending2 and him stretching out his hands2 and some of them hindered by him1 and others flying above him1 and when they had once passed him1 borne upwards without trouble4 ,but against them that tall being gnashed his teeth1 while over those who fell1 he rejoiced4 ,and there came a voice to ,antony1 8,consider what thou seest40 ,and when his understanding was opened1 he perceived that it was the enemy who envies the faithful1 and that those who were in his power he mastered and hindered from passing2 but that those who had not obeyed him1 over them1 as over conquerors1 he had no power4 ,having seen this1 and as it were made mindful by it1 he struggled more and more daily to improve4 ,now these things he did not tell of his own accord2 but when he was long in prayer1 and astonished in himself1 those who were with him questioned him and urged him2 and he was forced to tell2 unable1 as a father1 to hide anything from his children2 and considering1 too1 that his own conscience was clear1 and the story would be profitable for them1 when they learned that the life of training bore good fruit1 and that visions often came as a solace of their toils4 ,but how tolerant was his temper1 and how humble his spirit2 for though he was so great1 he both honoured exceedingly the canon of the ,church1 and wished to put every ecclesiastic before himself in honour4 ,for to the bishops and presbyters he was not ashamed to bow his head2 and if a deacon ever came to him for the sake of profit1 he discoursed with him on what was profitable1 but in prayer he gave place to him1 not being ashamed even himself to learn from him4 #fe ,for he often asked questions1 and deigned to listen to all present1 confessing that he was profited if any one said aught that was useful4 ,moreover1 his countenance had great and wonderful grace2 and this gift too he had from the ,saviour4 ,for if he was present among the multitude of monks1 and any one who did not previously know him wished to see him1 as soon as he came he passed by all the rest1 and ran to ,antony himself1 as if attracted by his eyes4 ,he did not differ from the rest in stature or in stoutness1 but in the steadiness of his temper1 and purity of his soul2 for as his soul was undisturbed1 his outward senses were undisturbed likewise1 so that the cheerfulness of his soul made his face cheerful1 and from the movements of his body the stedfastness of his soul could be perceived1 according to the ,scripture1 8,when the heart is cheerful the countenance is glad2 but when sorrow comes it scowleth40 4 4 4 ,and he was altogether wonderful in faith1 and pious1 for he never communicated with the ,meletian #ff;a schismatics1 knowing their malice and apostasy from the beginning2 nor did he converse amicably with ,manichans or any other heretics1 save only to exhort them to be converted to piety4 ,for he held that their friendship and converse was injury and ruin to the soul4 ,so also he detested the heresy of the ,arians1 and exhorted all not to approach them1 nor hold their misbelief4 #ff;b ,in fact1 when certain of the ,ariomanites came to him1 having discerned them and found them impious1 he chased them out of the mountain1 saying that their words were worse than serpent's poison2 and when the ,arians once pretended that he was of the same opinion as they1 he was indignant and fierce against them4 ,then being sent for by the bishops and all the brethren1 he went down from the mountain1 and entering ,alexandria he denounced the ,arians1 saying1 that that was the last heresy1 and the forerunner of ,antichrist2 and he taught the people that the ,son of ,god was not a created thing1 neither made from nought1 but that he is the ,eternal ,word and ,wisdom of the ,essence of the ,father2 wherefore also it is impious to say there was a time when he was not1 for he was always the ,word co-existent with the ,father4 ,wherefore he said1 8,do not have any communication with these most impious ,arians2 for there is no communion between light and darkness4 ,for you are pious ,christians3 but they1 when they say that the ,son of ,god and the ,word1 who is from the ,father1 is a created being1 differ nought from the heathen1 because they worship the creature instead of ,god the ,creator4 #fg ,believe rather that the whole creation itself is indignant against them1 because they number the ,creator and ,lord of all1 in whom all things are made1 among created things40 ,all the people therefore rejoiced at hearing that ,christ-opposing heresy anathematized by such a man2 and all those in the city ran together to see ,antony and the ,greeks1 #fh;a and those who are called their priests #fh;b came into the church1 wishing to see the man of ,god2 for all called him by that name1 because there the ,lord cleansed many by him from dmons1 and healed those who were out of their mind4 ,and many heathens wished only to touch the old man1 believing that it would be of use to them2 and in fact as many became ,christians in those few days1 as would have been usually converted in a year4 ,and when some thought that the crowd troubled him1 and therefore turned all away from him1 he quietly said that they were not more numerous than the fiends with whom he wrestled on the mountain4 ,but when he left the city1 and we were setting him on his journey1 when we came to the gate a certain woman called to him3 8,wait1 man of ,god1 my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil2 wait1 ,i beseech thee1 lest ,i too harm myself with running after thee40 ,the old man hearing it1 and being asked by us1 waited willingly4 ,but when the woman drew near1 the child dashed itself on the ground2 and when ,antony prayed and called on the name of ,christ1 it rose up sound1 the unclean spirit having gone out2 and the mother blessed ,god1 and we all gave thanks3 and he himself rejoiced at leaving the city for the mountain1 as for his own home4 ,now he was very prudent2 and what was wonderful1 though he had never learnt letters1 he was a shrewd and understanding man4 ,once1 for example1 two ,greek philosophers came to him1 thinking that they could tempt ,antony4 ,and he was in the outer mountain2 and when he went out to them1 understanding the men from their countenances1 he said through an interpreter1 8,why have you troubled yourselves so much1 philosophers1 to come to a foolish man80 ,and when they answered that he was not foolish1 but rather very wise1 he said1 8,if you have come to a fool1 your labour is superfluous1 but if ye think me to be wise1 become as ,i am2 for we ought to copy what is good1 and if ,i had come to you1 ,i should have copied you2 but if you come to me1 copy me1 for ,i am a ,christian40 ,and they wondering went their way1 for they saw that even dmons were afraid of ,antony4 ,and again when others of the same class met him in the outer mountain1 and thought to mock him1 because he had not learnt letters1 ,antony answered1 8,but what do you say8 which is first1 the sense or the letters8 ,and which is the cause of the other1 the sense of the letters1 or the letters of the sense80 ,and when they said that the sense came first1 and invented the letters1 ,antony replied1 8,if then the sense be sound1 the letters are not needed40 ,which struck them1 and those present1 with astonishment4 ,so they went away wondering1 when they saw so much understanding in an unlearned man4 ,for though he had lived and grown old in the mountain1 his manners were not rustic1 but graceful and urbane2 and his speech was seasoned with the divine salt1 so that no man grudged at him1 but rather rejoiced over him1 as many as came4 4 4 4 ,here follows a long sermon against the heathen worship1 attributed to ,st4 ,antony1 but of very questionable authenticity3 the only point about it which is worthy of note is that ,antony confutes the philosophers by challenging them to cure some possessed persons1 and1 when they are unable to do so1 casts out the dmons himself by the sign of the cross4 ,the fame of ,antony reached even the kings1 for ,constantinus the ,augustus1 and his sons1 ,constantius and ,constans1 the ,augusti1 hearing of these things1 wrote to him as to a father1 and begged to receive an answer from him4 ,but he did not make much of the letters1 nor was puffed up by their messages2 and he was just the same as he was before the kings wrote to him4 ,and he called his monks and said1 8,wonder not if a king writes to us1 for he is but a man3 but wonder rather that ,god has written his law to man1 and spoken to us by his own ,son40 ,so he declined to receive their letters1 saying he did not know how to write an answer to such things2 but being admonished by the monks that the kings were ,christians1 and that they must not be scandalized by being despised1 he permitted the letters to be read1 and wrote an answer2 accepting them because they worshipped ,christ1 and counselling them1 for their salvation1 not to think the present life great1 but rather to remember judgment to come2 and to know that ,christ was the only true and eternal king2 and he begged them to be merciful to men1 and to think of justice and the poor4 ,and they1 when they received the answer1 rejoiced4 ,thus was he kindly towards all1 and all looked on him as their father4 ,he then betook himself again into the inner mountain1 and continued his accustomed training4 ,but often1 when he was sitting and walking with those who came unto him1 he was astounded1 as is written in ,daniel4 ,and after the space of an hour1 he told what had befallen to the brethren who were with him1 and they perceived that he had seen some vision4 ,often he saw in the mountain what was happening in ,egypt1 and told it to ,serapion the bishop1 who saw him occupied with a vision4 ,once1 for instance1 as he sat1 he fell as it were into an ecstasy1 and groaned much at what he saw4 ,then1 after an hour1 turning to those who were with him1 he groaned and fell into a trembling1 and rose up and prayed1 and bending his knees1 remained so a long while2 and then the old man rose up and wept4 ,the bystanders1 therefore1 trembling and altogether terrified1 asked him to tell them what had happened1 and tormented him much1 that he was forced to speak4 ,and he groaning greatly--8,ah6 my children10 he said1 8it were better to be dead before what ,i have seen shall come to pass40 ,and when they asked him again1 he said with tears1 that 8,wrath will seize on the ,church1 and she will be given over to men like unto brutes1 which have no understanding2 for ,i saw the table of the ,lord's house1 and mules standing all around it in a ring and kicking inwards1 as a herd does when it leaps in confusion2 and ye all perceived how ,i groaned1 for ,i heard a voice saying1 #8,my sanctuary shall be defiled4'0 ,this the old man saw1 and after two years there befell the present inroad of the ,arians1 #gb;a and the plunder of the churches1 when they carried off the holy vessels by violence1 and made the heathen carry them3 and when too they forced the heathens from the prisons to join them1 and in their presence did on the holy table what they would4 #gb;b ,then we all perceived that the kicks of those mules presignified to ,antony what the ,arians are now doing without understanding1 like the brutes4 ,but when ,antony saw this sight1 he exhorted those about him1 saying1 8,lose not heart1 children2 for as the ,lord has been angry1 so will he again be appeased1 and the ,church shall soon receive again her own order and shine forth as she is wont2 and ye shall see the persecuted restored to their place1 and impiety retreating again into its own dens1 and the pious faith speaking boldly everywhere with all freedom4 ,only defile not yourselves with the ,arians1 for this teaching is not of the ,apostle but of the dmons1 and of their father the devil3 barren and irrational and of an unsound mind1 like the irrational deeds of those mules40 ,thus spoke ,antony4 ,but we must not doubt whether so great wonders have been done by a man2 for the ,saviour's promise is1 8,if ye have faith as a grain of mustard-seed1 ye shall say to this mountain1 ,pass over from hence1 it shall pass over1 and nothing shall be impossible to you20 and again1 8,verily1 verily1 ,i say unto you1 if ye shall ask my ,father in my name1 he shall give it you4 ,ask1 and ye shall receive40 ,and he himself it is who said to his disciples and to all who believe in him1 8,heal the sick1 cast out devils2 freely ye have received1 freely give40 ,and certainly ,antony did not heal by his own authority1 but by praying and calling on ,christ2 so that it was plain to all that it was not he who did it1 but the ,lord1 who through ,antony showed love to men1 and healed the sufferers4 ,but ,antony's part was only the prayer and the training1 for the sake whereof1 sitting in the mountain1 he rejoiced in the sight of divine things1 and grieved when he was tormented by many1 and dragged to the outer mountain4 ,for all the magistrates asked him to come down from the mountain1 because it was impossible for them to go in thither to him on account of the litigants who followed him2 so they begged him to come1 that they might only behold him4 ,and when he declined they insisted1 and even sent in to him prisoners under the charge of soldiers1 that at least on their account he might come down4 ,so being forced by necessity1 and seeing them lamenting1 he came to the outer mountain4 ,and his labour this time too was profitable to many1 and his coming for their good4 ,to the magistrates1 too1 he was of use1 counselling them to prefer justice to all things1 and to fear ,god1 and to know that with what judgment they judged they should be judged in turn4 ,but he loved best of all his life in the mountain4 ,once again1 when he was compelled in the same way to leave it1 by those who were in want1 and by the general of the soldiers1 who entreated him earnestly1 he came down1 and having spoken to them somewhat of the things which conduced to salvation1 he was pressed also by those who were in need4 ,but being asked by the general to lengthen his stay1 he refused1 and persuaded him by a graceful parable1 saying1 8,fishes1 if they lie long on the dry land1 die2 so monks who stay with you lose their strength4 ,as the fishes then hasten to the sea1 so must we to the mountain1 lest if we delay we should forget what is within40 ,the general1 hearing this and much more from him1 said with surprise that he was truly a servant of ,god1 for whence could an unlearned man have so great sense if he were not loved by ,god8 ,another general1 named ,balacius1 bitterly persecuted us ,christians on account of his affection for those abominable ,arians4 ,his cruelty was so great that he even beat nuns1 and stripped and scourged monks4 ,antony sent him a letter to this effect3--8,i see wrath coming upon thee4 ,cease1 therefore1 to persecute the ,christians1 lest the wrath lay hold upon thee1 for it is near at hand40 ,but ,balacius1 laughing1 threw the letter on the ground and spat on it2 and insulted those who brought it1 bidding them tell ,antony1 8,since thou carest for monks1 ,i will soon come after thee likewise40 ,and not five days had passed1 when the wrath laid hold on him4 ,for ,balacius himself1 and ,nestorius1 the ,eparch of ,egypt1 went out to the first station from ,alexandria1 which is called ,chreas's4 ,both of them were riding on horses belonging to ,balacius1 and the most gentle in all his stud3 but before they had got to the place1 the horses began playing with each other1 as is their wont1 and suddenly the more gentle of the two1 on which ,nestorius was riding1 attacked ,balacius and pulled him off with his teeth1 and so tore his thigh that he was carried back to the city1 and died in three days4 ,and all wondered that what ,antony had so wonderfully foretold was so quickly fulfilled4 ,these were his warnings to the more cruel4 ,but the rest who came to him he so instructed that they gave up at once their lawsuits1 and blessed those who had retired from this life4 ,and those who had been unjustly used he so protected that you would think he and not they was the sufferer4 ,and he was so able to be of use to all2 so that many who were serving in the army1 and many wealthy men1 laid aside the burdens of life and became thenceforth monks2 and altogether he was like a physician given by ,god to ,egypt4 ,for who met him grieving1 and did not go away rejoicing8 ,who came mourning over his dead1 and did not forthwith lay aside his grief8 ,who came wrathful1 and was not converted to friendship8 ,what poor man came wearied out1 and when he saw and heard him did not despise wealth and comfort himself in his poverty8 ,what monk who had grown remiss1 was not strengthened by coming to him8 ,what young man coming to the mountain and looking upon ,antony1 did not forthwith renounce pleasure and love temperance8 ,who came to him tempted by devils1 and did not get rest8 ,who came troubled by doubts1 and did not get peace of mind8 ,for this was the great thing in ,antony's asceticism1 that 7as ,i have said before71 having the gift of discerning spirits1 he understood their movements1 and knew in what direction each of them turned his endeavours and his attacks4 ,and not only he was not deceived by them himself1 but he taught those who were troubled in mind how they might turn aside the plots of dmons1 teaching them the weakness and the craft of their enemies4 ,how many maidens1 too1 who had been already betrothed1 and only saw ,antony from afar1 remained unmarried for ,christ's sake6 ,some1 too1 came from foreign parts to him1 and all1 having gained some benefit1 went back from him as from a father4 ,and now he has fallen asleep1 all are as orphans who have lost a parent1 consoling themselves with his memory alone1 keeping his instructions and exhortations4 ,but what the end of his life was like1 it is fit that ,i should relate1 and you hear eagerly4 ,for it too is worthy of emulation4 ,he was visiting1 according to his wont1 the monks in the outer mountain1 and having learned from ,providence concerning his own end1 he said to the brethren1 8,this visit to you is my last1 and ,i wonder if we shall see each other again in this life4 ,it is time for me to set sail1 for ,i am near a hundred and five years old40 ,and when they heard that they wept1 and embraced and kissed the old man4 ,and he1 as if he was setting out from a foreign city to his own1 spoke joyfully1 and exhorted them not to grow idle in their labours or cowardly in their training1 but to live as those who died daily1 and 7as ,i said before7 to be earnest in keeping their souls from foul thoughts1 and to emulate the saints1 and not to draw near the ,meletian schismatics1 for 8ye know their evil and profane determinations1 nor to have any communion with the ,arians1 for their impiety also is manifest to all4 ,neither if ye shall see the magistrates patronising them1 be troubled1 for their phantasy shall have an end1 and is mortal and only for a little while4 ,keep yourselves therefore rather clean from them1 and hold that which has been handed down to you by the fathers1 and especially the faith in our ,lord ,jesus ,christ which ye have learned from ,scripture1 and of which ye have often been reminded by me40 ,and when the brethren tried to force him to stay with them and make his end there1 he would not endure it1 on many accounts1 as he showed by his silence2 and especially on this3--,the ,egyptians are wont to wrap in linen the corpses of good persons1 and especially of the holy martyrs1 but not to bury them underground1 but to lay them upon benches and keep them in their houses2 #gg thinking that by this they honour the departed4 ,now ,antony had often asked the bishops to exhort the people about this1 and in like manner he himself rebuked the laity and terrified the women2 saying that it was a thing neither lawful nor in any way holy2 for that the bodies of the patriarchs and prophets are to this day preserved in sepulchres1 and that the very body of our ,lord was laid in a sepulchre1 and a stone placed over it to hide it1 till he rose the third day4 ,and thus saying he showed that those broke the law who did not bury the corpses of the dead1 even if they were holy2 for what is greater or more holy than the ,lord's body8 ,many1 then1 when they heard him1 buried thenceforth underground2 and blessed the ,lord that they had been taught rightly4 ,being then aware of this1 and afraid lest they should do the same by his body1 he hurried himself1 and bade farewell to the monks in the outer mountain2 and coming to the inner mountain1 where he was wont to abide1 after a few months he grew sick1 and calling those who were by--and there were two of them who had remained there within fifteen years1 exercising themselves and ministering to him on account of his old age--he said to them1 8,i indeed go the way of the fathers1 as it is written1 for ,i perceive that ,i am called by the ,lord40 4 4 4 ,then follows a general exhortation to the monk1 almost identical with much that has gone before1 and ending by a command that his body should be buried in the ground4 8,and let this word of mine be kept by you1 so that no one shall know the place1 save you alone1 for ,i shall receive it 7my body7 incorruptible from my ,saviour in the resurrection of the dead4 ,and distribute my garments thus4 ,to ,athanasius the bishop give one of my sheepskins1 and the cloak under me1 which was new when he gave it me1 and has grown old by me2 and to ,serapion the bishop give the other sheepskin2 and do you have the hair-cloth garment4 ,and for the rest1 children1 farewell1 for ,antony is going1 and is with you no more40 ,saying thus1 when they had embraced him1 he stretched out his feet1 and1 as if he saw friends coming to him1 and grew joyful on their account 7for1 as he lay1 his countenance was bright71 he departed and was gathered to his fathers4 ,and they forthwith1 as he had commanded them1 preparing the body and wrapping it up1 hid it under ground3 and no one knows to this day where it is hidden1 save those two servants only4 ,and each 7i4e4 ,athanasius and ,serapion7 having received the sheepskin of the blessed ,antony1 and the cloak which he had worn out1 keeps them as a great possession4 ,for he who looks on them1 as it were1 sees ,antony2 and he who puts them on1 wears them with joy1 as he does ,antony's counsels4 ,such was the end of ,antony in the body1 and such the beginning of his training4 ,and if these things are small in comparison with his virtue1 yet reckon up from these things how great was ,antony1 the man of ,god1 who kept unchanged1 from his youth up to so great an age1 the earnestness of his training2 and was neither worsted in his old age by the desire of more delicate food1 nor on account of the weakness of his body altered the quality of his garment1 nor even washed his feet with water2 and yet remained uninjured in all his limbs3 for his eyes were undimmed and whole1 so that he saw well2 and not one of his teeth had fallen out1 but they were only worn down to his gums on account of his great age2 and he remained sound in hand and foot2 and1 in a word1 appeared ruddier and more ready for exertion than all who use various meats and baths1 and different dresses4 ,but that this man should be celebrated everywhere and wondered at by all1 and regretted even by those who never saw him1 is a proof of his virtue1 and that his soul was dear to ,god4 ,for ,antony became known not by writings1 not from the wisdom that is from without1 not by any art1 but by piety alone2 and that this was the gift of ,god1 none can deny4 ,for how as far as ,spain1 as ,gaul1 as ,rome1 as ,africa1 could he have been heard1 hidden as he was in a mountain1 if it had not been for ,god1 who makes known his own men everywhere1 and who had promised ,antony this from the beginning8 ,for even if they do their deeds in secret1 and wish to be concealed1 yet the ,lord shows them as lights to all1 that so those who hear of them may know that the commandments suffice to put men in the right way1 and may grow zealous of the path of virtue4 ,read then these things to the other brethren1 that they may learn what the life of monks should be1 and may believe that the ,lord ,jesus ,christ our ,saviour will glorify those who glorify him1 and that those who serve him to the end he will not only bring to the kingdom of heaven1 but that even if on earth they hide themselves and strive to get out of the way1 he will make them manifest and celebrated everywhere1 for the sake of their own virtue1 and for the benefit of others4 ,but if need be1 read this also to the heathens1 that even thus they may learn that our ,lord ,jesus ,christ is not only ,lord and the ,son of ,god1 but that those who truly serve him1 and believe piously on him1 not only prove that those dmons whom the ,greeks think are gods to be no gods1 but even tread them under foot1 and chase them out as deceivers and corrupters of men1 through ,jesus ,christ our ,lord1 to whom be glory and honour for ever and ever4 ,amen4 99 99 99 99 99 ,thus ends this strange story4 ,what we are to think of the miracles and wonders contained in it1 will be discussed at a later point in this book4 ,meanwhile there is a stranger story still connected with the life of ,st4 ,antony4 ,it professes to have been told by him himself to his monks2 and whatever groundwork of fact there may be in it is doubtless his4 ,the form in which we have it was given it by the famous ,st4 ,jerome1 who sends the tale as a letter to ,asella1 one of the many noble ,roman ladies whom he persuaded to embrace the monastic life4 ,the style is as well worth preserving as the matter4 ,its ruggedness and awkwardness1 its ambition and affectation1 contrasted with the graceful simplicity of ,athanasius's 8,life of ,antony10 mark well the difference between the cultivated ,greek and the ungraceful and half-barbarous ,roman of the later ,empire4 ,i have1 therefore1 given it as literally as possible1 that readers may judge for themselves how some of the ,great ,fathers of the fifth century wrote1 and what they believed4 ,,the ,,life ,,of ,,saint ,,paul1 ,,the ,,first ,,hermit ,,by ,,the ,,divine ,,hieronymus ,,the ,,priest4 7,,st4 ,,jerome47 ,,prologue ,,many have often doubted by which of the monks the desert was first inhabited4 ,for some1 looking for the beginnings of ,monachism in earlier ages1 have deduced it from the blessed ,elias and ,john2 of whom ,elias seems to us to have been rather a prophet than a monk2 and ,john to have begun to prophesy before he was born4 ,but others 7an opinion in which all the common people are agreed7 assert that ,antony was the head of this rule of life1 which is partly true4 ,for he was not so much himself the first of all1 as the man who excited the earnestness of all4 ,but ,amathas and ,macarius1 ,antony's disciples 7the former of whom buried his master's body71 even now affirm that a certain ,paul1 a ,theban1 was the beginner of the matter2 which 7not so much in name as in opinion7 we also hold to be true4 ,some scatter about1 as the fancy takes them1 both this and other stories2 inventing incredible tales of a man in a subterranean cave1 hairy down to his heels1 and many other things1 which it is tedious to follow out4 ,for1 as their lie is shameless1 their opinion does not seem worth refuting4 ,therefore1 because careful accounts of ,antony1 both in ,greek and ,roman style1 have been handed down1 ,i have determined to write a little about the beginning and end of ,paul's life2 more because the matter has been omitted1 than trusting to my own wit4 ,but how he lived during middle life1 or what stratagems of ,satan he endured1 is known to none4 ,,the ,,life ,,of ,,paul ,under ,decius and ,valerius1 the persecutors1 at the time when ,cornelius at ,rome1 and ,cyprian at ,carthage1 were condemned in blessed blood1 a cruel tempest swept over many ,churches in ,egypt and the ,thebaid4 ,christian subjects in those days longed to be smitten with the sword for the name of ,christ4 ,but the crafty enemy1 seeking out punishments which delayed death1 longed to slay souls1 not bodies4 ,and as ,cyprian himself 7who suffered by him7 says3 8,when they longed to die1 they were not allowed to be slain40 ,in order to make his cruelty better known1 we have set down two examples for remembrance4 ,a martyr1 persevering in the faith1 and conqueror amid racks and red-hot irons1 he commanded to be anointed with honey and laid on his back under a burning sun1 with his hands tied behind him2 in order1 forsooth1 that he who had already conquered the fiery gridiron1 might yield to the stings of flies4 99 99 99 99 99 ,in those days1 in the ,lower ,thebaid1 was ,paul left at the death of both his parents1 in a rich inheritance1 with a sister already married2 being about fifteen years old1 well taught in ,greek and ,egyptian letters1 gentle tempered1 loving ,god much2 and1 when the storm of persecution burst1 he withdrew into a distant city4 ,but 8,to what dost thou not urge the human breast ,curst hunger after gold80 ,his sister's husband was ready to betray him whom he should have concealed4 ,neither the tears of his wife1 the tie of blood1 or ,god who looks on all things from on high1 could call him back from his crime4 ,he was at hand1 ready to seize him1 making piety a pretext for cruelty4 ,the boy discovered it1 and fled into the desert hills4 ,once there he changed need into pleasure1 and going on1 and then stopping awhile1 again and again1 reached at last a stony cliff1 at the foot whereof was1 nigh at hand1 a great cave1 its mouth closed with a stone4 ,having moved which away 7as man's longing is to know the hidden71 exploring more greedily1 he sees within a great hall1 open to the sky above1 but shaded by the spreading boughs of an ancient palm2 and in it a clear spring1 the rill from which1 flowing a short space forth1 was sucked up again by the same soil which had given it birth4 ,there were besides in that cavernous mountain not a few dwellings1 in which he saw rusty anvils and hammers1 with which coin had been stamped of old4 ,for this place 7so books say7 was the workshop for base coin in the days when ,antony lived with ,cleopatra4 ,therefore1 in this beloved dwelling1 offered him as it were by ,god1 he spent all his life in prayer and solitude1 while the palm-tree gave him food and clothes2 which lest it should seem impossible to some1 ,i call ,jesus and his holy angels to witness that ,i have seen monks one of whom1 shut up for thirty years1 lived on barley bread and muddy water2 another in an old cistern1 which in the country speech they call the ,syrian's bed1 was kept alive on five figs each day4 ,these things1 therefore1 will seem incredible to those who do not believe2 for to those who do believe all things are possible4 ,but to return thither whence ,i digressed4 ,when the blessed ,paul had been leading the heavenly life on earth for #aac years1 and ,antony1 ninety years old1 was dwelling in another solitude1 this thought 7so ,antony was wont to assert7 entered his mind--that no monk more perfect than he had settled in the desert4 ,but as he lay still by night1 it was revealed to him that there was another monk beyond him far better than he1 to visit whom he must set out4 ,so when the light broke1 the venerable old man1 supporting his weak limbs on a staff1 began to will to go1 he knew not whither4 ,and now the mid day1 with the sun roasting above1 grew fierce2 and yet he was not turned from the journey he had begun1 saying1 8,i trust in my ,god1 that he will show his servant that which he has promised40 ,and as he spake1 he sees a man half horse1 to whom the poets have given the name of ,hippocentaur4 ,seeing whom1 he crosses his forehead with the salutary impression of the ,cross1 and1 8,here60 he says1 8in what part here does a servant of ,god dwell80 ,but he1 growling ,i know not what barbarous sound1 and grinding rather than uttering1 the words1 attempted a courteous speech from lips rough with bristles1 and1 stretching out his right hand1 pointed to the way2 then1 fleeing swiftly across the open plains1 vanished from the eyes of the wondering ,antony4 ,but whether the devil took this form to terrify him2 or whether the desert1 fertile 7as is its wont7 in monstrous animals1 begets that beast likewise1 we hold as uncertain4 ,so ,antony1 astonished1 and thinking over what he had seen1 goes forward4 ,soon afterwards1 he sees in a stony valley a short manikin1 with crooked nose and brow rough with horns1 whose lower parts ended in goat's feet4 ,undismayed by this spectacle likewise1 ,antony seized1 like a good warrior1 the shield of faith and habergeon of hope2 the animal1 however1 was bringing him dates1 as food for his journey1 and a pledge of peace4 ,when he saw that1 ,antony pushed on1 and1 asking him who he was1 was answered1 8,i am a mortal1 and one of the inhabitants of the desert1 whom the ,gentiles1 deluded by various errors1 worship by the name of ,fauns1 ,satyrs1 and ,incubi4 ,i come as ambassador from our herd1 that thou mayest pray for us to the common ,god1 who1 we know1 has come for the salvation of the world1 and his sound is gone out into all lands40 ,as he spoke thus1 the aged wayfarer bedewed his face plenteously with tears1 which the greatness of his joy had poured forth as signs of his heart4 ,for he rejoiced at the glory of ,christ1 and the destruction of ,satan2 and1 wondering at the same time that he could understand the creature's speech1 he smote on the ground with his staff1 and said1 8,woe to thee1 ,alexandria1 who worshippest portents instead of ,god6 ,woe to thee1 harlot city1 into which all the demons of the world have flowed together6 ,what wilt thou say now8 ,beasts talk of ,christ1 and thou worshippest portents instead of ,god40 ,he had hardly finished his words1 when the swift beast fled away as upon wings4 ,lest this should move a scruple in any one on account of its incredibility1 it was corroborated1 in the reign of ,constantine1 by the testimony of the whole world4 ,for a man of that kind1 being led alive to ,alexandria1 afforded a great spectacle to the people2 and afterwards the lifeless carcase1 being salted lest it should decay in the summer heat1 was brought to ,antioch1 to be seen by the ,emperor4 ,but--to go on with my tale--,antony went on through that region1 seeing only the tracks of wild beasts1 and the wide waste of the desert4 ,what he should do1 or whither turn1 he knew not4 ,a second day had now run by4 ,one thing remained1 to be confident that he could not be deserted by ,christ4 ,all night through he spent a second darkness in prayer1 and while the light was still dim1 he sees afar a she-wolf1 panting with heat and thirst1 creeping in at the foot of the mountain4 ,following her with his eyes1 and drawing nigh to the cave when the beast was gone1 he began to look in3 but in vain2 for the darkness stopped his view4 ,however1 as the ,scripture saith1 perfect love casteth out fear2 with gentle step and bated breath the cunning explorer entered1 and going forward slowly1 and stopping often1 watched for a sound4 ,at length he saw afar off a light through the horror of the darkness2 hastened on more greedily2 struck his foot against a stone2 and made a noise1 at which the blessed ,paul shut and barred his door1 which had stood open4 ,then ,antony1 casting himself down before the entrance1 prayed there till the sixth hour1 and more1 to be let in1 saying1 8,who ,i am1 and whence1 and why ,i am come1 thou knowest4 ,i know that ,i deserve not to see thy face2 yet1 unless ,i see thee1 ,i will not return4 ,thou who receivest beasts1 why repellest thou a man8 ,i have sought1 and ,i have found4 ,i knock1 that it may be opened to me3 which if ,i win not1 here will ,i die before thy gate4 ,surely thou shalt at least bury my corpse40 8,persisting thus he spoke1 and stood there fixed3 ,to whom the hero shortly thus replied40 8,no one begs thus to threaten4 ,no one does injury with tears4 ,and dost thou wonder why ,i do not let thee in1 seeing thou art a mortal guest80 ,then ,paul1 smiling1 opened the door4 ,they mingled mutual embraces1 and saluted each other by their names1 and committed themselves in common to the grace of ,god4 ,and after the holy kiss1 ,paul sitting down with ,antony thus began-- 8,behold him1 whom thou hast sought with such labour2 with limbs decayed by age1 and covered with unkempt white hair4 ,behold1 thou seest but a mortal1 soon to become dust4 ,but1 because charity bears all things1 tell me1 ,i pray thee1 how fares the human race8 whether new houses are rising in the ancient cities8 by what emperor is the world governed8 whether there are any left who are led captive by the deceits of the devil80 ,as they spoke thus1 they saw a raven settle on a bough2 who1 flying gently down1 laid1 to their wonder1 a whole loaf before them4 ,when he was gone1 8,ah10 said ,paul1 8the ,lord1 truly loving1 truly merciful1 hath sent us a meal4 ,for sixty years past ,i have received daily half a loaf1 but at thy coming ,christ hath doubled his soldiers' allowance40 ,then1 having thanked ,god1 they sat down on the brink of the glassy spring4 ,but here a contention arising as to which of them should break the loaf1 occupied the day till well-nigh evening4 ,paul insisted1 as the host2 ,antony declined1 as the younger man4 ,at last it was agreed that they should take hold of the loaf at opposite ends1 and each pull towards himself1 and keep what was left in his hand4 ,next they stooped down1 and drank a little water from the spring2 then1 immolating to ,god the sacrifice of praise1 passed the night watching4 ,and when day dawned again1 the blessed ,paul said to ,antony1 8,i knew long since1 brother1 that thou wert dwelling in these lands2 long since ,god had promised thee to me as a fellow servant3 but because the time of my falling asleep is now come1 and 7because ,i always longed to depart1 and to be with ,christ7 there is laid up for me when ,i have finished my course a crown of righteousness2 therefore thou art sent from the ,lord to cover my corpse with mould1 and give back dust to dust40 ,antony1 hearing this1 prayed him with tears and groans not to desert him1 but take him as his companion on such a journey4 ,but he said1 8,thou must not seek the things which are thine own1 but the things of others4 ,it is expedient for thee1 indeed1 to cast off the burden of the flesh1 and to follow the ,lamb3 but it is expedient for the rest of the brethren that they should be still trained by thine example4 ,wherefore go1 unless it displease thee1 and bring the cloak which ,athanasius the bishop gave thee1 to wrap up my corpse40 ,but this the blessed ,paul asked1 not because he cared greatly whether his body decayed covered or bare 7as one who for so long a time was used to clothe himself with woven palm leaves71 but that ,antony's grief at his death might be lightened when he left him4 ,antony astounded that he had heard of ,athanasius and his own cloak1 seeing as it were ,christ in ,paul1 and venerating the ,god within his breast1 dared answer nothing3 but keeping in silence1 and kissing his eyes and hands1 returned to the monastery1 which afterwards was occupied by the ,saracens4 ,his steps could not follow his spirit2 but1 although his body was empty with fastings1 and broken with old age1 yet his courage conquered his years4 ,at last1 tired and breathless1 he arrived at home4 ,there two disciples met him1 who had been long sent to minister to him1 and asked him1 8,where hast thou tarried so long1 father80 ,he answered1 8,woe to me a sinner1 who falsely bear the name of a monk4 ,i have seen ,elias2 ,i have seen ,john in the desert2 ,i have truly seen ,paul in ,paradise20 and so1 closing his lips1 and beating his breast1 he took the cloak from his cell1 and when his disciples asked him to explain more fully what had befallen1 he said1 8,there is a time to be silent1 and a time to speak40 ,then going out1 and not taking even a morsel of food1 he returned by the way he had come4 ,for he feared--what actually happened--lest ,paul in his absence should render up the soul he owed to ,christ4 ,picture3 ,paul1 the first ,hermit ,and when the second day had shone1 and he had retraced his steps for three hours1 he saw amid hosts of angels1 amid the choirs of prophets and apostles1 ,paul shining white as snow1 ascending up on high2 and forthwith falling on his face1 he cast sand on his head1 and weeping and wailing1 said1 8,why dost thou dismiss me1 ,paul8 ,why dost thou depart without a farewell8 ,so late known1 dost thou vanish so soon80 ,the blessed ,antony used to tell afterwards1 how he ran the rest of the way so swiftly that he flew like a bird4 ,nor without cause4 ,for entering the cave he saw1 with bended knees1 erect neck1 and hands spread out on high1 a lifeless corpse4 ,and at first1 thinking that it still lived1 he prayed in like wise4 ,but when he heard no sighs 7as usual7 come from the worshipper's breast1 he fell to a tearful kiss1 understanding how the very corpse of the saint was praying1 in seemly attitude1 to that ,god to whom all live4 ,so1 having wrapped up and carried forth the corpse1 and chanting hymns of the ,christian tradition1 ,antony grew sad1 because he had no spade1 wherewith to dig the ground2 and thinking over many plans in his mind1 said1 8,if ,i go back to the monastery1 it is a three days' journey4 ,if ,i stay here1 ,i shall be of no more use4 ,i will die1 then1 as it is fit2 and1 falling beside thy warrior1 ,christ1 breathe my last breath40 ,as he was thinking thus to himself1 lo6 two lions came running from the inner part of the desert1 their manes tossing on their necks2 seeing whom he shuddered at first2 and then1 turning his mind to ,god1 remained fearless1 as though he were looking upon doves4 ,they came straight to the corpse of the blessed old man1 and crouched at his feet1 wagging their tails1 and roaring with mighty growls1 so that ,antony understood them to lament1 as best they could4 ,then not far off they began to claw the ground with their paws1 and1 carrying out the sand eagerly1 dug a place large enough to hold a man3 then at once1 as if begging a reward for their work1 they came to ,antony1 drooping their necks1 and licking his hands and feet4 ,but he perceived that they prayed a blessing from him2 and at once1 bursting into praise of ,christ1 because even dumb animals felt that he was ,god1 he saith1 8,lord1 without whose word not a leaf of the tree drops1 nor one sparrow falls to the ground1 give to them as thou knowest how to give40 ,and1 signing to them with his hand1 he bade them go4 ,and when they had departed1 he bent his aged shoulders to the weight of the holy corpse2 and laying it in the grave1 heaped earth on it1 and raised a mound as is the wont4 ,and when another dawn shone1 lest the pious heir should not possess aught of the goods of the intestate dead1 he kept for himself the tunic which ,paul had woven1 as baskets are made1 out of the leaves of the palm2 and returning to the monastery1 told his disciples all throughout2 and1 on the solemn days of ,easter and ,pentecost1 always clothed himself in ,paul's tunic4 ,i am inclined1 at the end of my treatise1 to ask those who know not the extent of their patrimonies2 who cover their houses with marbles2 who sew the price of whole farms into their garments with a single thread--,what was ever wanting to this naked old man8 ,ye drink from a gem2 he satisfied nature from the hollow of his hands4 ,ye weave gold into your tunics2 he had not even the vilest garment of your bond-slave4 ,but1 on the other hand1 to that poor man ,paradise is open2 you1 gilded as you are1 ,gehenna will receive4 ,he1 though naked1 kept the garment of ,christ2 you1 clothed in silk1 have lost ,christ's robe4 ,paul lies covered with the meanest dust1 to rise in glory2 you are crushed by wrought sepulchres of stone1 to burn with all your works4 ,spare1 ,i beseech you1 yourselves2 spare1 at least1 the riches which you love4 ,why do you wrap even your dead in golden vestments8 ,why does not ambition stop amid grief and tears8 ,cannot the corpses of the rich decay1 save in silk8 ,i beseech thee1 whosoever thou art that readest this1 to remember ,hieronymus the sinner1 who1 if the ,lord gave him choice1 would much sooner choose ,paul's tunic with his merits1 than the purple of kings with their punishments4 99 99 99 99 99 ,this is the story of ,paul and ,antony1 as told by ,jerome4 ,but1 in justice to ,antony himself1 it must be said that the sayings recorded of him seem to show that he was not the mere visionary ascetic which his biographers have made him4 ,some twenty sermons are attributed to him1 seven of which only are considered to be genuine4 ,a rule for monks1 too1 is called his3 but1 as it is almost certain that he could neither read nor write1 we have no proof that any of these documents convey his actual language4 ,if the seven sermons attributed to him be really his1 it must be said for them that they are full of sound doctrine and vital religion1 and worthy1 as wholes1 to be preached in any ,english church1 if we only substitute for the word 8monk10 the word 8man40 ,but there are records of ,antony which represent him as a far more genial and human personage2 full of a knowledge of human nature1 and of a tenderness and sympathy1 which account for his undoubted power over the minds of men2 and showing1 too1 at times1 a certain covert and 8pawky0 humour which puts us in mind1 as does the humour of many of the ,egyptian hermits1 of the old-fashioned ,scotch4 ,these reminiscences are contained in the 8,words of the ,elders10 a series of anecdotes of the desert fathers collected by various hands2 which are1 after all1 the most interesting and probably the most trustworthy accounts of them and their ways4 ,i shall have occasion to quote them later4 ,i insert here some among them which relate to ,antony4 ,,sayings ,,of ,,antony1 ,,from ,,the 8,,words ,,of ,,the ,,elders40 ,a ,,monk gave away his wealth to the poor1 but kept back some for himself4 ,antony said to him1 8,go to the village and buy meat1 and bring it to me on thy bare back40 ,he did so3 and the dogs and birds attacked him1 and tore him as well as the meat4 ,quoth ,antony1 8,so are those who renounce the world1 and yet must needs have money1 torn by dmons40 ,antony heard high praise of a certain brother2 but1 when he tested him1 he found that he was impatient under injury4 ,quoth ,antony1 8,thou art like a house which has a gay porch1 but is broken into by thieves through the back door40 ,antony1 as he sat in the desert1 was weary in heart1 and said1 8,lord1 ,i long to be saved1 but my wandering thoughts will not let me4 ,show me what ,i shall do40 ,and looking up1 he saw one like himself twisting ropes1 and rising up to pray4 ,and the angel 7for it was one7 said to him1 8,work like me1 ,antony1 and you shall be saved40 ,one asked him how he could please ,god4 ,quoth ,antony1 8,have ,god always before thine eyes2 whatever work thou doest1 take example for it out of ,holy ,scripture3 wherever thou stoppest1 do not move thence in a hurry1 but abide there in patience4 ,if thou keepest these three things1 thou shalt be saved40 ,quoth ,antony1 8,if the baker did not cover the mill-horse's eyes he would eat the corn1 and take his own wages4 ,so ,god covers our eyes1 by leaving us to sordid thoughts1 lest we should think of our own good works1 and be puffed up in spirit40 ,quoth ,antony1 8,i saw all the snares of the enemy spread over the whole earth4 ,and ,i sighed1 and said1 #8,who can pass through these8' ,and a voice came to me1 saying1 #8,humility alone can pass through1 ,antony1 where the proud can in no wise go4'0 ,antony was sitting in his cell1 and a voice said to him1 8,thou hast not yet come to the stature of a currier1 who lives in ,alexandria40 ,then he took his staff1 and went down to ,alexandria2 and the currier1 when he found him1 was astonished at seeing so great a man4 ,said ,antony1 8,tell me thy works2 for on thy account have ,i come out of the desert40 ,and he answered1 8,i know not that ,i ever did any good2 and1 therefore1 when ,i rise in the morning1 ,i say that this whole city1 from the greatest to the least1 will enter into the kingdom of ,god for their righteousness3 while ,i1 for my sins1 shall go to eternal pain4 ,and this ,i say over again1 from the bottom of my heart1 when ,i lie down at night40 ,when ,antony heard that1 he said1 8,like a good goldsmith1 thou hast gained the kingdom of ,god sitting still in thy house2 while ,i1 as one without discretion1 have been haunting the desert all my time1 and yet not arrived at the measure of thy saying40 ,quoth ,antony1 8,if a monk could tell his elders how many steps he walks1 or how many cups of water he drinks1 in his cell1 he ought to tell them1 for fear of going wrong therein40 ,at ,alexandria1 ,antony met one ,didymus1 most learned in the ,scriptures1 witty1 and wise3 but he was blind4 ,antony asked him1 8,art thou not grieved at thy blindness80 ,he was silent3 but being pressed by ,antony1 he confessed that he was sad thereat4 ,quoth ,antony1 8,i wonder that a prudent man grieves over the loss of a thing which ants1 and flies1 and gnats have1 instead of rejoicing in that possession which the holy ,apostles earned4 ,for it is better to see with the spirit than with the flesh40 ,a ,father asked ,antony1 8,what shall ,i do80 ,quoth the old man1 8,trust not in thine own righteousness2 regret not the thing which is past2 bridle thy tongue and thy stomach40 ,quoth ,antony1 8,he who sits still in the desert is safe from three enemies3 from hearing1 from speech1 from sight3 and has to fight against only one1 his own heart40 ,a young monk came and told ,antony how he had seen some old men weary on their journey1 and had bidden the wild asses to come and carry him1 and they came4 ,quoth ,antony1 8,that monk looks to me like a ship laden with a precious cargo2 but whether it will get into port is uncertain40 ,and after some days he began to tear his hair and weep2 and when they asked him why1 he said1 8,a great pillar of the ,church has just fallen20 and he sent brothers to see the young man1 and found him sitting on his mat1 weeping over a great sin which he had done2 and he said1 8,tell ,antony to give me ten days' truce1 and ,i hope ,i shall satisfy him20 and in five days he was dead4 ,abbot ,elias fell into temptation1 and the brethren drove him out4 ,then he went to the mountain to ,antony4 ,after awhile1 ,antony sent him home to his brethren2 but they would not receive him4 ,then the old man sent to them1 and saying1 8,a ship has been wrecked at sea1 and lost all its cargo2 and1 with much toil1 the ship is come empty to land4 ,will you sink it again in the sea80 ,so they took ,elias back4 ,quoth ,antony1 8,there are some who keep their bodies in abstinence3 but1 because they have no discretion1 they are far from ,god40 ,a hunter came by1 and saw ,antony rejoicing with the brethren1 and it displeased him4 ,quoth ,antony1 8,put an arrow in thy bow1 and draw20 and he did4 ,quoth ,antony1 8,draw higher20 and again1 8,draw higher still40 ,and he said1 8,if ,i overdraw1 ,i shall break my bow40 ,quoth ,antony1 8,so it is in the work of ,god4 ,if we stretch the brethren beyond measure1 they fail40 ,a brother said to ,antony1 8,pray for me40 ,quoth he1 8,i cannot pity thee1 nor ,god either1 unless thou pitiest thyself1 and prayest to ,god40 ,quoth ,antony1 8,the ,lord does not permit wars to arise in this generation1 because he knows that men are weak1 and cannot bear them40 ,antony1 as he considered the depths of the judgments of ,god1 failed2 and said1 8,lord1 why do some die so early1 and some live on to a decrepit age8 ,why are some needy1 and others rich8 ,why are the unjust wealthy1 and the just poor80 ,and a voice came to him1 8,antony1 look to thyself4 ,these are the judgments of ,god1 which are not fit for thee to know40 ,quoth ,antony to ,abbot ,pastor1 8,this is a man's great business--to lay each man his own fault on himself before the ,lord1 and to expect temptation to the last day of his life40 ,quoth ,antony1 8,if a man works a few days1 and then is idle1 and works again and is idle again1 he does nothing1 and will not possess the perseverance of patience40 ,quoth ,antony to his disciples1 8,if you try to keep silence1 do not think that you are exercising a virtue1 but that you are unworthy to speak40 ,certain old men came once to ,antony2 and he wished to prove them1 and began to talk of holy ,scripture1 and to ask them1 beginning at the youngest1 what this and that text meant4 ,and each answered as best they could4 ,but he kept on saying1 8,you have not yet found it out40 ,and at last he asked ,abbot ,joseph1 8,and what dost thou think this text means80 ,quoth ,abbot ,joseph1 8,i do not know40 ,quoth ,antony1 8,abbot ,joseph alone has found out the way1 for he says he does not know it40 ,quoth ,antony1 8,i do not now fear ,god1 but love ,him1 for love drives out fear40 ,he said again1 8,life and death are very near us2 for if we gain our brother1 we gain ,god3 but if we cause our brother to offend1 we sin against ,christ40 ,a philosopher asked ,antony1 8,how art thou content1 father1 since thou hast not the comfort of books80 ,quoth ,antony1 8,my book is the nature of created things4 ,in it1 when ,i choose1 ,i can read the words of ,god40 ,brethren came to ,antony1 and asked of him a saying by which they might be saved4 ,quoth he1 8,ye have heard the ,scriptures1 and know what ,christ requires of you40 ,but they begged that he would tell them something of his own4 ,quoth he1 8,the ,gospel says1 #8,if a man smite you on one cheek1 turn to him the other4'0 ,but they said that they could not do that4 ,quoth he1 8,you cannot turn the other cheek to him8 ,then let him smite you again on the same one40 ,but they said they could not do that either4 ,then said he1 8,if you cannot1 at least do not return evil for evil40 ,and when they said that neither could they do that1 quoth ,antony to his disciples1 8,go1 get them something to eat1 for they are very weak40 ,and he said to them1 8,if you cannot do the one1 and will not have the other1 what do you want8 ,as ,i see1 what you want is prayer4 ,that will heal your weakness40 ,quoth ,antony1 8,he who would be free from his sins must be so by weeping and mourning2 and he who would be built up in virtue must be built up by tears40 ,quoth ,antony1 8,when the stomach is full of meat1 forthwith the great vices bubble out1 according to that which the ,saviour says3 #8,that which entereth into the mouth defileth not a man2 but that which cometh out of the heart sinks a man in destruction4'0 ,this may be a somewhat paradoxical application of the text3 but the last anecdote of ,antony which ,i shall quote is full of wisdom and humanity4 ,a monk came from ,alexandria1 ,eulogius by name1 bringing with him a man afflicted with elephantiasis4 ,now ,eulogius had been a scholar1 learned1 and rich1 and had given away all he had save a very little1 which he kept because he could not work with his own hands4 ,and he told ,antony how he had found that wretched man lying in the street fifteen years before1 having lost then nearly every member save his tongue1 and how he had taken him home to his cell1 nursed him1 bathed him1 physicked him1 fed him2 and how the man had returned him nothing save slanders1 curses1 and insults2 how he had insisted on having meat1 and had had it2 and on going out in public1 and had company brought to him2 and how he had at last demanded to be put down again whence he had been taken1 always cursing and slandering4 ,and now ,eulogius could bear the man no longer1 and was minded to take him at his word4 ,then said ,antony with an angry voice1 8,wilt thou cast him out1 ,eulogius8 ,he who remembers that he made him1 will not cast him out4 ,if thou cast him out1 he will find a better friend than thee4 ,god will choose some one who will take him up when he is cast away40 ,eulogius was terrified at these words1 and held his peace4 ,then went ,antony to the sick man1 and shouted at him1 8,thou elephantiac1 foul with mud and dirt1 not worthy of the third heaven1 wilt thou not stop shouting blasphemies against ,god8 ,dost thou not know that he who ministers to thee is ,christ8 ,how darest thou say such things against ,christ80 ,and he bade ,eulogius and the sick man go back to their cell1 and live in peace1 and never part more4 ,both went back1 and1 after forty days1 ,eulogius died1 and the sick man shortly after1 8altogether whole in spirit40 ,,hilarion ,i ,,would gladly1 did space allow1 give more biographies from among those of the ,egyptian hermits3 but it seems best1 having shown the reader ,antony as the father of ,egyptian monachism1 to go on to his great pupil ,hilarion1 the father of monachism in ,palestine4 ,his life stands written at length by ,st4 ,jerome1 who himself died a monk at ,bethlehem2 and is composed happily in a less ambitious and less rugged style than that of ,paul1 not without elements of beauty1 even of tragedy4 ,,prologue ,remember me in thy holy prayers1 glory and honour of virgins1 nun ,asella4 ,before beginning to write the life of the blessed ,hilarion1 ,i invoke the ,holy ,spirit which dwelt in him1 that1 as he largely bestowed virtues on ,hilarion1 he may give to me speech wherewith to relate them2 so that his deeds may be equalled by my language4 ,for those who 7as ,crispus says7 8have wrought virtues0 are held to have been worthily praised in proportion to the words in which famous intellects have been able to extol them4 ,alexander the ,great1 the ,macedonian 7whom ,daniel calls either the brass1 or the leopard1 or the he-goat71 on coming to the tomb of ,achilles1 8,happy art thou1 youth10 he said1 8who hast been blest with a great herald of thy worth0--meaning ,homer4 ,but ,i have to tell the conversation and life of such and so great a man1 that even ,homer1 were he here1 would either envy my matter1 or succumb under it4 ,for although ,st4 ,epiphanius1 bishop of ,salamina in ,cyprus1 who had much intercourse with ,hilarion1 has written his praise in a short epistle1 which is commonly read1 yet it is one thing to praise the dead in general phrases1 another to relate his special virtues4 ,we therefore set to work rather to his advantage than to his injury2 and despise those evil-speakers who lately carped at ,paul1 and will perhaps now carp at my ,hilarion1 unjustly blaming the former for his solitary life1 and the latter for his intercourse with men2 in order that the one1 who was never seen1 may be supposed not to have existed2 the other1 who was seen by many1 may be held cheap4 ,this was the way of their ancestors likewise1 the ,pharisees1 who were neither satisfied with ,john's desert life and fasting1 nor with the ,lord ,saviour's public life1 eating and drinking4 ,but ,i shall lay my hand to the work which ,i have determined1 and pass by1 with stopped ears1 the hounds of ,scylla4 ,i pray that thou mayest persevere in ,christ1 and be mindful of me in thy prayers1 most sacred virgin4 ,,the ,,life ,,hilarion was born in the village of ,thabatha1 which lies about five miles to the south of ,gaza1 in ,palestine4 ,he had parents given to the worship of idols1 and blossomed 7as the saying is7 a rose among the thorns4 ,sent by them to ,alexandria1 he was entrusted to a grammarian1 and there1 as far as his years allowed1 gave proof of great intellect and good morals4 ,he was soon dear to all1 and skilled in the art of speaking4 ,and1 what is more than all1 he believed in the ,lord ,jesus1 and delighted neither in the madness of the circus1 in the blood of the arena1 or in the luxury of the theatre3 but all his heart was in the congregation of the ,church4 ,but hearing the then famous name of ,antony1 which was carried throughout all ,egypt1 he was fired with a longing to visit him1 and went to the desert4 ,as soon as he saw him he changed his dress1 and stayed with him about two months1 watching the order of his life1 and the purity of his manner2 how frequent he was in prayers1 how humble in receiving brethren1 severe in reproving them1 eager in exhorting them2 and how no infirmity ever broke through his continence1 and the coarseness of his food4 ,but1 unable to bear longer the crowd which assembled round ,antony1 for various diseases and attacks of devils1 he said that it was not consistent to endure in the desert the crowds of cities1 but that he must rather begin where ,antony had begun4 ,antony1 as a valiant man1 was receiving the reward of victory3 he had not yet begun to serve as a soldier4 ,he returned1 therefore1 with certain monks to his own country2 and1 finding his parents dead1 gave away part of his substance to the brethren1 part to the poor1 and kept nothing at all for himself1 fearing what is told in the ,acts of the ,apostles1 the example or punishment1 of ,ananias and ,sapphira2 and especially mindful of the ,lord's saying--8,he that leaveth not all that he hath1 he cannot be my disciple40 ,he was then fifteen years old4 ,so1 naked1 but armed in ,christ1 he entered the desert1 which1 seven miles from ,maiuma1 the port of ,gaza1 turns away to the left of those who go along the shore towards ,egypt4 ,and though the place was blood-stained by robbers1 and his relations and friends warned him of the imminent danger1 he despised death1 in order to escape death4 ,all wondered at his spirit1 wondered at his youth4 ,save that a certain fire of the bosom and spark of faith glittered in his eyes1 his cheeks were smooth1 his body delicate and thin1 unable to bear any injury1 and liable to be overcome by even a light chill or heat4 ,so1 covering his limbs only with a sackcloth1 and having a cloak of skin1 which the blessed ,antony had given him at starting1 and a rustic cloak1 between the sea and the swamp1 he enjoyed the vast and terrible solitude1 feeding on only fifteen figs after the setting of the sun2 and because the region was1 as has been said above1 of ill-repute from robberies1 no man had ever stayed before in that place4 ,the devil1 seeing what he was doing and whither he had gone1 was tormented4 ,and though he1 who of old boasted1 saying1 8,i shall ascend into heaven1 ,i shall sit above the stars of heaven1 and shall be like unto the ,most ,high10 now saw that he had been conquered by a boy1 and trampled under foot by him1 ere1 on account of his youth1 he could commit sin4 ,he therefore began to tempt his senses2 but he1 enraged with himself1 and beating his breast with his fist1 as if he could drive out thoughts by blows1 8,i will force thee1 mine ass10 said he1 8not to kick2 and feed thee with straw1 not barley4 ,i will wear thee out with hunger and thirst2 ,i will burden thee with heavy loads2 ,i will hunt thee through heat and cold1 till thou thinkest more of food than of play40 ,he therefore sustained his fainting spirit with the juice of herbs and a few figs1 after each three or four days1 praying frequently1 and singing psalms1 and digging the ground with a mattock1 to double the labour of fasting by that of work4 ,at the same time1 by weaving baskets of rushes1 he imitated the discipline of the ,egyptian monks1 and the ,apostle's saying--8,he that will not work1 neither let him eat0--till he was so attenuated1 and his body so exhausted1 that it scarce clung to his bones4 ,one night he began to hear the crying #ajh of infants1 the bleating of sheep1 the wailing of women1 the roaring of lions1 the murmur of an army1 and utterly portentous and barbarous voices2 so that he shrank frightened by the sound ere he saw aught4 ,he understood these to be the insults of devils2 and1 falling on his knees1 he signed the cross of ,christ on his forehead1 and armed with that helmet1 and girt with the breastplate of faith1 he fought more valiantly as he lay1 longing somehow to see what he shuddered to hear1 and looking round him with anxious eyes3 when1 without warning1 by the bright moonshine he saw a chariot with fiery horses rushing upon him4 ,but when he had called on ,jesus1 the earth opened suddenly1 and the whole pomp was swallowed up before his eyes4 ,then said he1 8,the horse and his rider he hath drowned in the sea20 and 8,some glory themselves in chariots1 and some in horses3 but we in the name of the ,lord our ,god40 ,many were his temptations1 and various1 by day and night1 the snares of the devils4 ,if we were to tell them all1 they would make the volume too long4 ,how often did women appear to him2 how often plenteous banquets when he was hungry4 ,sometimes as he prayed1 a howling wolf ran past him1 or a barking fox2 or as he sang1 a fight of gladiators made a show for him3 and one of them1 as if slain1 falling at his feet1 prayed for sepulture4 ,he prayed once with his head bowed to the ground1 and--as is the nature of man--his mind wandered from his prayer1 and thought of ,i know not what1 when a mocking rider leaped on his back1 and spurring his sides1 and whipping his neck1 8,come10 he cries1 8come1 run6 why do you sleep80 and1 laughing loudly over him1 asked him if he were tired1 or would have a feed of barley4 ,so from his sixteenth to his twentieth year1 he was sheltered from the heat and rain in a tiny cabin1 which he had woven of rush and sedge4 ,afterwards he built a little cell1 which remains to this day1 four feet wide and five feet high--that is1 lower than his own stature--and somewhat longer than his small body needed1 so that you would believe it to be a tomb rather than a dwelling4 ,he cut his hair only once a year1 on ,easter-day1 and lay till his death on the bare ground and a layer of rushes1 never washing the sack in which he was clothed1 and saying that it was superfluous to seek for cleanliness in haircloth4 ,nor did he change his tunic1 till the first was utterly in rags4 ,he knew the ,scriptures by heart1 and recited them after his prayers and psalms as if ,god were present4 ,and1 because it would take up too much time to tell his great deeds one by one1 ,i will give a short account of them4 ,then follows a series of miracles1 similar to those attributed to ,st4 ,antony1 and1 indeed1 to all these great ,hermit ,fathers4 ,but it is unnecessary to relate more wonders which the reader cannot be expected to believe4 ,these miracles1 however1 according to ,st4 ,jerome1 were the foundations of ,hilarion's fame and public career4 ,for he says1 8,when they were noised abroad1 people flowed to him eagerly from ,syria to ,egypt1 so that many believed in ,christ1 and professed themselves to be monks--for no one had known of a monk in ,syria before the holy ,hilarion4 ,he was the first founder and teacher of this conversation and study in the province4 ,the ,lord ,jesus had in ,egypt the old man ,antony2 he had in ,palestine the young ,hilarion 4 4 4 ,he was raised1 indeed1 by the ,lord to such a glory1 that the blessed ,antony1 hearing of his conversation1 wrote to him1 and willingly received his letters2 and if rich people came to him from the parts of ,syria1 he said to them1 #8,why have you chosen to trouble yourselves by coming so far1 when you have at home my son ,hilarion8' ,so by his example innumerable monasteries arose throughout all ,palestine1 and all monks came eagerly to him 4 4 4 ,but what a care he had1 not to pass by any brother1 however humble or however poor1 may be shown by this2 that once going into the ,desert of ,kadesh1 to visit one of his disciples1 he came1 with an infinite crowd of monks1 to ,elusa1 on the very day1 as it chanced1 on which a yearly solemnity had gathered all the people of the town to the ,temple of ,venus2 for they honour her on account of the morning star1 to the worship of which the nation of the ,saracens is devoted4 ,the town itself too is said to be in great part semi-barbarous1 on account of its remote situation4 ,hearing1 then1 that the holy ,hilarion was passing by--for he had often cured ,saracens possessed with dmons--they came out to meet him in crowds1 with their wives and children1 bowing their necks1 and crying in the ,syrian tongue1 #8,barech6' that is1 #8,bless6' ,he received them courteously and humbly1 entreating them to worship ,god rather than stones1 and wept abundantly1 looking up to heaven1 and promising them that1 if they would believe in ,christ1 he would come oftener to them4 ,wonderful was the grace of the ,lord4 ,they would not let him depart till he had laid the foundations of a future church1 and their priest1 crowned as he was1 had been consecrated with the sign of ,christ40 99 99 99 99 99 ,he was now sixty-three years old4 ,he saw about him a great monastery1 a multitude of brethren1 and crowds who came to be healed of diseases and unclean spirits1 filling the solitude around2 but he wept daily1 and remembered with incredible regret his ancient life4 8,i have returned to the world10 he said1 8and received my reward in this life4 ,all ,palestine and the neighbouring provinces think me to be worth somewhat2 while ,i possess a farm and household goods1 under the pretext of the brethren's advantage40 ,on which the brethren1 and especially ,hesychius1 who bore him a wondrous love1 watched him narrowly4 ,when he had lived thus sadly for two years1 ,aristneta1 the ,prefect's wife1 came to him1 wishing him to go with her to ,antony1 8,i would go10 he said1 weeping1 8if ,i were not held in the prison of this monastery1 and if it were of any use4 ,for two days since1 the whole world was robbed of such a father40 ,she believed him1 and stopped4 ,and ,antony's death was confirmed a few days after4 ,others may wonder at the signs and portents which he did1 at his incredible abstinence1 his silence1 his miracles3 ,i am astonished at nothing so much as that he was able to trample under foot that glory and honour4 ,bishops and clergy1 monks and ,christian matrons 7a great temptation71 people of the common sort1 great men1 too1 and judges crowded to him1 to receive from him blessed bread or oil4 ,but he was thinking of nothing but the desert1 till one day he determined to set out1 and taking an ass 7for he was so shrunk with fasting that he could hardly walk71 he tried to go his way4 ,the news got wind2 the desolation and destruction of ,palestine would ensue2 ten thousand souls1 men and women1 tried to stop his way2 but he would not hear them4 ,smiting on the ground with his staff1 he said1 8,i will not make my ,god a liar4 ,i cannot bear to see churches ruined1 the altars of ,christ trampled down1 the blood of my sons spilt40 ,all who heard thought that some secret revelation had been made to him3 but yet they would not let him go4 ,whereon he would neither eat nor drink1 and for seven days he persevered fasting1 till he had his wish1 and set out for ,bethulia1 with forty monks1 who could march without food till sundown4 ,on the fifth day he came to ,pelusium1 then to the camp ,thebatrum1 to see ,dracontius2 and then to ,babylon to see ,philo4 ,these two were bishops and confessors exiled by ,constantius1 who favoured the ,arian heresy4 ,then he came to ,aphroditon1 where he met ,barsanes the deacon1 who used to carry water to ,antony on dromedaries1 and heard from him that the anniversary ,antony's death was near1 and would be celebrated by a vigil at his tomb4 ,then through a vast and horrible wilderness1 he went for three days to a very high mountain1 and found there two monks1 ,isaac and ,pelusianus1 of whom ,isaac had been ,antony's interpreter4 ,a high and rocky hill it was1 with fountains gushing out at its foot4 ,some of them the sand sucked up2 some formed a little rill1 with palms without number on its banks4 ,there you might have seen the old man wandering to and fro with ,antony's disciples4 8,here10 they said1 8he used to sing1 here to pray1 here to work1 here to sit when tired4 ,these vines1 these shrubs1 he planted himself2 that plot he laid out with his own hands4 ,this pond to water the garden he made with heavy toil2 that hoe he kept for many years40 ,hilarion lay on his bed1 and kissed the couch1 as if it were still warm4 ,antony's cell was only large enough to let a man lie down in it2 and on the mountain top1 reached by a difficult and winding stair1 were two other cells of the same size1 cut in the stony rock1 to which he used to retire from the visitors and disciples1 when they came to the garden4 8,you see10 said ,isaac1 8this orchard1 with shrubs and vegetables4 ,three years since a troop of wild asses laid it waste4 ,he bade one of their leaders stop2 and beat it with his staff4 #8,why do you eat1' he asked it1 #8what you did not sow8' ,and after that the asses1 though they came to drink the waters1 never touched his plants40 ,then ,hilarion asked them to show him ,antony's grave4 ,they led him apart2 but whether they showed it to him1 no man knows4 ,they hid it1 they said1 by ,antony's command1 lest one ,pergamius1 who was the richest man of those parts1 should take the corpse to his villa1 and build a chapel over it4 ,then he went back to ,aphroditon1 and with only two brothers1 dwelt in the desert1 in such abstinence and silence that 7so he said7 he then first began to serve ,christ4 ,now it was then three years since the heaven had been shut1 and the earth dried up3 so that they said commonly1 the very elements mourned the death of ,antony4 ,but ,hilarion's fame spread to them2 and a great multitude1 brown and shrunken with famine1 cried to him for rain1 as to the blessed ,antony's successor4 ,he saw them1 and grieved over them2 and lifting up his hand to heaven1 obtained rain at once4 ,but the thirsty and sandy land1 as soon as it was watered by showers1 sent forth such a crowd of serpents and venomous animals that people without number were stung1 and would have died1 had they not run together to ,hilarion4 ,with oil blessed by him1 the husbandmen and shepherds touched their wounds1 and all were surely healed4 ,but when he saw that he was marvellously honoured1 he went to ,alexandria1 meaning to cross the desert to the further oasis4 ,and because since he was a monk he had never stayed in a city1 he turned aside to some brethren known to him in the ,brucheion #aae not far from ,alexandria4 ,they received him with joy3 but1 when night came on1 they suddenly heard him bid his disciples saddle the ass4 ,in vain they entreated1 threw themselves across the threshold4 ,his only answer was1 that he was hastening away1 lest he should bring them into trouble2 they would soon know that he had not departed without good reason4 ,the next day1 men of ,gaza came with the ,prefect's lictors1 burst into the monastery1 and when they found him not--8,is it not true10 they said1 8what we heard8 ,he is a sorcerer1 and knows the future40 ,for the citizens of ,gaza1 after ,hilarion was gone1 and ,julian had succeeded to the empire1 had destroyed his monastery1 and begged from the ,emperor the death of ,hilarion and ,hesychius4 ,so letters had been sent forth1 to seek them throughout the world4 ,so ,hilarion went by the pathless wilderness into the ,oasis2 #aaf and after a year1 more or less--because his fame had gone before him even there1 and he could not lie hid in the ,east--he was minded to sail away to lonely islands1 that the sea at least might hide what the land would not4 ,but just then ,hadrian1 his disciple1 came from ,palestine1 telling him that ,julian was slain1 and that a ,christian emperor was reigning2 so that he ought to return to the relics of his monastery4 ,but he abhorred the thought2 and1 hiring a camel1 went over the vast desert to ,partonia1 a sea town of ,libya4 ,then the wretched ,hadrian1 wishing to go back to ,palestine and get himself glory under his master's name1 packed up all that the brethren had sent by him to his master1 and went secretly away4 ,but--as a terror to those who despise their masters--he shortly after died of jaundice4 ,then1 with ,zananas alone1 ,hilarion went on board ship to sail for ,sicily4 ,and when1 almost in the middle of ,adria1 #aag;a he was going to sell the ,gospels which he had written out with his own hand when young1 to pay his fare withal1 then the captain's son was possessed with a devil1 and cried out1 8,hilarion1 servant of ,god1 why can we not be safe from thee even at sea8 ,give me a little respite till ,i come to the shore1 lest1 if ,i be cast out here1 ,i fall headlong into the abyss40 ,then said he1 8,if my ,god lets thee stay1 stay4 ,but if he cast thee out1 why dost thou lay the blame on me1 a sinner and a beggar80 ,then he made the captain and the crew promise not to betray him3 and the devil was cast out4 ,but the captain would take no fare when he saw that they had nought but those ,gospels1 and the clothes on their backs4 ,and so ,hilarion came to ,pachynum1 a cape of ,sicily1 #aag;b and fled twenty miles inland into a deserted farm2 and there every day gathered a bundle of firewood1 and put it on ,zananas's back1 who took it to the town1 and bought a little bread thereby4 ,but it happened1 according to that which is written1 8,a city set on an hill cannot be hid10 one ,scutarius was tormented by a devil in the ,basilica of ,st4 ,peter at ,rome2 and the unclean spirit cried out in him1 8,a few days since ,hilarion1 the servant of ,christ1 landed in ,sicily1 and no man knows him1 and he thinks himself hid4 ,i will go and betray him40 ,and forthwith he took ship with his slaves1 and came to ,pachynum1 and1 by the leading of the devil1 threw himself down before the old man's hut1 and was cured4 ,the frequency of his signs in ,sicily drew to him sick people and religious men in multitudes2 and one of the chief men was cured of dropsy the same day that he came1 and offered ,hilarion boundless gifts3 but he obeyed the ,saviour's saying1 8,freely ye have received2 freely give40 ,while this was happening in ,sicily1 ,hesychius1 his disciple1 was seeking the old man through the world1 searching the shores1 penetrating the desert1 and only certain that1 wherever he was1 he could not long be hid4 ,so1 after three years were past1 he heard at ,methone #aah from a ,jew1 who was selling old clothes1 that a prophet of the ,christians had appeared in ,sicily1 working such wonders that he was thought to be one of the old saints4 ,but he could give no description of him1 having only heard common report4 ,he sailed for ,pachynum1 and there1 in a cottage on the shore1 heard of ,hilarion's fame--that which most surprised all being that1 after so many signs and miracles1 he had not accepted even a bit of bread from any man4 ,so1 8not to make the story too long10 as says ,st4 ,jerome1 ,hesychius fell at his master's knees1 and watered his feet with tears1 till at last he raised him up4 ,but two or three days after he heard from ,zananas1 how the old man could dwell no longer in these regions1 but was minded to go to some barbarous nation1 where both his name and his speech should be unknown4 ,so he took him to ,epidaurus1 #aai;a a city of ,dalmatia1 where he lay a few days in a little farm1 and yet could not be hid2 for a dragon of wondrous size--one of those which1 in the country speech1 they call boas1 because they are so huge that they can swallow an ox--laid waste the province1 and devoured not only herds and flocks1 but husbandmen and shepherds1 which he drew to him by the force of his breath4 #aai;b ,hilarion commanded a pile of wood to be prepared1 and having prayed to ,christ1 and called the beast forth1 commanded him to ascend the pile1 and having put fire under1 burnt him before all the people4 ,then fretting over what he should do1 or whither he should turn1 he went alone over the world in imagination1 and mourned that1 when his tongue was silent1 his miracles still spoke4 ,in those days1 at the earthquake over the whole world1 which befell after ,julian's death1 the sea broke its bounds2 and1 as if ,god was threatening another flood1 or all was returning to the primval chaos1 ships were carried up steep rocks1 and hung there4 ,but when the ,epidauritans saw roaring waves and mountains of water borne towards the shore1 fearing lest the town should be utterly overthrown1 they went out to the old man1 and1 as if they were leading him out to battle1 stationed him on the shore4 ,and when he had marked three signs of the ,cross upon the sand1 and stretched out his hands against the waves1 it is past belief to what a height the sea swelled1 and stood up before him1 and then1 raging long as if indignant at the barrier1 fell back little by little into itself4 ,all ,epidaurus1 and all that region1 talk of this to this day2 and mothers teach it their children1 that they may hand it down to posterity4 ,truly1 that which was said to the ,apostles1 8,if ye believe1 ye shall say to this mountain1 ,be removed1 and cast into the sea2 and it shall be done10 can be fulfilled even to the letter1 if we have the faith of the ,apostles1 and such as the ,lord commanded them to have4 ,for which is more strange1 that a mountain should descend into the sea2 or that mountains of water should stiffen of a sudden1 and1 firm as a rock only at an old man's feet1 should flow softly everywhere else8 ,all the city wondered2 and the greatness of the sign was bruited abroad even at ,salo4 ,when the old man discovered that1 he fled secretly by night in a little boat1 and finding a merchantman after two days1 sailed for ,cyprus4 ,between ,male and ,cythera #aba they were met by pirates1 who had left their vessels under the shore1 and came up in two large galleys1 worked not with sails1 but oars4 ,as the rowers swept the billows1 all on board began to tremble1 weep1 run about1 get handspikes ready1 and1 as if one messenger was not enough1 vie with each other in telling the old man that pirates were at hand4 ,he looked out at them and smiled4 ,then turning to his disciples1 8,o ye of little faith10 he said2 8wherefore do ye doubt8 ,are these more in number than ,pharaoh's army8 ,yet they were all drowned when ,god so willed40 ,while he spoke1 the hostile keels1 with foaming beaks1 were but a short stone's throw off4 ,he then stood on the ship's bow1 and stretching out his hand against them1 8,let it be enough10 he said1 8to have come thus far40 ,o wondrous faith6 ,the boats instantly sprang back1 and made stern-way1 although the oars impelled them in the opposite direction4 ,the pirates were astonished1 having no wish to return back-foremost1 and struggled with all their might to reach the ship2 but were carried to the shore again1 much faster than they had come4 ,i pass over the rest1 lest by telling every story ,i make the volume too long4 ,this only ,i will say1 that1 while he sailed prosperously through the ,cyclades1 he heard the voices of foul spirits1 calling here and there out of the towns and villages1 and running together on the beaches4 ,so he came to ,paphos1 the city of ,cyprus1 famous once in poets' songs1 which now1 shaken down by frequent earthquakes1 only shows what it has been of yore by the foundations of its ruins4 ,there he dwelt meanly near the second milestone out of the city1 rejoicing much that he was living quietly for a few days4 ,but not three weeks were past1 ere throughout the whole island whosoever had unclean spirits began to cry that ,hilarion the servant of ,christ was come1 and that they must hasten to him4 ,salonica1 ,curium1 ,lapetha1 and the other towns1 all cried this together1 most saying that they knew ,hilarion1 and that he was truly a servant of ,god2 but where he was they knew not4 ,within a month1 nearly #bjj men and women were gathered together to him4 ,whom when he saw1 grieving that they would not suffer him to rest1 raging1 as it were to revenge himself1 he scourged them with such an instancy of prayer1 that some were cured at once1 some after two or three days1 and all within a week4 ,so staying there two years1 and always meditating flight1 he sent ,hesychius to ,palestine1 to salute the brethren1 visit the ashes of the monastery1 and return in the spring4 ,when he returned1 and ,hilarion was longing to sail again to ,egypt1--that is1 to the cattle pastures1 #abc;a because there is no ,christian there1 but only a fierce and barbarous folk1--he persuaded the old man rather to withdraw into some more secret spot in the island itself4 ,and looking round it long till he had examined it all over1 he led him away twelve miles from the sea1 among lonely and rough mountains1 where they could hardly climb up1 creeping on hands and knees4 ,when they were within1 they beheld a spot terrible and very lonely1 surrounded with trees1 which had1 too1 waters falling from the brow of a cliff1 and a most pleasant little garden1 and many fruit-trees--the fruit of which1 however1 ,hilarion never ate--and near it the ruin of a very ancient temple1 #abc;b out of which 7so he and his disciples averred7 the voices of so many dmons resounded day and night1 that you would have fancied an army there4 ,with which he was exceedingly delighted1 because he had his foes close to him2 and dwelt therein five years2 and 7while ,hesychius often visited him7 he was much cheered up in this last period of his life1 because owing to the roughness and difficulty of the ground1 and the multitude of ghosts 7as was commonly reported71 few1 or none1 ever dare climb up to him4 ,but one day1 going out of the little garden1 he saw a man paralytic in all his limbs1 lying before the gate2 and having asked ,hesychius who he was1 and how he had come1 he was told that the man was the steward of a small estate1 and that to him the garden1 in which they were1 belonged4 ,hilarion1 weeping over him1 and stretching a hand to him as he lay1 said1 8,i say to thee1 in the name of ,jesus ,christ our ,lord1 arise and walk40 ,wonderful was the rapidity of the effect4 ,the words were yet in his mouth1 when the limbs1 strengthened1 raised the man upon his feet4 ,as soon as it was known1 the needs of many conquered the difficulty of the ground1 and the want of a path1 while all in the neighbourhood watched nothing so carefully1 as that he should not by some plan slip away from them4 ,for the report had been spread about him1 that he could not remain long in the same place2 which nevertheless he did not do from any caprice1 or childishness1 but to escape honour and importunity2 for he always longed after silence1 and an ignoble life4 ,so1 in the eightieth year of his age1 while ,hesychius was absent1 he wrote a short letter1 by way of testament1 with his own hand1 leaving to ,hesychius all his riches2 namely1 his ,gospel-book1 and a sackcloth-shirt1 hood1 and mantle4 ,for his servant had died a few days before4 ,many religious men came to him from ,paphos while he was sick1 especially because they had heard that he had said that now he was going to migrate to the ,lord1 and be freed from the chains of the body4 ,there came also ,constantia1 a high-born lady1 whose son-in-law and daughter he had delivered from death by anointing them with oil4 ,and he made them all swear1 that he should not be kept an hour after his death1 but covered up with earth in that same garden1 clothed1 as he was1 in his haircloth shirt1 hood1 and rustic cloak4 ,and now little heat was left in his body1 and nothing of a living man was left1 except his reason3 and yet1 with open eyes1 he went on saying1 8,go forth1 what fearest thou8 ,go forth1 my soul1 what doubtest thou8 ,nigh seventy years hast thou served ,christ1 and dost thou fear death80 ,with these words1 he breathed out his soul4 ,they covered him forthwith in earth1 and told them in the city that he was buried1 before it was known that he was dead4 ,the holy man ,hesychius heard this in ,palestine2 reached ,cyprus2 and pretending1 in order to prevent suspicion on the part of the neighbours1 who guarded the spot diligently1 that he wished to dwell in that same garden1 he1 after some ten months1 with extreme peril of his life1 stole the corpse4 ,he carried it to ,maiuma1 followed by whole crowds of monks and townsfolk1 and placed it in the old monastery1 with the shirt1 hood1 and cloak unhurt2 the whole body perfect1 as if alive1 and fragrant with such strong odour1 that it seemed to have had unguents poured over it4 ,i think that ,i ought not1 in the end of my book1 to be silent about the devotion of that most holy woman ,constantia1 who1 hearing that the body of ,hilarion1 the servant of ,god1 was gone to ,palestine1 straightway gave up the ghost1 proving by her very death her true love for the servant of ,god4 ,for she was wont to pass nights in watching his sepulchre1 and to converse with him as if he were present1 in order to assist her prayers4 ,you may see1 even to this day1 a wonderful contention between the folk of ,palestine and the ,cypriots1 the former saying that they have the body1 the latter that they have the soul1 of ,hilarion4 ,and yet1 in both places1 great signs are worked daily2 but most in the little garden in ,cyprus2 perhaps because he loved that place the best4 99 99 99 99 99 ,such is the story of ,hilarion4 ,his name still lingers in 8the place he loved the best40 8,to this day10 ,i quote this fact from ,m4 de ,montalembert's work1 8the ,cypriots1 confounding in their memories legends of good and of evil1 the victories of the soul and the triumph of the senses1 give to the ruins of one of those strong castles built by the ,lusignans1 which command their isle1 the double name of the ,castle of ,st4 ,hilarion1 and the ,castle of the ,god of ,love40 ,but how intense must have been the longing for solitude which drove the old man to travel on foot from ,syria to the ,egyptian desert1 across the pathless westward waste1 even to the ,oasis and the utmost limits of the ,egyptian province2 and then to ,sicily1 to the ,adriatic1 and at last to a distant isle of ,greece4 ,and shall we blame him for that longing8 ,he seems to have done his duty earnestly1 according to his own light1 towards his fellow-creatures whenever he met them4 ,but he seems to have found that noise and crowd1 display and honour1 were not altogether wholesome for his own soul2 and in order that he might be a better man he desired again and again to flee1 that he might collect himself1 and be alone with ,nature and with ,god4 ,we1 here in ,england1 like the old ,greeks and ,romans1 dwellers in the busy mart of civilized life1 have got to regard mere bustle as so integral an element of human life1 that we consider a love of solitude a mark of eccentricity1 and1 if we meet any one who loves to be alone1 are afraid that he must needs be going mad3 and that with too great solitude comes the danger of too great self-consciousness1 and even at last of insanity1 none can doubt4 ,but still we must remember1 on the other hand1 that without solitude1 without contemplation1 without habitual collection and re-collection of our own selves from time to time1 no great purpose is carried out1 and no great work can be done2 and that it is the bustle and hurry of our modern life which causes shallow thought1 unstable purpose1 and wasted energy1 in too many who would be better and wiser1 stronger and happier1 if they would devote more time to silence and meditation2 if they would commune with their own heart in their chamber1 and be still4 ,even in art and in mechanical science1 those who have done great work upon the earth have been men given to solitary meditation4 ,when ,brindley1 the engineer1 it is said1 had a difficult problem to solve1 he used to go to bed1 and stay there till he had worked it out4 ,turner1 the greatest nature-painter of this or any other age1 spent hours upon hours in mere contemplation of nature1 without using his pencil at all4 ,it is said of him that he was seen to spend a whole day1 sitting upon a rock1 and throwing pebbles into a lake2 and when at evening his fellow painters showed their day's sketches1 and rallied him upon having done nothing1 he answered them1 8,i have done this at least3 ,i have learnt how a lake looks when pebbles are thrown into it40 ,and if this silent labour1 this steadfast thought are required even for outward arts and sciences1 how much more for the highest of all arts1 the deepest of all sciences1 that which involves the questions--who are we8 and where are we8 who is ,god8 and what are we to ,god1 and ,he to us8--namely1 the science of being good1 which deals not with time merely1 but with eternity4 ,no retirement1 no loneliness1 no period of earnest and solemn meditation1 can be misspent which helps us towards that goal4 ,and therefore it was that ,hilarion longed to be alone2 alone with ,god2 and with ,nature1 which spoke to him of ,god4 ,for these old hermits1 though they neither talked nor wrote concerning scenery1 nor painted pictures of it as we do now1 had many of them a clear and intense instinct of the beauty and the meaning of outward ,nature2 as ,antony surely had when he said that the world around was his book1 wherein he read the mysteries of ,god4 ,hilarion seems1 from his story1 to have had a special craving for the sea4 ,perhaps his early sojourn on the low sandhills of the ,philistine shore1 as he watched the tideless ,mediterranean1 rolling and breaking for ever upon the same beach1 had taught him to say with the old prophet as he thought of the wicked and still half idolatrous cities of the ,philistine shore1 8,fear ye not8 saith the ,lord2 ,will ye not tremble at my presence who have placed the sand for the bound of the sea1 for a perpetual decree1 that it cannot pass it8 ,and though the waves thereof toss themselves1 yet can they not prevail2 though they roar1 yet can they not pass over4 ,but this people has a revolted and rebellious heart1 they are revolted and gone40 ,perhaps again1 looking down from the sunny ,sicilian cliffs of ,taormino1 or through the pine-clad gulfs and gullies of the ,cypriote hills upon the blue ,mediterranean below1 8,and watching from his mountain wall ,the wrinkled sea beneath him crawl10 he had enjoyed and profited by all those images which that sight has called up in so many minds before and since4 ,to him it may be1 as to the ,psalmist1 the storm-swept sea pictured the instability of mortal things1 while secure upon his cliff he said with the ,psalmist1 8,the ,lord hath set my feet upon a rock1 and ordered my goings20 and again1 8,the wicked are like a troubled sea1 casting up mire and dirt40 ,often1 again1 looking upon that far horizon1 must his soul have been drawn1 as many a soul has been drawn since1 to it1 and beyond it1 as it were into a region of boundless freedom and perfect peace1 while he said again with ,david1 8,oh that ,i had wings like a dove2 then would ,i flee away and be at rest60 and so have found1 in the contemplation of the wide ocean1 a substitute at least for the contemplation of those ,eastern deserts which seemed the proper home for the solitary and meditative philosopher4 ,for indeed in no northern country can such situations be found for the monastic cell as can be found in those great deserts which stretch from ,syria to ,arabia1 from ,arabia to ,egypt1 from ,egypt to ,africa properly so called4 ,here and there a northern hermit found1 as ,hilarion found1 a fitting home by the seaside1 on some lonely island or storm-beat rock1 like ,st4 ,cuthbert1 off the coast of ,northumberland2 like ,st4 ,rule1 on his rock at ,st4 ,andrew's2 and ,st4 ,columba1 with his ever-venerable company of missionaries1 on ,iona4 ,but inland1 the fens and the forests were foul1 unwholesome1 depressing1 the haunts of fever1 ague1 delirium1 as ,st4 ,guthlac found at ,crowland1 and ,st4 ,godric at ,finkhale4 #acj ,the vast pine-woods which clothe the ,alpine slopes1 the vast forests of beech and oak which then spread over ,france and ,germany1 gave in time shelter to many a holy hermit4 ,but their gloom1 their unwholesomeness1 and the severity of the climate1 produced in them1 as in most northern ascetics1 a temper of mind more melancholy1 and often more fierce2 more given to passionate devotion1 but more given also to dark superstition and cruel self-torture1 than the genial climate of the desert produced in old monks of the ,east4 ,when we think of ,st4 ,antony upon his mountain1 we must not picture to ourselves1 unless we1 too1 have been in the ,east1 such a mountain as we have ever seen4 ,we must not think of a brown northern moorland1 sad1 savage1 storm-swept1 snow-buried1 save in the brief and uncertain summer months4 ,we must not picture to ourselves an ,alp1 with thundering avalanches1 roaring torrents1 fierce alternations of heat and cold1 uninhabitable by mortal man1 save during that short period of the year when the maidens in the sennhutt watch the cattle upon the upland pastures4 ,we must picture to ourselves mountains blazing day after day1 month after month1 beneath the glorious sun and cloudless sky1 in an air so invigorating that the ,arabs can still support life there upon a few dates each day2 and where1 as has been said1--8,man needs there hardly to eat1 drink1 or sleep1 for the act of breathing will give life enough20 an atmosphere of such telescopic clearness as to explain many of the strange stories which have been lately told of ,antony's seemingly preternatural powers of vision2 a colouring1 which1 when painters dare to put it on canvas1 seems to our eyes1 accustomed to the quiet greys and greens of ,england1 exaggerated and impossible--distant mountains1 pink and lilac1 quivering in pale blue haze--vast sheets of yellow sand1 across which the lonely rock or a troop of wild asses or gazelles throw intense blue-black shadows--rocks and cliffs not shrouded1 as here1 in soil1 much less in grass and trees1 or spotted with lichens and stained with veins2 but keeping each stone its natural colour1 as it wastes--if1 indeed1 it wastes at all--under the action of the all but rainless air1 which has left the paintings on the old ,egyptian temples fresh and clear for thousands of years2 rocks1 orange and purple1 black1 white1 and yellow2 and again and again beyond them #aca glimpses1 it may be1 of the black ,nile1 and of the long green garden of ,egypt1 and of the dark blue sea4 ,the eastward view from ,antony's old home must be one of the most glorious in the world1 save for its want of verdure and of life4 ,for ,antony1 as he looked across the blue waters of the ,gulf of ,akaba1 across which1 far above1 the ,israelites had passed in old times1 could see the sacred goal of their pilgrimage1 the red granite peaks of ,sinai1 flaming against the blue sky with that intensity of hue which is scarcely exaggerated1 it is said1 by the bright scarlet colour in which ,sinai is always painted in medival illuminations4 ,but the gorgeousness of colouring1 though it may interest us1 was not1 of course1 what produced the deepest effect upon the minds of those old hermits4 ,they enjoyed ,nature1 not so much for her beauty1 as for her perfect peace4 ,day by day the rocks remained the same4 ,silently out of the ,eastern desert1 day by day1 the rising sun threw aloft those arrows of light1 which the old ,greeks had named 8the rosy fingers of the dawn40 ,silently he passed in full blaze almost above their heads throughout the day2 and silently he dipped behind the western desert in a glory of crimson and orange1 green and purple2 and without an interval of twilight1 in a moment1 all the land was dark1 and the stars leapt out1 not twinkling as in our damper climate here1 but hanging like balls of white fire in that purple southern night1 through which one seems to look beyond the stars into the infinite abyss1 and towards the throne of ,god himself4 ,day after day1 night after night1 that gorgeous pageant passed over the poor hermit's head without a sound2 and though sun and moon and planet might change their places as the year rolled round1 the earth beneath his feet seemed not to change4 ,every morning he saw the same peaks in the distance1 the same rocks1 the same sand-heaps around his feet4 ,he never heard the tinkle of a running stream4 ,for weeks together he did not even hear the rushing of the wind4 ,now and then a storm might sweep up the pass1 whirling the sand in eddies1 and making the desert for a while literally a 8howling wilderness20 and when that was passed all was as it had been before4 ,the very change of seasons must have been little marked to him1 save by the motions1 if he cared to watch them1 of the stars above2 for vegetation there was none to mark the difference between summer and winter4 ,in spring of course the solitary date-palm here and there threw out its spathe of young green leaves1 to add to the number of those which1 grey or brown1 hung drooping down the stem1 withering but not decaying for many a year in that dry atmosphere2 or perhaps the accacia bushes looked somewhat gayer for a few weeks1 and the ,retama broom1 from which as well as from the palm leaves he plaited his baskets1 threw out its yearly crop of twigs2 but any greenness there might be in the vegetation of spring1 turned grey in a few weeks beneath that burning sun2 and be rest of the year was one perpetual summer of dust and glare and rest4 ,amid such scenes they had full time for thought4 ,nature and man alike left it in peace2 while the labour required for sustaining life 7and the monk wished for nothing more than to sustain mere life7 was very light4 ,wherever water could be found1 the hot sun and the fertile soil would repay by abundant crops1 perhaps twice in the year1 the toil of scratching the ground and putting in the seed4 ,moreover1 the labour of the husbandman1 so far from being adverse to the contemplative life1 is of all occupations1 it may be1 that which promotes most quiet and wholesome meditation in the mind which cares to meditate4 ,the life of the desert1 when once the passions of youth were conquered1 seems to have been not only a happy1 but a healthy one4 ,and when we remember that the monk1 clothed from head to foot in woollen1 and sheltered1 too1 by his sheepskin cape1 escaped those violent changes of temperature which produce in the ,east so many fatal diseases1 and which were so deadly to the linen-clothed inhabitants of the green lowlands of the ,nile1 we need not be surprised when we read of the vast longevity of many of the old abbots2 and of their death1 not by disease1 but by gentle1 and as it were wholesome natural decay4 ,but if their life was easy1 it was surely not ill-spent4 ,if having few wants1 and those soon supplied1 they found too much time for the luxury of quiet thought1 those need not blame them1 who having many wants1 and those also easily supplied1 are wont to spend their superfluous leisure in any luxury save that of thought1 above all save that of thought concerning ,god4 ,for it was upon ,god that these men1 whatever their defects or ignorances may have been1 had set their minds4 ,that man was sent into the world to know and to love1 to obey and thereby to glorify1 the ,maker of his being1 was the cardinal point of their creed1 as it has been of every creed which ever exercised any beneficial influence on the minds of men4 ,dean ,milman in his 8,history of ,christianity10 vol4 iii4 page #bid1 has1 while justly severe upon the failings and mistakes of the ,eastern monks1 pointed out with equal justice that the great desire of knowing ,god was the prime motive in the mind of all their best men3-- 8,in some regions of the ,east1 the sultry and oppressive heat1 the general relaxation of the physical system1 dispose constitutions of a certain temperament to a dreamy inertness4 ,the indolence and prostration of the body produce a kind of activity in the mind1 if that may properly be called activity which is merely giving loose to the imagination and the emotions as they follow out the wild train of incoherent thought1 or are agitated by impulses of spontaneous and ungoverned feeling4 ,ascetic ,christianity ministered new aliment to this common propensity4 ,it gave an object1 both vague and determinate enough to stimulate1 yet never to satisfy or exhaust4 ,the regularity of stated hours of prayer1 and of a kind of idle industry1 weaving mats or plaiting baskets1 alternated with periods of morbid reflection on the moral state of the soul1 and of mystic communion with the ,deity4 ,it cannot indeed be wondered that this new revelation1 as it were1 of the ,deity1 this profound and rational certainty of his existence1 this infelt consciousness of his perpetual presence1 these as yet unknown impressions of his infinity1 his power1 and his love1 should give a higher character to this eremitical enthusiasm1 and attract men of loftier and more vigorous minds within its sphere4 ,it was not merely the pusillanimous dread of encountering the trials of life which urged the humbler spirits to seek a safe retirement2 or the natural love of peace1 and the weariness and satiety of life1 which commended this seclusion to those who were too gentle to mingle in1 or who were exhausted with1 the unprofitable turmoil of the world2 nor was it always the anxiety to mortify the rebellious and refractory body with more advantage4 ,the one absorbing idea of the ,majesty of the ,godhead almost seemed to swallow up all other considerations4 ,the transcendent nature of the ,triune ,deity1 the relation of the different persons of the ,godhead to each other1 seemed the only worthy object of men's contemplative faculties40 ,and surely the contemplation of the ,godhead is no unworthy occupation for the immortal soul of any human being4 ,but it would be unjust to these hermits did we fancy that their religion consisted merely even in this2 much less that it consisted merely in dreams and visions1 or in mere stated hours of prayer4 ,that all did not fulfil the ideal of their profession is to be expected1 and is frankly confessed by the writers of the ,lives of the ,fathers2 that there were serious faults1 even great crimes1 among them is not denied4 ,those who wrote concerning them were so sure that they were on the whole good men1 that they were not at all afraid of saying that some of them were bad1--not afraid1 even1 of recording1 though only in dark hints1 the reason why the ,arab tribes around once rose and laid waste six churches with their monasteries in the neighbourhood of ,scetis4 ,st4 ,jerome in like manner does not hesitate to pour out bitter complaints against many of the monks in the neighbourhood of ,bethlehem4 ,it is notorious1 too1 that many became monks merely to escape slavery1 hunger1 or conscription into the army3 ,unruly and fanatical spirits1 too1 grew fond of wandering4 ,bands of monks on the great roads and public places of the empire1 ,massalians or ,gyrovagi1 as they were called1 wandered from province to province1 and cell to cell1 living on the alms which they extorted from the pious1 and making up too often for protracted fasts by outbursts of gluttony and drunkenness4 ,and doubtless the average monk1 even when well-conducted himself and in a well-conducted monastery1 was1 like average men of every creed1 rank1 or occupation1 a very common-place person1 acting from very mixed and often very questionable motives2 and valuing his shaven crown and his sheepskin cloak1 his regular hours of prayer and his implicit obedience to his abbot1 more highly than he valued the fear and the love of ,god4 ,it is so in every creed4 ,with some1 even now1 the strict observance of the ,sabbath2 with others1 outward reverence at the ,holy ,communion2 with others1 the frequent hearing of sermons which suit heir own views2 with others1 continual reading of pious books 7on the lessons of which they do not act71 covers1 instead of charity1 a multitude of sins4 ,but the saint1 abbot1 or father among these hermits was essentially the man who was not a common-place person2 who was more than an ascetic1 and more than a formalist2 who could pierce beyond the letter to the spirit1 and see1 beyond all forms of doctrine or modes of life1 that virtue was the one thing needful4 ,the ,historia ,lausiaca and the ,pratum ,spirituale have many a story and many a saying as weighty1 beautiful1 and instructive now as they were fifteen hundred years ago2 stories which show that graces and virtues such as the world had never seen before1 save in the persecuted and half-unknown ,christians of the first three centuries1 were cultivated to noble fruitfulness by the monks of the ,east4 ,for their humility1 obedience1 and reverence for their superiors it is not wise to praise them just now2 for those are qualities which are not at present considered virtues1 but rather 7save by the soldier7 somewhat abject vices2 and indeed they often carried them1 as they did their abstinence1 to an extravagant pitch4 ,but it must be remembered1 in fairness1 that if they obeyed their supposed superiors1 they had first chosen their superiors themselves2 that as the becoming a monk at all was an assertion of self-will and independence1 whether for good or evil1 so their reverence for their abbots was a voluntary loyalty to one who they fancied had a right to rule them1 because he was wiser and better than they2 a feeling which some have found not degrading1 but ennobling2 and the parent1 not of servility1 but of true freedom4 ,and as for the obsolete virtue of humility1 that still remains true which a voice said to ,antony1 when he saw the snares which were spread over the whole earth1 and asked1 sighing1 8,who can pass safely over these80 and the voice answered1 8,humility alone40 ,for the rest1 if the ,sermon on the ,mount mean anything1 as a practical rule of life for ,christian men1 then these monks were surely justified in trying to obey it1 for to obey it they surely tried4 ,the ,words of the ,elders1 to which ,i have already alluded1 and the ,lausiaca of ,palladius likewise1 are full of precious scraps of moral wisdom1 sayings1 and anecdotes1 full of nobleness1 purity1 pathos1 insight into character1 and often instinct with a quiet humour1 which seems to have been1 in the ,old world1 peculiar to the ,egyptians1 as it is1 in the ,new1 almost peculiar to the old-fashioned ,god-fearing ,scotsman4 ,take these examples1 chosen almost at random4 ,serapion the ,sindonite was so called because he wore nothing but a sindon1 or linen shirt4 ,though he could not read1 he could say all the ,scriptures by heart4 ,he could not 7says ,palladius7 sit quiet in his cell1 but wandered over the world in utter poverty1 so that he 8attained to perfect impassibility1 for with that nature he was born2 for there are differences of natures1 not of substances40 ,so says ,palladius1 and goes on to tell how ,serapion sold himself to certain play-actors for twenty gold pieces1 and laboured for them as a slave till he had won them to ,christ1 and made them renounce the theatre2 after which he made his converts give the money to the poor1 and went his way4 ,on one of his journeys he came to ,athens1 and1 having neither money nor goods1 starved there for three days4 ,but on the fourth he went up1 seemingly to the ,areopagus1 and cried1 8,men of ,athens1 help60 ,and when the crowd questioned him1 he told them that he had1 since he left ,egypt1 fallen into the hands of three usurers1 two of whom he had satisfied1 but the third would not leave him4 ,on being promised assistance1 he told them that his three usurers were avarice1 sensuality1 and hunger4 ,of the two first he was rid1 having neither money nor passions3 but1 as he had eaten nothing for three days1 the third was beginning to be troublesome1 and demanded its usual debt1 without paying which he could not well live2 whereon certain philosophers1 seemly amused by his apologue1 gave him a gold coin4 ,he went to a baker's shop1 laid down the coin1 took up a loaf1 and went out of ,athens for ever4 ,then the philosophers knew that he was endowed with true virtue2 and when they had paid the baker the price of the loaf1 got back their gold4 ,when he went into ,lacedmon1 he heard that a great man there was a ,manichan1 with all his family1 though otherwise a good man4 ,to him ,serapion sold himself as a slave1 and within two years converted him and his wife1 who thenceforth treated him not as a slave1 but as their own brother4 ,after awhile1 this 8,spiritual adamant10 as ,palladius calls him1 bought his freedom of them1 and sailed for ,rome4 ,at sundown first the sailors1 and then the passengers1 brought out each man his provisions1 and ate4 ,serapion sat still4 ,the crew fancied that he was sea-sick2 but when he had passed a second1 third1 and fourth day fasting1 they asked1 8,man1 why do you not eat80 8,because ,i have nothing to eat40 ,they thought that some one had stolen his baggage3 but when they found that the man had absolutely nothing1 they began to ask him not only how he would keep alive1 but how he would pay his fare4 ,he only answered1 8,that he had nothing2 that they might cast him out of the ship where they had found him40 ,but they answered1 8,not for a hundred gold pieces1 so favourable was the wind10 and fed him all the way to ,rome1 where we lose sight of him and his humour4 ,to go on with almost chance quotations3-- ,some monks were eating at a festival1 and one said to the serving man1 8,i eat nothing cooked2 tell them to bring me salt40 ,the serving man began to talk loudly3 8,that brother eats no cooked meat2 bring him a little salt40 ,quoth ,abbot ,theodore3 8,it were more better for thee1 brother1 to eat meat in thy cell than to hear thyself talked about in the presence of thy brethren40 ,again3 a brother came to ,abbot ,silvanus1 in ,mount ,sinai1 and found the brethren working1 and said1 8,why labour you for the meat which perisheth8 ,mary chose the good part40 ,the abbot said1 8,give him a book to read1 and put him in an empty cell40 ,about the ninth hour the brother looked out1 to see if he would be called to eat1 and at last came to the abbot1 and asked1 8,do not the brethren eat to-day1 abbot80 8,yes40 8,then why was not ,i called80 ,then quoth ,abbot ,silvanus3 8,thou art a spiritual man3 and needest not their food4 ,we are carnal1 and must eat1 because we work3 but thou hast chosen the better part40 ,whereat the monk was ashamed4 ,as was also ,john the dwarf1 who wanted to be 8without care like the angels1 doing nothing but praise ,god40 ,so he threw away his cloak1 left his brother the abbot1 and went into the desert4 ,but after seven days he came back1 and knocked at the door4 8,who is there80 asked his brother4 8,john40 8,nay1 ,john is turned into an angel1 and is no more among men40 ,so he left him outside all night2 and in the morning gave him to understand that if he was a man he must work1 but that if he was an angel1 he had no need to live in a cell4 ,consider again the saying of the great ,antony1 when some brethren were praising another in his presence4 ,but ,antony tried him1 and found that he could not bear an injury4 ,then said the old man1 8,brother1 thou art like a house with an ornamented porch1 while the thieves break into it by the back door40 ,or this1 of ,abbot ,isidore1 when the devil tempted him to despair1 and told him that he would be lost after all3 8,if ,i do go into torment1 ,i shall still find you below me there40 ,or this1 of ,zeno the ,syrian1 when some ,egyptian monks came to him and began accusing themselves3 8,the ,egyptians hide the virtues which they have1 and confess vices which they have not4 ,the ,syrians and ,greeks boast of virtues which they have not1 and hide vices which they have40 ,or this3 ,one old man said to another1 8,i am dead to this world40 8,do not trust yourself10 quoth the other1 8till you are out of this world4 ,if you are dead1 the devil is not40 ,two old men lived in the same cell1 and had never disagreed4 ,said one to the other1 8,let us have just one quarrel1 like other men40 ,quoth the other3 8,i do not know what a quarrel is like40 ,quoth the first3 8,here--,i will put a brick between us1 and say that it is mine3 and you shall say it is not mine2 and over that let us have a contention and a squabble40 ,but when they put the brick between them1 and one said1 8,it is mine10 the other said1 8,i hope it is mine40 ,and when the first said1 8,it is mine1 it is not yours10 he answered1 8,if it is yours1 take it40 ,so they could not find out how to have a quarrel4 ,anger1 malice1 revenge1 were accursed things in the eyes of these men4 ,there was enough of them1 and too much1 among their monks2 but far less1 doubt not1 than in the world outside4 ,for within the monastery it was preached against1 repressed1 punished2 and when repented of1 forgiven1 with loving warnings and wise rules against future transgression4 ,abbot ,agathon used to say1 8,i never went to sleep with a quarrel against any man2 nor did ,i1 as far as lay in me1 let one who had a quarrel against me sleep till he had made peace40 ,abbot ,isaac was asked why the devils feared him so much4 8,since ,i was made a monk10 he said1 8,i settled with myself that no angry word should come out of my mouth40 ,an old man said1 8,anger arises from these four things3 from the lust of avarice1 in giving and receiving2 from loving one's own opinion2 from wishing to be honoured2 and from fancying oneself a teacher and hoping to be wiser than everybody4 ,and anger obscures human reason by these four ways3 if a man hate his neighbour2 or if he envy him2 or if he look on him as nought2 or if he speak evil of him40 ,a brother being injured by another1 came to ,abbot ,sidonius1 told his story1 and said1 8,i wish to avenge myself1 father40 ,the abbot begged him to leave vengeance to ,god3 but when he refused1 said1 8,then let us pray40 ,whereon the old man rose1 and said1 8,god1 thou art not necessary to us any longer1 that thou shouldest be careful of us3 for we1 as this brother says1 both will and can avenge ourselves40 ,at which that brother fell at his feet1 and begged pardon1 promising never to strive with his enemy4 ,abbot ,pmen said often1 8,let malice never overcome thee4 ,if any man do thee harm1 repay him with good1 that thou mayest conquer evil with good40 ,in a congregation at ,scetis1 when many men's lives and conversation had been talked over1 ,abbot ,pior held his tongue4 ,after it was over1 he went out1 and filled a sack with sand1 and put it on his back4 ,then he took a little bag1 filled it likewise with sand1 and carried it before him4 ,and when the brethren asked him what he meant1 he said1 8,the sack behind is my own sins1 which are very many3 yet ,i have cast them behind my back1 and will not see them1 nor weep over them4 ,but ,i have put these few sins of my brother's before my eyes1 and am tormenting myself over them1 and condemning my brother40 ,a brother having committed a fault1 went to ,antony1 and his brethren followed1 upbraiding him1 and wanting to bring him back2 while he denied having done the wrong4 ,abbot ,paphnutius was there1 and spoke a parable to them3-- 8,i saw on the river bank a man sunk in the mud up to his knees4 ,and men came to pull him out1 and thrust him in up to the neck40 ,then said ,antony of ,paphnutius1 8,behold a man who can indeed save souls40 ,abbot ,macarius was going up to the mountain of ,nitria1 and sent his disciple on before4 ,the disciple met an idol-priest hurrying on1 and carrying a great beam3 to whom he cried1 8,where art thou running1 devil80 ,at which he was wroth1 and beat him so that he left him half dead1 and then ran on1 and met ,macarius1 who said1 8,salvation to thee1 labourer1 salvation60 ,he answered1 wondering1 8,what good hast thou seen in me that thou salutest me80 8,because ,i saw thee working and running1 though ignorantly40 ,to whom the priest said1 8,touched by thy salutation1 ,i knew thee to be a great servant of ,god2 for another--,i know not who--miserable monk met me and insulted me1 and ,i gave him blows for his words40 ,then laying hold of ,macarius's feet he said1 8,unless thou make me a monk ,i will not leave hold of thee40 ,after all1 of the best of these men are told 7with much honesty7 many sayings which show that they felt in their minds and hearts that the spirit was above the letter3 sayings which show that they had at least at times glimpses of a simpler and more possible virtue2 foretastes of a perfection more human1 and it may be more divine4 8,better10 said ,abbot ,hyperichius1 8to eat flesh and drink wine1 than to eat our brethren's flesh with bitter words40 ,a brother asked an elder1 8,give me1 father one thing which ,i may keep1 and be saved thereby40 ,the elder answered1 8,if thou canst be injured and insulted1 and hear and be silent1 that is a great thing1 and above all the other commandments40 ,one of the elders used to say1 8,whatever a man shrinks from let him not do to another4 ,dost thou shrink if any man detracts from thee8 ,speak not ill of another4 ,dost thou shrink if any man slanders thee1 or if any man takes aught from thee8 ,do not that or the like to another man4 ,for he that shall have kept this saying1 will find it suffice for his salvation40 8,the nearer10 said ,abbot ,muthues1 8a man approaches ,god1 the more he will see himself to be a sinner40 ,abbot ,sisois1 when he lay dying1 begged to live a little longer1 that he might repent2 and when they wondered1 he told them that he had not yet even begun repentance4 ,whereby they saw that he was perfect in the fear of the ,lord4 ,but the most startling confession of all must have been that wrung from the famous ,macarius the elder4 ,he had been asked once by a brother1 to tell him a rule by which he might be saved2 and his answer had been this3--to fly from men1 to sit in his cell1 and to lament for his sins continually2 and1 what was above all virtues1 to keep his tongue in order as well as his appetite4 ,but 7whether before or after that answer is not said7 he gained a deeper insight into true virtue1 on the day when 7like ,antony when he was reproved by the example of the tanner in ,alexandria7 he heard a voice telling him that he was inferior to two women who dwelt in the nearest town4 ,catching up his staff1 like ,antony1 he went off to see the wonder4 ,the women1 when questioned by him as to their works1 were astonished4 ,they had been simply good wives for years past1 married to two brothers1 and living in the same house4 ,but when pressed by him1 they confessed that they had never said a foul word to each other1 and never quarrelled4 ,at one time they had agreed together to retire into a nunnery1 but could not1 for all their prayers1 obtain the consent of their husbands4 ,on which they had both made an oath1 that they would never1 to their deaths1 speak one worldly word4 ,which when the blessed ,macarius had heard1 he said1 8,in truth there is neither virgin1 nor married woman1 nor monk1 nor secular2 but ,god only requires the intention1 and ministers the spirit of life to all40 ,,arsenius ,i ,,shall give one more figure1 and that a truly tragical one1 from these 8,lives of the ,egyptian ,fathers10 namely1 that of the once great and famous ,arsenius1 the ,father 7as he was at one time called7 of the ,emperors4 ,theodosius1 the great statesman and warrior1 who for some twenty years kept up by his single hand the falling empire of ,rome1 heard how ,arsenius was at once the most pious and the most learned of his subjects2 and wishing--half barbarian as he was himself--that his sons should be brought up1 not only as scholars1 but as ,christians1 he sent for ,arsenius to his court1 and made him tutor to his two young sons ,honorius and ,arcadius4 ,but the two lads had neither their father's strength nor their father's nobleness4 ,weak and profligate1 they fretted ,arsenius's soul day by day2 and1 at last1 so goes the story1 provoked him so far that1 according to the fashion of a ,roman pedagogue1 he took the ferula and administered to one of the princes a caning1 which he no doubt deserved4 ,the young prince1 in revenge1 plotted against his life4 ,among the parasites of the ,palace it was not difficult to find those who would use steel and poison readily enough in the service of an heir-apparent1 and ,arsenius fled for his life3 and fled1 as men were wont in those days1 to ,egypt and the ,thebaid4 ,forty years old he was when he left the court1 and forty years more he spent among the cells at ,scetis1 weeping day and night4 ,he migrated afterwards to a place called ,troe1 and there died at the age of ninety-five1 having wept himself1 say his admirers1 almost blind4 ,he avoided1 as far as possible1 beholding the face of man2 upon the face of woman he would never look4 ,a noble lady1 whom he had known probably in the world1 came all the way from ,rome to see him2 but he refused himself to her sternly1 almost roughly4 ,he had known too much of the fine ladies of the ,roman court2 all he cared for was peace4 ,there is a story of him that1 changing once his dwelling-place1 probably from ,scetis to ,troe1 he asked1 somewhat peevishly1 of the monks around him1 8,what that noise was80 ,they told him it was only the wind among the reeds4 8,alas60 he said1 8,i have fled everywhere in search of silence1 and yet here the very reeds speak40 ,the simple and comparatively unlearned monks around him looked with a profound respect on the philosopher1 courtier1 scholar1 who had cast away the real pomps and vanities of this life1 such as they had never known4 ,there is a story told1 plainly concerning ,arsenius1 though his name is not actually mentioned in it1 how a certain old monk saw him lying upon a softer mat than his fellows1 and indulged with a few more comforts2 and complained indignantly of his luxury1 and the abbot's favouritism4 ,then asked the abbot1 8,what didst thou eat before thou becamest a monk80 ,he confessed he had been glad enough to fill his stomach with a few beans4 8,how wert thou dressed80 ,he was glad enough1 again he confessed1 to have any clothes at all on his back4 8,where didst thou sleep80 8,often enough on the bare ground in the open air10 was the answer4 8,then10 said the abbot1 8thou art1 by thy own confession1 better off as a monk than thou wast as a poor labouring man3 and yet thou grudgest a little comfort to one who has given up more luxury than thou hast ever beheld4 ,this man slept beneath silken canopies2 he was carried in gilded litters1 by trains of slaves2 he was clothed in purple and fine linen2 he fed upon all the delicacies of the great city3 and he has given up all for ,christ4 ,and what hast thou given up1 that thou shouldst grudge him a softer mat1 or a little more food each day80 ,and so the monk was abashed1 and held his peace4 ,as for ,arsenius's tears1 it is easy to call his grief exaggerated or superstitious3 but those who look on them with human eyes will pardon them1 and watch with sacred pity the grief of a good man1 who felt that his life had been an utter failure4 ,he saw his two pupils1 between whom1 at their father's death1 the ,roman ,empire was divided into ,eastern and ,western1 grow more and more incapable of governing4 ,he saw a young barbarian1 whom he must have often met at the court in ,byzantium1 as ,master of the ,horse1 come down from his native forests1 and sack the ,eternal ,city of ,rome4 ,he saw evil and woe unspeakable fall on that world which he had left behind him1 till the earth was filled with blood1 and ,antichrist seemed ready to appear1 and the day of judgment to be at hand4 ,and he had been called to do what he could to stave off this ruin1 to make those young princes decree justice and rule in judgment by the fear of ,god4 ,but he had failed2 and there was nothing left to him save self-accusation and regret1 and dread lest some1 at least1 of the blood which had been shed might be required at his hands4 ,therefore1 sitting upon his palm-mat there in ,troe1 he wept his life away2 happier1 nevertheless1 and more honourable in the sight of ,god and man than if1 like a ,mazarin or a ,talleyrand1 and many another crafty politician1 both in ,church and ,state1 he had hardened his heart against his own mistakes1 and1 by crafty intrigue and adroit changing of sides at the right moment1 had contrived to secure for himself1 out of the general ruin1 honour and power and wealth1 and delicate food1 and a luxurious home1 and so been one of those of whom the ,psalmist says1 with awful irony1 8,so long as thou doest well unto thyself1 men will speak good of thee40 ,one good deed at least ,arsenius had seen done--a deed which has lasted to all time1 and done1 too1 to the eternal honour of his order1 by a monk--namely1 the abolition of gladiator shows4 ,for centuries these wholesale murders had lasted through the ,roman ,republic and through the ,roman ,empire4 ,human beings in the prime of youth and health1 captives or slaves1 condemned malefactors1 and even free-born men1 who hired themselves out to death1 had been trained to destroy each other in the amphitheatre for the amusement1 not merely of the ,roman mob1 but of the ,roman ladies4 ,thousands sometimes1 in a single day1 had been 8,butchered to make a ,roman holiday40 ,the training of gladiators had become a science4 ,by their weapons and their armour1 and their modes of fighting1 they had been distinguished into regular classes1 of which the antiquaries count up full eighteen3 ,andabat1 who wore helmets without any opening for the eyes1 so that they were obliged to fight blindfold1 and thus excited the mirth of the spectators2 ,hoplomachi1 who fought in a complete suit of armour2 ,mirmillones1 who had the image of a fish upon their helmets1 and fought in armour with a short sword1 matched usually against the ,retiarii1 who fought without armour1 and whose weapons were a casting-net and a trident4 ,these1 and other species of fighters1 were drilled and fed in 8families0 by ,lanist2 or regular trainers1 who let them out to persons wishing to exhibit a show4 ,women1 even high-born ladies1 had been seized in former times with the madness of fighting1 and1 as shameless as cruel1 had gone down into the arena to delight with their own wounds and their own gore the eyes of the ,roman people4 ,and these things were done1 and done too often1 under the auspices of the gods1 and at their most sacred festivals4 ,so deliberate and organized a system of wholesale butchery has never perhaps existed on this earth before or since1 not even in the worship of those ,mexican gods whose idols ,cortez and his soldiers found fed with human hearts1 and the walls of their temples crusted with human gore4 ,gradually the spirit of the ,gospel had been triumphing over this abomination4 ,ever since the time of ,tertullian1 in the second century1 ,christian preachers and writers had lifted up their voice in the name of humanity4 ,towards the end of the third century1 the ,emperors themselves had so far yielded to the voice of reason1 as to forbid by edicts the gladiatorial fights4 ,but the public opinion of the mob in most of the great cities had been too strong both for saints and for emperors4 ,st4 ,augustine himself tells us of the horrible joy which he1 in his youth1 had seen come over the vast ring of flushed faces at these horrid sights2 and in ,arsenius's own time1 his miserable pupil1 the weak ,honorius1 bethought himself of celebrating once more the heathen festival of the ,secular ,games1 and formally to allow therein an exhibition of gladiators4 ,but in the midst of that show sprang down into the arena of the ,colosseum of ,rome an unknown monk1 some said from ,nitria1 some from ,phrygia1 and with his own hands parted the combatants in the name of ,christ and ,god4 ,the mob1 baulked for a moment of their pleasure1 sprang on him1 and stoned him to death4 ,but the crime was followed by a sudden revulsion of feeling4 ,by an edict of the ,emperor the gladiatorial sports were forbidden for ever2 and the ,colosseum1 thenceforth useless1 crumbled slowly away into that vast ruin which remains unto this day1 purified1 as men well said1 from the blood of tens of thousands1 by the blood of one true and noble martyr4 ,,the ,,hermits ,,of ,,asia ,,the impulse which1 given by ,antony1 had been propagated in ,asia by his great pupil1 ,hilarion1 spread rapidly far and wide4 ,hermits took possession of the highest peaks of ,sinai2 and driven from thence1 so tradition tells1 by fear of those mysterious noises which still haunt its cliffs1 settled at that sheltered spot where now stands the convent of ,st4 ,catharine4 ,massacred again and again by the wild ,arab tribes1 their places were filled up by fresh hermits1 and their spiritual descendants hold the convent to this day4 ,through the rich and luxuriant region of ,syria1 and especially round the richest and most luxurious of its cities1 ,antioch1 hermits settled1 and bore1 by the severity of their lives1 a noble witness against the profligacy of its inhabitants1 who had half renounced the paganism of their forefathers without renouncing in the least1 it seems1 those sins which drew down of old the vengeance of a righteous ,god upon their forefathers1 whether in ,canaan or in ,syria itself4 ,at ,antioch1 about the year #cdg1 was born the famous ,chrysostom1 ,john of the ,golden ,mouth2 and near ,antioch he became a hermit1 and dwelt1 so legends say1 several years alone in the wilderness3 till1 nerved by that hard training1 he went forth again into the world to become1 whether at ,antioch or at ,constantinople1 the bravest as well as the most eloquent preacher of righteousness and rebuker of sin which the world had seen since the times of ,st4 ,paul4 ,the labours of ,chrysostom belong not so much to this book as to a general ecclesiastical history3 but it must not be forgotten that he1 like all the great men of that age1 had been a monk1 and kept up his monastic severity1 even in the midst of the world1 until his dying day4 ,at ,nisibis1 again1 upon the very frontier of ,persia1 appeared another very remarkable personage1 known as the ,great ,jacob or ,great ,st4 ,james4 ,taking 7says his admiring biographer1 ,theodoret of ,cyra7 to the peaks of the loftiest mountains1 he passed his life on them1 in spring and summer haunting the woods1 with the sky for a roof1 but sheltering himself in winter in a cave4 ,his food was wild fruits and mountain herbs4 ,he never used a fire1 and1 clothed in a goats' hair garment1 was perhaps the first of those ,boscoi1 or 8browsing hermits10 who lived literally like the wild animals in the flesh1 while they tried to live like angels in the spirit4 ,some of the stories told of ,jacob savour of that vindictiveness which ,giraldus ,cambrensis1 in after years1 attributed to the saints in ,ireland4 ,he was walking one day over the ,persian frontier1 8to visit the plants of true religion0 and 8bestow on them due care10 when he passed at a fountain a troop of damsels washing clothes and treading them with their feet4 ,they seem1 according to the story1 to have stared at the wild man1 instead of veiling their faces or letting down their garments4 ,no act or word of rudeness is reported of them3 but ,jacob's modesty or pride was so much scandalized that he cursed both the fountain and the girls4 ,the fountain of course dried up forthwith1 and the damsels' hair turned grey4 ,they ran weeping into the town4 ,the townsfolk came out1 and compelled ,jacob1 by their prayers1 to restore the water to their fountain2 but the grey hair he refused to restore to its original hue unless the damsels would come and beg pardon publicly themselves4 ,the poor girls were ashamed to come1 and their hair remained grey ever after4 ,a story like this may raise a smile in some of my readers1 in others something like indignation or contempt4 ,but as long as such legends remain in these hermit lives1 told with as much gravity as any other portion of the biography1 and eloquently lauded1 as this deed is1 by ,bishop ,theodoret1 as proofs of the holiness and humanity of the saint1 an honest author is bound to notice some of them at least1 and not to give an alluring and really dishonest account of these men and their times1 by detailing every anecdote which can elevate them in the mind of the reader1 while he carefully omits all that may justly disgust him4 ,yet1 after all1 we are not bound to believe this legend1 any more than we are bound to believe that when ,jacob saw a ,persian judge give an unjust sentence1 he forthwith cursed1 not him1 but a rock close by1 which instantly crumbled into innumerable fragments1 so terrifying that judge that he at once revoked his sentence1 and gave a just decision4 ,neither1 again1 need we believe that it was by sending1 as men said in his own days1 swarms of mosquitos against the ,persian invaders1 that he put to flight their elephants and horses3 and yet it may be true that1 in the famous siege of ,nisibis1 ,jacob played the patriot and the valiant man4 ,for when ,sapor1 the ,persian king1 came against ,nisibis with all his forces1 with troops of elephants1 and huge machines of war1 and towers full of archers wheeled up to the walls1 and at last1 damming the river itself1 turned its current against the fortifications of unburnt brick1 until a vast breach was opened in the walls1 then ,jacob1 standing in the breach1 encouraged by his prayers his fellow-townsmen to stop it with stone1 brick1 timber1 and whatsoever came to hand2 and ,sapor1 the ,persian ,sultan1 saw 8that divine man10 and his goats'-hair tunic and cloak seemed transformed into a purple robe and royal diadem4 ,and1 whether he was seized with superstitious fear1 or whether the hot sun or the marshy ground had infected his troops with disease1 or whether the mosquito swarms actually became intolerable1 the great ,king of ,persia turned and went away4 ,so ,nisibis was saved for a while2 to be shamefully surrendered to the ,persians a few years afterwards by the weak young ,emperor ,jovian4 ,old ,ammianus ,marcellinus1 brave soldier as he was1 saw with disgust the whole body of citizens ordered to quit the city within three days1 and 8men appointed to compel obedience to the order1 with threats of death to every one who delayed his departure2 and the whole city was a scene of mourning and lamentation1 and in every quarter nothing was heard but one universal wail1 matrons tearing their hair1 and about to be driven from the homes in which they had been born and brought up2 the mother who had lost her children1 or the wife who had lost her husband1 about to be torn from the place rendered sacred by their shades1 clinging to their doorposts1 embracing their thresholds1 and pouring forth floods of tears4 ,every road was crowded1 each person struggling away as he could4 ,many1 too1 loaded themselves with as much of their property as they thought they could carry1 while leaving behind them abundant and costly furniture1 which they could not remove for want of beasts of burden40 #aei ,one treasure1 however1 they did remove1 of which the old soldier ,ammianus says nothing1 and which1 had he seen it pass him on the road1 he would have treated with supreme contempt4 ,and that1 says ,theodoret1 was the holy body of 8their prince and defender10 ,st4 ,james the mountain hermit1 round which the emigrants chanted1 says ,theodoret1 hymns of regret and praise1 8for1 had he been alive1 that city would have never passed into barbarian hands40 ,there stood with ,jacob in the breach1 during that siege of ,nisibis1 a man of gentler temperament1 a disciple of his1 who had received baptism at his hands1 and who was1 like himself1 a hermit--,ephraim1 or ,ephrem1 of ,edessa1 as he is commonly called1 for1 though born at ,nisibis1 his usual home was at ,edessa1 the metropolis of a ,syrian-speaking race4 ,into the ,syrian tongue ,ephrem translated the doctrines of the ,christian faith and the ,gospel history1 and spread abroad1 among the heathen round1 a number of delicate and graceful hymns1 which remain to this day1 and of which some have lately been translated into ,english4 #afj ,soft1 sad1 and dreamy as they were1 they had strength and beauty enough in them to supersede the ,gnostic hymns of ,bardesanes and his son ,harmonius1 which had been long popular among the ,syrians2 and for centuries afterwards1 till ,christianity was swept away by the followers of ,mahomet1 the ,syrian husbandman beguiled his toil with the pious and plaintive melodies of ,st4 ,ephrem4 ,but ,ephrem was not only a hermit and a poet3 he was a preacher and a missionary4 ,if he wept1 as it was said1 day and night for his own sins and the sins of mankind1 he did his best at least to cure those sins4 ,he was a demagogue1 or leader of the people1 for good and not for evil1 to whom the simple ,syrians looked up for many a year as their spiritual father4 ,he died in peace1 as he said himself1 like the labourer who has finished his day's work1 like the wandering merchant who returns to his fatherland1 leaving nothing behind him save prayers and counsels1 for 8,ephrem10 he added1 8had neither wallet nor pilgrim's staff40 8,his last utterance0 7,i owe this fact to ,m4 de ,montalembert's book1 8,moines d',occident07 8was a protest on behalf of the dignity of man redeemed by the ,son of ,god40 8,the young and pious daughter of the ,governor of ,edessa came weeping to receive his latest breath4 ,he made her swear never again to be carried in a litter by slaves1 #8,the neck of man1' he said1 #8should bear no yoke save that of ,christ4'0 ,this anecdote is one among many which go to prove that from the time that ,st4 ,paul had declared the great truth that in ,christ ,jesus was neither bond nor free1 and had proclaimed the spiritual brotherhood of all men in ,christ1 slavery1 as an institution1 was doomed to slow but certain death4 ,but that death was accelerated by the monastic movement1 wherever it took root4 ,a class of men who came not to be ministered unto1 but to minister to others2 who prided themselves upon needing fewer luxuries than the meanest slaves2 who took rank among each other and among men not on the ground of race1 nor of official position1 nor of wealth1 nor even of intellect1 but simply on the ground of virtue1 was a perpetual protest against slavery and tyranny of every kind2 a perpetual witness to the world that1 whether all men were equal or not in the sight of ,god1 the only rank among them of which ,god would take note1 would be their rank in goodness4 ,,basil ,,on the south shore of the ,black ,sea1 eastward of ,sinope1 there dwelt in those days1 at the mouth of the ,river ,iris1 a hermit as gentle and as pure as ,ephrem of ,edessa4 ,beside a roaring waterfall1 amid deep glens and dark forests1 with distant glimpses of the stormy sea beyond1 there lived on bread and water a graceful gentleman1 young and handsome2 a scholar too1 who had drunk deeply at the fountains of ,pagan philosophy and poetry1 and had been educated with care at ,constantinople and at ,athens1 as well as at his native city of ,csara1 in the heart of ,asia ,minor1 now dwindled under ,turkish misrule into a wretched village4 ,he was heir to great estates2 the glens and forests round him were his own3 and that was the use which he made of them4 ,on the other side of the torrent1 his mother and his sister1 a maiden of wonderful beauty1 lived the hermit life1 on a footing of perfect equality with their female slaves1 and the pious women who had joined them4 ,basil's austerities--or rather the severe climate of the ,black ,sea forests--brought him to an early grave4 ,but his short life was spent well enough4 ,he was a poet1 with an eye for the beauty of ,nature--especially for the beauty of the sea--most rare in those times2 and his works are full of descriptions of scenery as healthy-minded as they are vivid and graceful4 ,in his travels through ,egypt1 ,palestine1 and ,syria1 he had seen the hermits1 and longed to emulate them2 but 7to do him justice7 his ideal of the so-called 8religious life0 was more practical than those of the solitaries of ,egypt1 who had been his teachers4 8,it was the life0 7says ,dean ,milman #afc7 8of the industrious religious community1 not of the indolent and solitary anchorite1 which to ,basil was the perfection of ,christianity4 4 4 4 ,the indiscriminate charity of these institutions was to receive orphans0 7of which there were but too many in those evil days7 8of all classes1 for education and maintenance3 but other children only with the consent or at the request of parents1 certified before witnesses2 and vows were by no means to be enforced upon these youthful pupils4 ,slaves who fled to the monasteries were to be admonished and sent back to their owners4 ,there is one reservation0 7and that one only too necessary then71 8that slaves were not bound to obey their master1 if he should order what is contrary to the law of ,god4 ,industry was to be the animating principle of these settlements4 ,prayer and psalmody were to have their stated hours1 but by no means to intrude on those devoted to useful labour4 ,these labours were strictly defined2 such as were of real use to the community1 not those which might contribute to vice or luxury4 ,agriculture was especially recommended4 ,the life was in no respect to be absorbed in a perpetual mystic communion with the ,deity40 ,the ideal which ,basil set before him was never fulfilled in the ,east4 ,transported to the ,west by ,st4 ,benedict1 8the father of all monks10 it became that conventual system which did so much during the early middle age1 not only for the conversion and civilization1 but for the arts and the agriculture of ,europe4 ,basil1 like his bosom friend1 ,gregory of ,nazianzen1 had to go forth from his hermitage into the world1 and be a bishop1 and fight the battles of the true faith4 ,but1 as with ,gregory1 his hermit-training had strengthened his soul1 while it weakened his body4 ,the ,emperor ,valens1 supporting the ,arians against the orthodox1 sent to ,basil his ,prefect of the ,prtorium1 an officer of the highest rank4 ,the prefect argued1 threatened2 ,basil was firm4 8,i never met10 said he at last1 8such boldness40 8,because10 said ,basil1 8you never met a bishop40 ,the prefect returned to his ,emperor4 8,my lord1 we are conquered2 this bishop is above threats4 ,we can do nothing but by force40 ,the ,emperor shrank from that crime1 and ,basil and the orthodoxy of his diocese were saved4 ,the rest of his life and of ,gregory's belongs1 like that of ,chrysostom1 to general history1 and we need pursue it no further here4 ,i said that ,basil's idea of what monks should be was never carried out in the ,east1 and it cannot be denied that1 as the years went on1 the hermit life took a form less and less practical1 and more and more repulsive also4 ,such men as ,antony1 ,hilarion1 ,basil1 had valued the ascetic training1 not so much because it had1 as they thought1 a merit in itself1 but because it enabled the spirit to rise above the flesh2 because it gave them strength to conquer their passions and appetites1 and leave their soul free to think and act4 ,but their disciples1 especially in ,syria1 seem to have attributed more and more merit to the mere act of inflicting want and suffering on themselves4 ,their souls were darkened1 besides1 more and more1 by a doctrine unknown to the ,bible1 unknown to the early ,christians1 and one which does not seem to have had any strong hold of the mind of ,antony himself--namely1 that sins committed after baptism could only be washed away by tears1 and expiated by penance2 that for them the merits of him who died for the sins of the whole world were of little or of no avail4 ,therefore1 in perpetual fear of punishment hereafter1 they set their whole minds to punish themselves on earth1 always tortured by the dread that they were not punishing themselves enough1 till they crushed down alike body1 mind1 and soul into an abject superstition1 the details of which are too repulsive to be written here4 ,some of the instances of this self-invented misery which are recorded1 even as early as the time of ,theodoret1 bishop of ,cyra1 in the middle of the fifth century1 make us wonder at the puzzling inconsistencies of the human mind4 ,did these poor creatures really believe that ,god could be propitiated by the torture of his own creatures8 ,what sense could ,theodoret 7who was a good man himself7 have put upon the words1 8,god is good10 or 8,god is love10 while he was looking with satisfaction1 even with admiration and awe1 on practices which were more fit for worshippers of ,moloch8 ,those who think these words too strong1 may judge for themselves how far they apply to his story of ,marana and ,cyra4 ,marana1 then1 and ,cyra were two young ladies of ,berha1 who had given up all the pleasures of life to settle themselves in a roofless cottage outside the town4 ,they had stopped up the door with stones and clay1 and allowed it only to be opened at the feast of ,pentecost4 ,around them lived certain female slaves who had voluntarily chosen the same life1 and who were taught and exhorted through a little window by their mistresses2 or rather1 it would seem1 by ,marana alone3 for ,cyra 7who was bent double by her 8training07 was never to speak4 ,theodoret1 as a priest1 was allowed to enter the sacred enclosure1 and found them shrouded from head to foot in long veils1 so that neither their faces or hands could be seen2 and underneath their veils1 burdened on every limb1 poor wretches1 with such a load of iron chains and rings that a strong man1 he says1 could not have stood under the weight4 ,thus had they endured for two-and-forty years1 exposed to sun and wind1 to frost and rain1 taking no food at times for many days together4 ,i have no mind to finish the picture1 and still less to record any of the phrases of rapturous admiration with which ,bishop ,theodoret comments upon their pitiable superstition4 ,,simeon ,,stylites ,of all such anchorites of the far ,east1 the most remarkable1 perhaps1 was the once famous ,simeon ,stylites--a name almost forgotten1 save by antiquaries and ecclesiastics1 till ,mr4 ,tennyson made it once more notorious in a poem as admirable for its savage grandness1 as for its deep knowledge of human nature4 ,he has comprehended thoroughly1 as it seems to me1 that struggle between self-abasement and self-conceit1 between the exaggerated sense of sinfulness and the exaggerated ambition of saintly honour1 which must have gone on in the minds of these ascetics--the temper which could cry out one moment with perfect honesty-- 8,although ,i be the basest of mankind1 ,from scalp to sole one slough and crust of sin20 at the next-- 8,i will not cease to grasp the hope ,i hold ,of saintdom2 and to clamour1 mourn1 and sob1 ,battering the gates of heaven with storms of prayer4 ,have mercy1 ,lord1 and take away my sin4 ,let this avail1 just1 dreadful1 mighty ,god1 ,this not be all in vain1 that thrice ten years ,thrice multiplied by superhuman pangs1 99 99 99 99 99 99 ,a sign between the meadow and the cloud1 ,patient on this tall pillar ,i have borne ,rain1 wind1 frost1 heat1 hail1 damp1 and sleet1 and snow2 ,and ,i had hoped that ere this period closed ,thou wouldst have caught me up into thy rest1 ,denying not these weather-beaten limbs ,the meed of saints1 the white robe and the palm4 ,o take the meaning1 ,lord3 ,i do not breathe1 ,not whisper any murmur of complaint4 ,pain heaped ten hundred-fold to this1 were still ,less burthen1 by ten-hundred-fold1 to bear ,than were those lead-like tons of sin1 that crush'd ,my spirit flat before thee40 ,admirably also has ,mr4 ,tennyson conceived the hermit's secret doubt of the truth of those miracles1 which he is so often told that he has worked1 that he at last begins to believe that he must have worked them2 and the longing1 at the same time1 to justify himself to himself1 by persuading himself that he has earned miraculous powers4 ,on this whole question of hermit miracles ,i shall speak at length hereafter4 ,i have given specimens enough of them already1 and shall give as few as possible henceforth4 ,there is a sameness about them which may become wearisome to those who cannot be expected to believe them4 ,but what the hermits themselves thought of them1 is told 7at least1 so ,i suspect7 only too truly by ,mr4 ,tennyson-- 8,o ,lord1 thou knowest what a man ,i am2 ,a sinful man1 conceived and born in sin3 ',tis their own doing2 this is none of mine2 ,lay it not to me4 ,am ,i to blame for this1 ,that here come those who worship me8 ,ha6 ha6 ,the silly people take me for a saint1 ,and bring me offerings of fruit and flowers3 ,and ,i1 in truth 7thou wilt bear witness here71 ,have all in all endured as much1 and more ,than many just and holy men1 whose names ,are register'd and calendar'd for saints4 ,good people1 you do ill to kneel to me4 ,what is it ,i can have done to merit this8 ,it may be ,i have wrought some miracles1 ,and cured some halt and maimed3 but what of that8 ,it may be1 no one1 even among the saints1 ,can match his pains with mine3 but what of that8 ,yet do not rise2 for you may look on me1 ,and in your looking you may kneel to ,god4 ,speak1 is there any of you halt and maimed8 ,i think you know ,i have some power with heaven ,from my long penance2 let him speak his wish4 ,yes1 ,i can heal him4 ,power goes forth from me4 ,they say that they are heal'd4 ,ah1 hark6 they shout1 #8,st4 ,simeon ,stylites6' ,why1 if so1 ,god reaps a harvest in me4 ,o my soul1 ,god reaps a harvest in thee4 ,if this be1 ,can ,i work miracles1 and not be saved8 ,this is not told of any4 ,they were saints4 ,it cannot be but that ,i shall be saved2 ,yea1 crowned a saint40 4 4 4 ,i shall not take the liberty of quoting more3 but shall advise all who read these pages to study seriously ,mr4 ,tennyson's poem if they wish to understand that darker side of the hermit life which became at last1 in the ,east1 the only side of it4 ,for in the ,east the hermits seem to have degenerated1 by the time of the ,mahomedan conquest1 into mere self-torturing fakeers1 like those who may be seen to this day in ,hindostan4 ,the salt lost its savour1 and in due tune it was trampled under foot2 and the armies of the ,moslem swept out of the ,east a superstition which had ended by enervating instead of ennobling humanity4 ,but in justice1 not only to myself1 but to ,mr4 ,tennyson 7whose details of ,simeon's asceticism may seem to some exaggerated and impossible71 ,i have thought fit to give his life at length1 omitting only many of his miracles1 and certain stories of his penances1 which can only excite horror and disgust1 without edifying the reader4 ,there were1 then1 three hermits of this name1 often confounded2 and all alike famous 7as were ,julian1 ,daniel1 and other ,stylites7 for standing for many years on pillars4 ,one of the ,simeons is said by ,moschus to have been struck by lightning1 and his death to have been miraculously revealed to ,julian the ,stylite1 who lived twenty-four miles off4 ,more than one ,stylite1 belonging to the ,monophysite heresy of ,severus ,acephalus1 was to be found1 according to ,moschus1 in the ,east at the beginning of the seventh century4 ,this biography is that of the elder ,simeon1 who died 7according to ,cedrenus7 about #dfj1 after passing some forty or fifty years upon pillars of different heights4 ,there is much discrepancy in the accounts1 both of his date and of his age2 but that such a person really existed1 and had his imitators1 there can be no doubt4 ,he is honoured as a saint alike by the ,latin and by the ,greek ,churches4 ,his life has been written by a disciple of his named ,antony1 who professes to have been with him when he died2 and also by ,theodoret1 who knew him well in life4 ,both are to be found in ,rosweyde1 and there seems no reason to doubt their authenticity4 ,i have therefore interwoven them both1 marking the paragraphs taken from each4 ,theodoret1 who says that he was born in the village of ,gesa1 between ,antioch and ,cilicia1 calls him that 8famous ,simeon--that great miracle of the whole world1 whom all who obey the ,roman rule know2 whom the ,persians also know1 and the ,indians1 and thiopians2 nay1 his fame has even spread to the wandering ,scythians1 and taught them his love of toil and love of wisdom20 and says that he might be compared with ,jacob the patriarch1 ,joseph the temperate1 ,moses the legislator1 ,david the king and prophet1 ,micaiah the prophet1 and the divine men who were like them4 ,he tells how ,simeon1 as a boy1 kept his father's sheep1 and1 being forced by heavy snow to leave them in the fold1 went with his parents to the church1 and there heard the ,gospel which blesses those who mourn and weep1 and calls those miserable who laugh1 and those enviable who have a pure heart4 ,and when he asked a bystander what he would gain who did each of these things1 the man propounded to him the solitary life1 and pointed out to him the highest philosophy4 ,this1 ,theodoret says1 he heard from the saint's own tongue4 ,his disciple ,antony gives the story of his conversion somewhat differently4 99 99 99 99 99 ,st4 ,simeon 7says ,antony7 was chosen by ,god from his birth1 and used to study how to obey and please him4 ,now his father's name was ,susocion1 and he was brought up by his parents4 ,when he was thirteen years old1 he was feeding his father's sheep2 and seeing a church he left the sheep and went in1 and heard an epistle being read4 ,and when he asked an elder1 8,master1 what is that which is read80 the old man replied1 8,for the substance 7or very being7 of the soul1 that a man may learn to fear ,god with his whole heart1 and his whole mind40 ,quoth the blessed ,simeon1 8,what is to fear ,god80 ,quoth the elder1 8,wherefore troublest thou me1 my son80 ,quoth he1 8,i inquire of thee1 as of ,god4 ,for ,i wish to learn what ,i hear from thee1 because ,i am ignorant and a fool40 ,the elder answered1 8,if any man shall have fasted continually1 and offered prayers every moment1 and shall have humbled himself to every man1 and shall not have loved gold1 nor parents1 nor garments1 nor possessions1 and if he honours his father and mother1 and follows the priests of ,god1 he shall inherit the eternal kingdom3 but he who1 on the contrary1 does not keep those things1 he shall inherit the outer darkness which ,god hath prepared for the devil and his angels4 ,all these things1 my son1 are heaped together in a monastery40 ,hearing this1 the blessed ,simeon fell at his feet1 saying1 8,thou art my father and my mother1 and my teacher of good works1 and guide to the kingdom of heaven4 ,for thou hast gained my soul1 which was already being sunk in perdition4 ,may the ,lord repay thee again for it4 ,for these are the things which edify4 ,i will now go into a monastery1 where ,god shall choose2 and let his will be done on me40 ,the elder said1 8,my son1 before thou enterest1 hear me4 ,thou shalt have tribulation2 for thou must watch and serve in nakedness1 and sustain ills without ceasing2 and again thou shalt be comforted1 thou vessel precious to ,god40 ,and forthwith the blessed ,simeon1 going out of the church1 went to the monastery of the holy ,timotheus1 a wonder-working man2 and falling down before the gate of the monastery1 he lay five days1 neither eating nor drinking4 ,and on the fifth day1 the abbot1 coming out1 asked him1 8,whence art thou1 my son8 ,and what parents hast thou1 that thou art so afflicted8 ,or what is thy name1 lest perchance thou hast done some wrong8 ,or perchance thou art a slave1 and fleest from thy master80 ,then the blessed ,simeon said with tears1 8,by no means1 master2 but ,i long to be a servant of ,god1 if he so will1 because ,i wish to save my lost soul4 ,bid me1 therefore1 enter the monastery1 and leave all2 and send me away no more40 ,then the ,abbot1 taking his hand1 introduced him into the monastery1 saying to the brethren1 8,my sons1 behold ,i deliver you this brother2 teach him the canons of the monastery40 ,now he was in the monastery about four months1 serving all without complaint1 in which he learnt the whole ,psalter by heart1 receiving every day divine food4 ,but the food which he took with his brethren he gave away secretly to the poor1 not caring for the morrow4 ,so the brethren ate at even3 but he only on the seventh day4 ,but one day1 having gone to the well to draw water1 he took the rope from the bucket with which the brethren drew water1 and wound it round his body from his loins to his neck3 and going in1 said to the brethren1 8,i went out to draw water1 and found no rope on the bucket40 ,and they said1 8,hold thy peace1 brother1 lest the abbot know it2 till the thing has passed over40 ,but his body was wounded by the tightness and roughness of the rope1 because it cut him to the bone1 and sank into his flesh till it was hardly seen4 ,but one day1 some of the brethren going out1 found him giving his food to the poor2 and when they returned1 said to the abbot1 8,whence hast thou brought us that man8 ,we cannot abstain like him1 for he fasts from ,lord's day to ,lord's day1 and gives away his food40 4 4 4 ,then the abbot1 going out1 found as was told him1 and said1 8,son1 what is it which the brethren tell of thee8 ,is it not enough for thee to fast as we do8 ,hast thou not heard the ,gospel1 saying of teachers1 that the disciple is not above his master80 4 4 4 ,the blessed ,simeon stood and answered nought4 ,and the abbot1 being angry1 bade strip him1 and found the rope round him1 so that only its outside appeared2 and cried with a loud voice1 saying1 8,whence has this man come to us1 wanting to destroy the rule of the monastery8 ,i pray thee depart hence1 and go whither thou wiliest40 ,and with great trouble they took off the rope1 and his flesh with it1 and taking care of him1 healed him4 ,but after he was healed he went out of the monastery1 no man knowing of it1 and entered a deserted tank1 in which was no water1 where unclean spirits dwelt4 ,and that very night it was revealed to the abbot1 that a multitude of people surrounded the monastery with clubs and swords1 saying1 8,give us ,simeon the servant of ,god1 ,timotheus2 else we will burn thee with thy monastery1 because thou hast angered a just man40 ,and when he woke1 he told the brethren the vision1 and how he was much disturbed thereby4 ,and another night he saw a multitude of strong men standing and saying1 8,give us ,simeon the servant of ,god2 for he is beloved by ,god and the angels3 why hast thou vexed him8 ,he is greater than thou before ,god2 for all the angels are sorry on his behalf4 ,and ,god is minded to set him on high in the world1 that by him many signs may be done1 such as no man has done40 ,then the abbot1 rising1 said with great fear to the brethren1 8,seek me that man1 and bring him hither1 lest perchance we all die on his account4 ,he is truly a saint of ,god1 for ,i have heard and seen great wonders of him40 ,then all the monks went out and searched1 but in vain1 and told the abbot how they had sought him everywhere1 save in the deserted tank4 4 4 4 ,then the abbot went1 with five brethren1 to the tank4 ,and making a prayer1 he went down into it with the brethren4 ,and the blessed ,simeon1 seeing him1 began to entreat1 saying1 8,i beg you1 servants of ,god1 let me alone one hour1 that ,i may render up my spirit2 for yet a little1 and it will fail4 ,but my soul is very weary1 because ,i have angered the ,lord40 ,but the abbot said to him1 8,come1 servant of ,god1 that we may take thee to the monastery2 for ,i know concerning thee that thou art a servant of ,god40 ,but when he would not1 they brought him by force to the monastery4 ,and all fell at his feet1 weeping1 and saying1 8,we have sinned against thee1 servant of ,god2 forgive us40 ,but the blessed ,simeon groaned1 saying1 8,wherefore do ye burden an unhappy man and a sinner8 ,you are the servants of ,god1 and my fathers40 ,and he stayed there about one year4 99 99 99 99 99 ,after this 7says ,theodoret7 he came to the ,telanassus1 under the peak of the mountain on which he lived till his death2 and having found there a little house1 he remained in it shut up for three years4 ,but eager always to increase the riches of virtue1 he longed1 in imitation of the divine ,moses and ,elias1 to fast forty days2 and tried to persuade ,bassus1 who was then set over the priests in the villages1 to leave nothing within by him1 but to close up the door with clay4 ,he spoke to him of the difficulty1 and warned him not to think that a violent death was a virtue4 8,put by me then1 father10 he said1 8ten loaves1 and a cruse of water1 and if ,i find my body need sustenance1 ,i will partake of them40 ,at the end of the days1 that wonderful man of ,god1 ,bassus1 removed the clay1 and going in1 found the food and water untouched1 and ,simeon lying unable to speak or move4 ,getting a sponge1 he moistened and opened his lips and then gave him the symbols of the divine mysteries2 and1 strengthened by them1 he arose1 and took some food1 chewing little by little lettuces and succory1 and such like4 ,from that time1 for twenty-eight years 7says ,theodoret71 he had remained fasting continually for forty days at a time4 ,but custom had made it more easy to him4 ,for on the first days he used to stand and praise ,god2 after that1 when through emptiness he could stand no longer1 he used to sit and perform the divine office2 and on the last day1 even lie down4 ,for when his strength failed slowly1 he was forced to lie half dead4 ,but after he stood on the column he could not bear to lie down1 but invented another way by which he could stand4 ,he fastened a beam to the column1 and tied himself to it by ropes1 and so passed the forty days4 ,but afterwards1 when he had received greater grace from on high1 he did not want even that help3 but stood for the forty days1 taking no food1 but strengthened by alacrity of soul and divine grace4 ,when he had passed three years in that little house1 he took possession of the peak which has since been so famous2 and when he had commanded a wall to be made round him1 and procured an iron chain1 twenty cubits long1 he fastened one end of it to a great stone1 and the other to his right foot1 so that he could not1 if he wished1 leave those bounds4 ,there he lived1 continually picturing heaven to himself1 and forcing himself to contemplate things which are above the heavens2 for the iron bond did not check the flight of his thoughts4 ,but when the wonderful ,meletius1 to whom the care of the episcopate of ,antioch was then commended 7a man of sense and prudence1 and adorned with shrewdness of intellect71 told him that the iron was superfluous1 since the will is able enough to impose on the body the chains of reason1 he gave way1 and obeyed his persuasion4 ,and having sent for a smith1 he bade him strike off the chain4 ,here follow some painful details unnecessary to be translated4 ,when1 therefore1 his fame was flying far and wide everywhere1 all ran together1 not only the neighbours1 but those who were many days' journey off1 some bringing the palsied1 some begging health for the sick1 some that they might become fathers1 and all wishing to receive from him what they had not received from nature2 and when they had received1 and gained their request1 they went back joyful1 proclaiming the benefits they had obtained1 and sending many more to beg the same4 ,so1 as all are coming up from every quarter1 and the road is like a river1 one may see gathered in that place an ocean of men1 which receives streams from every side2 not only of those who live in our region1 but ,ishmaelites1 and ,persians1 and the ,armenians who are subject to them1 and ,iberi1 and ,homerites1 and those who dwell beyond them4 ,many have come also from the extreme west1 ,spaniards1 and ,britons1 and ,gauls who live between the two4 ,of ,italy it is superfluous to speak2 for they say that at ,rome the man has become so celebrated that they have put little images of him in all the porches of the shops1 providing thereby for themselves a sort of safeguard and security4 ,when1 therefore1 they came innumerable 7for all tried to touch him1 and receive some blessing from those skin garments of his71 thinking it in the first place absurd and unfit that such exceeding honour should be paid him1 and next1 disliking the labour of the business1 devised that station on the pillar1 bidding one be built1 first of six cubits1 then of twelve1 next of twenty-two1 and now of thirty-six4 ,for he longs to fly up to heaven1 and be freed from this earthly conversation4 ,but ,i believe that this station was made not without divine counsel4 ,wherefore ,i exhort fault-finders to bridle their tongue1 and not let it rashly loose1 but rather consider that the ,lord has often devised such things1 that he might profit those who were too slothful4 99 99 99 99 99 ,in proof of which1 ,theodoret quotes the examples of ,isaiah1 ,hosea1 and ,ezekiel2 and then goes on to say how ,god in like manner ordained this new and admirable spectacle1 by the novelty of it drawing all to look1 and exhibiting to those who came1 a lesson which they could trust4 ,for the novelty of the spectacle 7he says7 is a worthy warrant for the teaching2 and he who came to see goes away instructed in divine things4 ,and as those whose lot it is to rule over men1 after a certain period of time1 change the impressions on their coins1 sometimes stamping them with images of lions1 sometimes of stars1 sometimes of angels1 and trying1 by a new mark1 to make the gold more precious2 so the ,king of all1 adding to piety and true religion these new and manifold modes of living1 as certain stamps on coin1 excites to praise the tongues not only of the children of faith1 but of those who are diseased with unbelief4 ,and that so it is1 not only words bear witness1 but facts proclaim aloud4 ,for many myriads of ,ishmaelites1 who were enslaved in the darkness of impiety1 have been illuminated by that station on the column4 ,for this most shining lamp1 set as it were upon a candlestick1 sent forth all round its rays1 like of the sun3 and one may see 7as ,i said7 ,iberi coming1 and ,persians1 and ,armenians1 and accepting divine baptism4 ,but the ,ishmaelites1 coming by tribes1 #bjj and #cjj at a time1 and sometimes even #a1jjj1 deny1 with shouts1 the error of their fathers2 and breaking in pieces1 before that great illuminator1 the images which they had worshipped1 and renouncing the orgies of ,venus 7for they had received from ancient times the worship of that dmon71 they receive the divine sacraments1 and take laws from that holy tongue1 bidding farewell to their ancestral rites1 and renouncing the eating of wild asses and camels4 ,and this ,i have seen with my own eyes1 and have heard them renouncing the impiety of their fathers1 and assenting to the ,evangelic doctrine4 ,but once ,i was in the greatest danger3 for he himself told them to go to me1 and receive priestly benediction1 saying that they would thence obtain great advantage4 ,but they1 having run together in somewhat too barbarous fashion1 some dragged me before1 some behind1 some sideways2 and those who were further off1 scrambling over the others1 and stretching out their hands1 plucked my beard1 or seized my clothes2 and ,i should have been stifled by their too warm onset1 had not he1 shouting out1 dispersed them all4 ,such usefulness has that column1 which is mocked at by scornful men1 poured forth2 and so great a ray of the knowledge of ,god has it sent forth into the minds of barbarians4 ,i know also of his having done another thing of this kind3--,one tribe was beseeching the divine man1 that he would send forth some prayer and blessing for their chief3 but another tribe which was present retorted that he ought not to bless that chief1 but theirs2 for the one was a most unjust man1 but the other averse to injustice4 ,and when there had been a great contention and barbaric wrangling between them1 they attacked each other4 ,but ,i1 using many words1 kept exhorting them to be quiet1 seeing that the divine man was able enough to give a blessing to both4 ,but the one tribe kept saying1 that the first chief ought not to have it2 and the other tribe trying to deprive the second chief of it4 ,then he1 by threatening them from above1 and calling them dogs1 hardly stilled the quarrel4 ,this ,i have told1 wishing to show their great faith4 ,for they would not have thus gone mad against each other1 had they not believed that the divine man's blessing possesses some very great power4 ,i saw another miracle1 which was very celebrated4 ,one coming up 7he1 too1 was a chief of a ,saracen tribe7 besought the divine personage that he would help a man whose limbs had given way in paralysis on the road2 and he said the misfortune had fallen on him in ,callinicus1 which is a very large camp4 ,when he was brought into the midst1 the saint bade him renounce the impiety of his forefathers2 and when he willingly obeyed1 he asked him if he believed in the ,father1 the only-begotten ,son1 and the ,holy ,spirit4 ,and when he confessed that he believed--8,believing10 said he1 8in their names1 ,arise40 ,and when the man had risen1 he bade him carry away his chief 7who was a very large man7 on his shoulders to his tent4 ,he took him up1 and went away forthwith2 while those who were present raised their voices in praise of ,god4 ,this he commanded1 imitating the ,lord1 who bade the paralytic carry his bed4 ,let no man call this imitation tyranny4 ,for his saying is1 8,he who believeth in me1 the works which ,i do1 he shall do also1 and more than these shall he do40 ,and1 indeed1 we have seen the fulfilment of this promise4 ,for though the shadow of the ,lord never worked a miracle1 the shadow of the great ,peter both loosed death1 and drove out diseases1 and put dmons to flight4 ,but the ,lord it was who did also these miracles by his servants2 and now likewise1 using his name1 the divine ,simeon works his innumerable wonders4 ,it befell also that another wonder was worked1 by no means inferior to the last4 ,for among those who had believed in the saving name of the ,lord ,christ1 an ,ishmaelite1 of no humble rank1 had made a vow to ,god1 with ,simeon as witness4 ,now his promise was this1 that he would henceforth to the end abstain from animal food4 ,transgressing this promise once1 ,i know not how1 he slew a bird1 and dared to eat it4 ,but ,god being minded to bring him by reproof to conversion1 and to honour his servant1 who was a witness to the broken vow1 the flesh of the bird was changed into the nature of a stone1 so that1 even if he wished1 he could not thenceforth eat it4 ,for how could he1 when the body meant for food had turned to stone8 ,the barbarian1 stupified by this unexpected sight1 came with great haste to the holy man1 bringing to the light the sin which he had hidden1 and proclaimed his transgression to all1 begging pardon from ,god1 and invoking the help of the saint1 that by his all-powerful prayers he might loose him from the bonds of his sin4 ,now many saw that miracle1 and felt that the part of the bird about the breast consisted of bone and stone4 ,but ,i was not only an ear-witness of his wonders1 but also an ear-witness of his prophecies concerning futurity4 ,for that drought which came1 and the great dearth of that year1 and the famine and pestilence which followed together1 he foretold two years before1 saying that he saw a rod which was laid on man1 stripes which would be inflicted by it4 ,moreover1 he at another time foretold an invasion of locusts1 and that it would bring no great harm1 because the divine clemency soon follows punishment4 ,but when thirty days were past1 an innumerable multitude of them hung aloft1 so that they even cut off the sun's rays and threw a shadow2 and that we all saw plainly3 but it only damaged the cattle pastures1 and in no wise hurt the food of man4 ,to me1 too1 who was attacked by a certain person1 he signified that the quarrel would end ere a fortnight was past2 and ,i learned the truth of the prediction by experience4 ,moreover there were seen by him once two rods1 which came down from the skies1 and fell on the eastern and western lands4 ,now the divine man said that they signified the rising of the ,persian and ,scythian nations against the ,romans2 and told the vision to those who were by1 and with many tears and assiduous prayers1 warded that disaster1 the threat whereof hung over the earth4 ,certainly the ,persian nation1 when already armed and prepared to invade the ,romans1 was kept back 7the divine will being against them7 from their attempt1 and occupied at home with their own troubles4 ,but while ,i know many other cases of this kind1 ,i shall pass them over to avoid prolixity4 ,these are surely enough to show the spiritual contemplation of his mind4 ,his fame was great1 also1 with the ,king of the ,persians2 for as the ambassadors told1 who came to him1 he diligently inquired what was his life1 and what his miracles4 ,but they say that the ,king's wife also begged oil honoured by his blessing1 and accepted it as the greatest of gifts4 ,moreover1 all the ,king's courtiers1 being moved by his fame1 and having heard many slanders against him from the ,magi1 inquired diligently1 and having learnt the truth1 called him a divine man2 while the rest of the crowd1 coming to the muleteers and servants and soldiers1 both offered money1 and begged for a share in the oil of benediction4 ,the ,queen1 too1 of the ,ishmaelites1 longing to have a child1 sent first some of her most noble subjects to the saint1 beseeching him that she might become a mother4 ,and when her prayer had been granted1 and she had her heart's desire1 she took the son who had been born1 and went to the divine old man2 and 7because women were not allowed to approach him7 sent the babe1 entreating his blessing on it 4 4 4 ,here ,theodoret puts into the ,queen's mouth words which it is unnecessary to quote4 ,but how long do ,i strive to measure the depths of the ,atlantic sea8 ,for as they are unfathomable by man1 so do the things which he does daily surpass narration4 ,i1 however1 admire above all these things his endurance2 for night and day he stands1 so as to be seen by all4 ,for as the doors are taken away1 and a large part of the wall around pulled down1 he is set forth as a new and wondrous spectacle to all2 now standing long1 now bowing himself frequently1 and offering adoration to ,god4 ,many of those who stand by count these adorations2 and once a man with me1 when he had counted #a1bdd1 and then missed1 gave up counting3 but always1 when he bows himself1 he touches his feet with his forehead4 ,for as his stomach takes food only once in the week1 and that very little--no more than is received in the divine sacraments1--his back admits of being easily bent4 4 4 4 ,but nothing which happens to him overpowers his philosophy2 he bears nobly both voluntary and involuntary pains1 and conquers both by readiness of will4 ,there came once from ,arabena a certain good man1 and honoured with the ministry of ,christ4 ,he1 when he had come to that mountain peak1--8,tell me10 he cried1 8by the very truth which converts the human race to itself--,art thou a man1 or an incorporeal nature80 ,but when all there were displeased with the question1 the saint bade them all be silent1 and said to him1 8,why hast thou asked me this80 ,he answered1 8,because ,i hear every one saying publicly1 that thou neither eatest nor sleepest2 but both are properties of man1 and no one who has a human nature could have lived without food and sleep40 ,then the saint bade them set a ladder to the column1 and him to come up2 and first to look at his hands1 and then feel inside his cloak of skins2 and to see not only his feet1 but a severe wound4 ,but when he saw that he was a man1 and the size of that wound1 and learnt from him how he took nourishment1 he came down and told me all4 ,at the public festivals he showed an endurance of another kind4 ,for from the setting of the sun till it had come again to the eastern horizon1 he stood all night with hands uplift to heaven1 neither soothed with sleep nor conquered by fatigue4 ,but in toils so great1 and so great a magnitude of deeds1 and multitude of miracles1 his self-esteem is as moderate as if he were in dignity the least of all men4 ,beside his modesty1 he is easy of access of speech1 and gracious1 and answers every man who speaks to him1 whether he be handicraftsman1 beggar1 or rustic4 ,and from the bounteous ,god he has received also the gift of teaching1 and making his exhortations twice a day1 he delights the ears of those who hear1 discoursing much on grace1 and setting forth the instructions of the ,divine ,spirit to look up and fly toward heaven1 and depart from the earth1 and imagine the kingdom which is expected1 and fear the threats of ,gehenna1 and despise earthly things1 and wait for things to come4 ,he may be seen1 too1 acting as judge1 and giving right and just decisions4 ,this1 and the like1 is done after the ninth hour4 ,for all night1 and through the day to the ninth hour1 he prays perpetually4 ,after that1 he first sets forth the divine teaching to those who are present2 then having heard each man's petition1 after he has performed some cures1 he settles the quarrels of those between whom there is any dispute4 ,about sunset he begins the rest of his converse with ,god4 ,but though he is employed in this way1 and does all this1 he does not give up the care of the holy ,churches1 sometimes fighting with the impiety of the ,greeks1 sometimes checking the audacity of the ,jews1 sometimes putting to flight the bands of heretics1 and sometimes sending messages concerning these last to the ,emperor2 sometimes1 too1 stirring up rulers to zeal for ,god1 and sometimes exhorting the pastors of the ,churches to bestow more care upon their flocks4 ,i have gone through these facts1 trying to show the shower by one drop1 and to give those who meet with my writing a taste on the finger of the sweetness of the honey4 ,but there remains 7as is to be expected7 much more2 and if he should live longer1 he will probably add still greater wonders4 4 4 4 99 99 99 99 99 ,thus far ,theodoret4 ,antony gives some other details of ,simeon's life upon the column4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the devil1 he says1 in envy transformed himself into the likeness of an angel1 shining in splendour1 with fiery horses1 and a fiery chariot1 and appeared close to the column on which the blessed ,simeon stood1 and shone with glory like an angel4 ,and the devil said with bland speeches1 8,simeon1 hear my words1 which the ,lord hath commanded thee4 ,he has sent me1 his angel1 with a chariot and horses of fire1 that ,i may carry thee away1 as ,i carried ,elias4 ,for thy time is come4 ,do thou1 in like wise1 ascend now with me into the chariot1 because the ,lord of heaven and earth has sent it down4 ,let us ascend together into the heavens1 that the angels and archangels may see thee1 with ,mary the mother of the ,lord1 with the ,apostles and martyrs1 the confessors and prophets2 because they rejoice to see thee1 that thou mayest pray to the ,lord1 who hast made thee after his own image4 ,verily ,i have spoken to thee3 delay not to ascend40 ,simeon1 having ended his prayer1 said1 8,lord1 wilt thou carry me1 a sinner1 into heaven80 ,and lifting his right foot that he might step into the chariot1 he lifted also his right hand1 and made the sign of ,christ4 ,when he had made the sign of the cross1 forthwith the devil appeared nowhere1 but vanished with his device1 as dust before the face of the wind4 ,then understood ,simeon that it was an art of the devil4 ,having recovered himself1 therefore1 he said to his foot1 8,thou shalt not return back hence1 but stand here until my death1 when the ,lord shall send for me a sinner40 ,here follow more painful stories1 which had best be omitted4 ,but after much time1 his mother1 hearing of his fame1 came to see him1 but was forbidden1 because no woman entered that place4 ,but when the blessed ,simeon heard the voice of his mother1 he said to her1 8,bear up1 my mother1 a little while1 and we shall see each other1 if ,god will40 ,but she1 hearing this1 began to weep1 and tearing her hair1 rebuked him1 saying1 8,son1 why hast thou done this8 ,in return for the body in which ,i bore thee1 thou hast filled me full of grief4 ,for the milk with which ,i nourished thee1 thou hast given me tears4 ,for the kiss with which ,i kissed thee1 thou hast given me bitter pangs of heart4 ,for the grief and labour which ,i have suffered1 thou hast laid on me cruel stripes40 ,and she spoke so much that she made us all weep4 ,the blessed ,simeon1 hearing the voice of her who bore him1 put his face in his hands and wept bitterly2 and commanded her1 saying1 8,lady mother1 be still a little time1 and we shall see each other in eternal rest40 ,but she began to say1 8,by ,christ1 who formed thee1 if there is a probability of seeing thee1 who hast been so long a stranger to me1 let me see thee2 or if not1 let me only hear thy voice and die at once2 for thy father is dead in sorrow because of thee4 ,and now do not destroy me for very bitterness1 my son40 ,saying this1 for sorrow and weeping she fell asleep2 for during three days and three nights she had not ceased entreating him4 ,then the blessed ,simeon prayed the ,lord for her1 and she forthwith gave up the ghost4 ,but they took up her body1 and brought it where he could see it4 ,and he said1 weeping1 8,the ,lord receive thee in joy1 because thou hast endured tribulation for me1 and borne me1 and nursed and nourished me with labour40 ,and as he said that1 his mother's countenance perspired1 and her body was stirred in the sight of us all4 ,but he1 lifting up his eyes to heaven1 said1 8,lord ,god of virtues1 who sittest above the cherubim1 and searchest the foundations of the abyss1 who knewest ,adam before he was2 who hast promised the riches of the kingdom of heaven to those who love thee2 who didst speak to ,moses in the bush of fire2 who blessedst ,abraham our father2 who bringest into ,paradise the souls of the just1 and sinkest the souls of the impious to perdition2 who didst humble the lions1 and mitigate for thy servants the strong fires of the ,chaldees2 who didst nourish ,elisha by the ravens which brought him food--receive her soul in peace1 and put her in the place of the holy fathers1 for thine is the power for ever and ever40 99 99 99 99 99 ,antony then goes on to relate the later years of the saint's life4 ,he tells how ,simeon1 some time after this1 ascended the column of forty cubits2 how a great dragon 7serpent7 crawled towards it1 and coiled round it1 entreating 7so it seemed7 to be freed from a spike of wood which had entered its eye2 and how1 ,st4 ,simeon took pity on it1 he caused the spike 7which was a cubit long7 to come out4 ,he tells how a woman1 drinking water from a jar at night1 swallowed a snake unawares1 which grew within her1 till she was brought to the blessed ,simeon1 who commanded some of the water of the monastery to be given her2 on which the serpent crawled out of her mouth1 three cubits long1 and burst immediately2 and was hung up there seven days1 as a testimony to many4 ,he tells how1 when there was great want of water1 ,st4 ,simeon prayed till the earth opened on the east of the monastery1 and a cave full of water was discovered1 which had never failed them to that day4 ,he tells how men1 sitting beneath a tree1 on their way to the saint1 saw a doe go by1 and commanded her to stop1 8by the prayers of ,st4 ,simeon20 which when she had done1 they killed and ate her1 and came to ,st4 ,simeon with the skin4 ,but they were all struck dumb1 and hardly cured after two years4 ,and the skin of the doe they hung up1 for a testimony to many4 ,he tells of a huge leopard1 which slew men and cattle all around2 and how ,st4 ,simeon bade sprinkle in his haunts soil or water from the monastery2 and when men went again1 they found the leopard dead4 ,he tells how1 when ,st4 ,simeon cured any one1 he bade him go home1 and honour ,god who had healed him1 and not dare to say that ,simeon had cured him1 lest a worse thing should suddenly come to him2 and not to presume to swear by the name of the ,lord1 for it was a grave sin2 but to swear1 8whether justly or unjustly1 by him1 lowly and a sinner4 ,wherefore all the ,easterns1 and barbarous tribes in those regions1 swear by ,simeon40 ,he tells how a robber from ,antioch1 ,jonathan by name1 fled to ,st4 ,simeon1 and embraced the column1 weeping bitterly1 and saying how he had committed every crime1 and had come thither to repent4 ,and how the saint said1 8,of such is the kingdom of heaven3 but do not try to tempt me1 lest thou be found again in the sins which thou hast cast away40 ,then came the officials from ,antioch1 demanding that he should be given up1 to be cast to the wild beasts4 ,but ,simeon answered1 8,my sons1 ,i brought him not hither1 but ,one greater than ,i2 for he helps such as this man1 and of such is the kingdom of heaven4 ,but if you can enter1 carry him hence2 ,i cannot give him up1 for ,i fear him who has sent the man to me40 ,and they1 struck with fear1 went away4 ,then ,jonathan lay for seven days embracing the column1 and then asked the saint leave to go4 ,the saint asked him if he were going back to sin8 8,no1 lord10 he said2 8but my time is fulfilled10 and straightway he gave up the ghost2 and when officials came again from ,antioch1 demanding him1 ,simeon replied3 8,he who brought him came with a multitude of the heavenly host1 and is able to send into ,tartarus your city1 and all who dwell in it1 who also has reconciled this man to himself2 and ,i was afraid lest he should slay me suddenly4 ,therefore weary me no more1 a humble man and poor40 ,but after a few years 7says ,antony7 it befell one day that he bowed himself in prayer1 and remained so three days--that is1 the ,friday1 the ,sabbath1 and the ,lord's day4 ,then ,i was terrified1 and went up to him1 and stood before his face1 and said to him1 8,master1 arise3 bless us2 for the people have been waiting three days and three nights for a blessing from thee40 ,and he answered me not2 and ,i said again to him3 8,wherefore dost thou grieve me1 lord8 or in what have ,i offended8 ,i beseech thee1 put out thy hand to me2 or1 perchance1 thou hast already departed from us80 ,and seeing that he did not answer1 ,i thought to tell no one2 for ,i feared to touch him3 and1 standing about half an hour1 ,i bent down1 and put my ear to listen2 and there was no breathing3 but a fragrance as of many scents rose from his body4 ,and so ,i understood that he rested in the ,lord2 and1 turning faint1 ,i wept most bitterly2 and1 bending down1 ,i kissed his eyes1 and clasped his beard and hair1 and reproaching him1 ,i said3 8,to whom dost thou leave me1 lord8 or where shall ,i seek thy angelic doctrine8 ,what answer shall ,i make for thee8 or whose soul will look at this column1 without thee1 and not grieve8 ,what answer shall ,i make to the sick1 when they come here to seek thee1 and find thee not8 ,what shall ,i say1 poor creature that ,i am8 ,to-day ,i see thee2 to-morrow ,i shall look right and left1 and not find thee4 ,and what covering shall ,i put upon thy column8 ,woe to me1 when folk shall come from afar1 seeking thee1 and shall not find thee60 ,and1 for much sorrow1 ,i fell asleep4 ,and forthwith he appeared to me1 and said3 8,i will not leave this column1 nor this place1 and this blessed mountain1 where ,i was illuminated4 ,but go down1 satisfy the people1 and send word secretly to ,antioch1 lest a tumult arise4 ,for ,i have gone to rest1 as the ,lord willed3 but do thou not cease to minister in this place1 and the ,lord shall repay thee thy wages in heaven40 ,but1 rising from sleep1 ,i said1 in terror1 8,master1 remember me in thy holy rest40 ,and1 lifting up his garments1 ,i fell at his feet1 and kissed them2 and1 holding his hands1 ,i laid them on my eyes1 saying1 8,bless me1 ,i beseech thee1 my lord60 ,and again ,i wept1 and said1 8,what relics shall ,i carry away from thee as memorials80 ,and as ,i said that his body was moved2 therefore ,i was afraid to touch him4 ,and1 that no one might know1 ,i came down quickly1 and sent a faithful brother to the ,bishop at ,antioch4 ,he came at once with three ,bishops1 and with them ,ardaburius1 the master of the soldiers1 with his people1 and stretched curtains round the column1 and fastened their clothes around it4 ,for they were cloth of gold4 ,and when they laid him down by the altar before the column1 and gathered themselves together1 birds flew round the column1 crying1 and as it were lamenting1 in all men's sight2 and the wailing of the people and of the cattle resounded for seven miles away2 yea1 even the hills1 and the fields1 and the trees were sad around that place2 for everywhere a dark cloud hung about it4 ,and ,i watched an angel coming to visit him2 and1 about the seventh hour1 seven old men talked with that angel1 whose face was like lightning1 and his garments as snow4 ,and ,i watched his voice1 in fear and trembling1 as long as ,i could hear it2 but what he said ,i cannot tell4 ,but when the holy ,simeon lay upon the bier1 the ,pope of ,antioch1 wishing to take some of his beard for a blessing1 stretched out his hand2 and forthwith it was dried up2 and prayers were made to ,god for him1 and so his hand was restored again4 ,then1 laying the corpse on the bier1 they took it to ,antioch1 with psalms and hymns4 ,but all the people round that region wept1 because the protection of such mighty relics was taken from them1 and because the ,bishop of ,antioch had sworn that no man should touch his body4 ,but when they came to the fifth milestone from ,antioch1 to the village which is called ,mero1 no one could move him4 ,then a certain man1 deaf and dumb for forty years1 who had committed a very great crime1 suddenly fell down before the bier1 and began to cry1 8,thou art well come1 servant of ,god2 for thy coming will save me3 and if ,i shall obtain the grace to live1 ,i will serve thee all the days of my life40 ,and1 rising1 he caught hold of one of the mules which carried the bier1 and forthwith moved himself from that place4 ,and so the man was made whole from that hour4 ,then all going out of the city of ,antioch received the body of the holy ,simeon on gold and silver1 with psalms and hymns1 and with many lamps brought it into the greater church1 and thence to another church1 which is called ,penitence4 ,moreover1 many virtues are wrought at his tomb1 more than in his life2 and the man who was made whole served there till the day of his death4 ,but many offered treasures to the ,bishop of ,antioch for the faith1 begging relics from the body3 but1 on account of his oath1 he never gave them4 ,i1 ,antony1 lowly and a sinner1 have set forth briefly1 as far as ,i could1 this lesson4 ,but blessed is he who has this writing in a book1 and reads it in the church and house of ,god2 and when he shall have brought it to his memory1 he shall receive a reward from the ,most ,high2 to whom is honour1 power1 and virtue1 for ever and ever4 ,amen4 99 99 99 99 99 ,after such a fantastic story as this of ,simeon1 it is full time 7some readers may have thought that it was full time long since7 to give my own opinion of the miracles1 visions1 dmons1 and other portents which occur in the lives of these saints4 ,i have refrained from doing so as yet1 because ,i wished to begin by saying everything on behalf of these old hermits which could honestly be said1 and to prejudice my readers' minds in their favour rather than against them2 because ,i am certain that if we look on them merely with scorn and ridicule1--if we do not acknowledge and honour all in them which was noble1 virtuous1 and honest1--we shall never be able to combat their errors1 either in our own hearts or in those of our children3 and that we may have need to do so is but too probable4 ,in this age1 as in every other age of materialism and practical atheism1 a revulsion in favour of superstition is at hand2 ,i may say is taking place round us now4 ,doctrines are tolerated as possibly true1--persons are regarded with respect and admiration1 who would have been looked on1 even fifty years ago1 if not with horror1 yet with contempt1 as beneath the serious notice of educated ,english people4 ,but it is this very contempt which has brought about the change of opinion concerning them4 ,it has been discovered that they were not altogether so absurd as they seemed2 that the public mind1 in its ignorance1 has been unjust to them2 and1 in hasty repentance for that injustice1 too many are ready to listen to those who will tell them that these things are not absurd at all--that there is no absurdity in believing that the leg-bone of ,st4 ,simon ,stock may possess miraculous powers1 or that the spirits of the departed communicate with their friends by rapping on the table4 ,the ugly after-crop of superstition which is growing up among us now is the just and natural punishment of our materialism--,i may say1 of our practical atheism4 ,for those who will not believe in the real spiritual world1 in which each man's soul stands face to face all day long with ,almighty ,god1 the ,father1 the ,son1 and the ,holy ,ghost1 are sure at last to crave after some false spiritual world1 and seek1 like the evil and profligate generation of the ,jews1 after visible signs and material wonders4 ,and those who will not believe that the one true and living ,god is above their path and about their bed and spieth out all their ways1 and that in him they live and move and have their being1 are but too likely at last to people with fancied saints and dmons that void in the imagination and in the heart which their own unbelief has made4 ,are we then to suppose that these old hermits had lost faith in ,god8 ,on the contrary1 they were the only men in that day who had faith in ,god4 ,and1 if they had faith in any other things or persons beside ,god1 they merely shared in the general popular ignorance and mistakes of their own age2 and we must not judge those who1 born in an age of darkness1 were struggling earnestly toward the light1 as we judge those who1 born in an age of scientific light1 are retiring of their own will back into the darkness4 ,before ,i enter upon the credibility of these alleged saints' miracles1 ,i must guard my readers carefully from supposing that ,i think miracles impossible4 ,heaven forbid4 ,he would be a very rash person who should do that1 in a world which swarms with greater wonders than those recorded in the biography of a saint4 ,for1 after all1 which is more wonderful1 that ,god should be able to restore the dead to life1 or that he should be able to give life at all8 ,again1 as for these miracles being contrary to our experience1 that is no very valid argument against them2 for equally contrary to our experience is every new discovery of science1 every strange phenomenon among plants and animals1 every new experiment in a chemical lecture4 ,the more we know of science the more we must confess1 that nothing is too strange to be true3 and therefore we must not blame or laugh at those who in old times believed in strange things which were not true4 ,they had an honest and rational sense of the infinite and wonderful nature of the universe1 and of their own ignorance about it2 and they were ready to believe anything1 as the truly wise man will be ready also4 ,only1 from ignorance of the laws of the universe1 they did not know what was likely to be true and what was not2 and therefore they believed many things which experience has proved to be false2 just as ,seba or any of the early naturalists were ready to believe in six-legged dragons1 or in the fatal power of the basilisk's eye2 fancies which1 if they had been facts1 would not have been nearly as wonderful as the transformation of the commonest insect1 or the fertilization of the meanest weed3 but which are rejected now1 not because they are too wonderful1 but simply because experience has proved them to be untrue4 ,and experience1 it must be remembered1 is the only sound test of truth4 ,as long as men will settle beforehand for themselves1 without experience1 what they ought to see1 so long will they be perpetually fancying that they or others have seen it2 and their faith1 as it is falsely called1 will delude not only their reason1 but their very hearing1 sight1 and touch4 ,in this age we see no supernatural prodigies1 because there are none to see2 and when we are told that the reason why we see no prodigies is because we have no faith1 we answer 7if we be sensible71 ,just so4 ,as long as people had faith1 in plain ,english believed1 that they could be magically cured of a disease1 they thought that they or others were so cured4 ,as long as they believed that ghosts could be seen1 every silly person saw them4 ,as long as they believed that dmons transformed themselves into an animal's shape1 they said1 8,the devil croaked at me this morning in the shape of a raven2 and therefore my horse fell with me40 ,as long as they believed that witches could curse them1 they believed that an old woman in the next parish had overlooked them1 their cattle1 and their crops2 and that therefore they were poor1 diseased1 and unfortunate4 ,these dreams1 which were common among the peasants in remote districts five-and-twenty years ago1 have vanished1 simply from the spread 7by the grace of ,god1 as ,i hold7 of an inductive habit of mind2 of the habit of looking coolly1 boldly1 carefully1 at facts2 till now1 even among the most ignorant peasantry1 the woman who says that she has seen a ghost is likely not to be complimented on her assertion4 ,but it does not follow that that woman's grandmother1 when she said that she saw a ghost1 was a consciously dishonest person2 on the contrary1 so complex and contradictory is human nature1 she would have been1 probably1 a person of more than average intellect and earnestness2 and her instinct of the invisible and the infinite 7which is that which raises man above the brutes7 would have been1 because misinformed1 the honourable cause of her error4 ,and thus we may believe of the good hermits1 of whom prodigies are recorded4 ,as to the truth of the prodigies themselves1 there are several ways of looking at them4 ,first1 we may neither believe nor disbelieve them2 but talk of them as 8devout fairy tales10 religious romances1 and allegories2 and so save ourselves the trouble of judging whether they were true4 ,that is at least an easy and pleasant method2 very fashionable in a careless1 unbelieving age like this3 but in following it we shall be somewhat cowardly2 for there is hardly any matter a clear judgment on which is more important just now than these same saints' miracles4 ,next1 we may believe them utterly and all2 and that is also an easy and pleasant method4 ,but if we follow it1 we shall be forced to believe1 among other facts1 that ,st4 ,paphnutius was carried miraculously across a river1 because he was too modest to undress himself and wade2 that ,st4 ,helenus rode a savage crocodile across a river1 and then commanded it to die2 and that it died accordingly upon the spot2 and that ,st4 ,goar1 entering the palace of the ,archbishop of ,trves1 hung his cape on a sunbeam1 mistaking it for a peg4 ,and many other like things we shall be forced to believe1 with which this book has no concern4 ,or1 again1 we may believe as much as we can1 because we should like1 if we could1 to believe all4 ,but as we have not--no man has as yet--any criterion by which we can judge how much of these stories we ought to believe and how much not1 which actually happened and which did not1 therefore we shall end 7as not only the most earnest and pious1 but the most clear and logical persons1 who have taken up this view1 have ended already7 by believing all3 which is an end not to be desired4 ,or we may believe as few as possible of them1 because we should like1 if we could1 to believe none4 ,and this method1 for the reason aforesaid 7namely1 that there is no criterion by which we can settle what to believe and what not71 usually ends in believing none at all4 ,this1 of believing none at all1 is the last method2 and this1 ,i confess fairly1 ,i am inclined to think is the right one2 and that these good hermits worked no real miracles and saw no real visions whatsoever4 ,i confess that this is a very serious assertion4 ,for there is as much evidence in favour of these hermits' miracles and visions as there is1 with most men1 of the existence of ,china2 and much more than there1 with most men1 is of the earth's going round the sun4 ,but the truth is1 that evidence1 in most matters of importance1 is worth very little4 ,very few people decide a question on its facts1 but on their own prejudices as to what they would like to have happened4 ,very few people are judges of evidence2 not even of their own eyes and ears4 ,very few persons1 when they see a thing1 know what they have seen1 and what not4 ,they tell you quite honestly1 not what they saw1 but what they think they ought to have seen1 or should like to have seen4 ,it is a fact too often conveniently forgotten1 that in every human crowd the majority will be more or less bad1 or at least foolish2 the slaves of anger1 spite1 conceit1 vanity1 sordid hope1 and sordid fear4 ,but let them be as honest and as virtuous as they may1 pleasure1 terror1 and the desire of seeming to have seen or heard more than their neighbours1 and all about it1 make them exaggerate4 ,if you take apart five honest men1 who all stood by and saw the same man do anything strange1 offensive1 or even exciting1 no two of them will give you quite the same account of it4 ,if you leave them together1 while excited1 an hour before you question them1 they will have compared notes and made up one story1 which will contain all their mistakes combined2 and it will require the skill of a practised barrister to pick the grain of wheat out of the chaff4 ,moreover1 when people are crowded together under any excitement1 there is nothing which they will not make each other believe4 ,they will make each other believe in spirit-rapping1 table-turning1 the mesmeric fluid1 electro-biology2 that they saw the lion on ,northumberland ,house wagging his tail2 #bjc that witches have been seen riding in the air2 that the ,jews had poisoned the wells2 that--but why go further into the sad catalogue of human absurdities1 and the crimes which have followed them8 ,every one is ashamed of not seeing what every one else sees1 and persuades himself against his own eye sight for fear of seeming stupid or ill-conditioned2 and therefore in all evidence1 the fewer witnesses1 the more truth1 because the evidence of ten men is worth more than that of a hundred together2 and the evidence of a thousand men together is worth still less4 ,now1 if people are savage and ignorant1 diseased and poverty-stricken2 even if they are merely excited and credulous1 and quite sure that something wonderful must happen1 then they will be also quite certain that something wonderful has happened2 and their evidence will be worth nothing at all4 ,moreover1 suppose that something really wonderful has happened2 suppose1 for instance1 that some nervous or paralytic person has been suddenly restored to strength by the command of a saint or of some other remarkable man4 ,this is quite possible1 ,i may say common2 and it is owing neither to physical nor to so-called spiritual causes1 but simply to the power which a strong mind has over a weak one1 to make it exert itself1 and cure itself by its own will1 though but for a time4 ,when this good news comes to be told1 and to pass from mouth to mouth1 it ends of quite a different shape from that in which it began4 ,it has been added to1 taken from1 twisted in every direction according to the fancy or the carelessness of each teller1 till what really happened in the first case no one will be able to say2 #bjd and this is1 therefore1 what actually happened1 in the case of these reported wonders4 ,moreover 7and this is the most important consideration of all7 for men to be fair judges of what really happens1 they must have somewhat sound minds in somewhat sound bodies2 which no man can have 7however honest and virtuous7 who gives himself up1 as did these old hermits1 to fasting and vigils4 ,that continued sleeplessness produces delusions1 and at last actual madness1 every physician knows2 and they know also1 as many a poor sailor has known when starving on a wreck1 and many a poor soldier in such a retreat as that of ,napoleon from ,moscow1 that extreme hunger and thirst produce delusions also1 very similar to 7and caused much in the same way as7 those produced by ardent spirits2 so that many a wretched creature ere now has been taken up for drunkenness1 who has been simply starving to death4 ,whence it follows that these good hermits1 by continual fasts and vigils1 must have put themselves 7and their histories prove that they did put themselves7 into a state of mental disease1 in which their evidence was worth nothing2 a state in which the mind cannot distinguish between facts and dreams2 in which life itself is one dream2 in which 7as in the case of madness1 or of a feverish child7 the brain cannot distinguish between the objects which are outside it and the imaginations which are inside it4 ,and it is plain1 that the more earnest and pious1 and therefore the more ascetic1 one of these good men was1 the more utterly would his brain be in a state of chronic disease4 ,god forbid that we should scorn them1 therefore1 or think the worse of them in any way4 ,they were animated by a truly noble purpose1 the resolution to be good according to their light2 they carried out that purpose with heroical endurance1 and they have their reward3 but this we must say1 if we be rational people1 that on their method of holiness1 the more holy any one of them was1 the less trustworthy was his account of any matter whatsoever2 and that the hermit's peculiar temptations 7quite unknown to the hundreds of unmarried persons who lead quiet and virtuous1 because rational and healthy1 lives7 are to be attributed1 not as they thought1 to a dmon1 but to a more or less unhealthy nervous system4 ,it must be remembered1 moreover1 in justice to these old hermits1 that they did not invent the belief that the air was full of dmons4 ,all the ,eastern nations had believed in ,genii 7,jinns71 ,fairies 7,peris71 and ,devas1 ,divs1 or devils4 ,the ,devas of the early ,hindus were beneficent beings3 to the eyes of the old ,persians 7in their hatred of idolatry and polytheism71 they appeared evil beings1 ,divs1 or ,devils4 ,and even so the genii and dmons of the ,roman ,empire became1 in the eyes of the early ,christians1 wicked and cruel spirits4 ,and they had their reasons1 and on the whole sound ones1 for so regarding them4 ,the educated classes had given up any honest and literal worship of the old gods4 ,they were trying to excuse themselves for their lingering half belief in them1 by turning them into allegories1 powers of nature1 metaphysical abstractions1 as did ,porphyry and ,iamblichus1 ,plotinus and ,proclus1 and the rest of the ,neo-,platonist school of aristocratic philosophers and fine ladies3 but the lower classes still1 in every region1 kept up their own local beliefs and worships1 generally of the most foul and brutal kind4 ,the animal worship of ,egypt among the lower classes was sufficiently detestable in the time of ,herodotus4 ,it had certainly not improved in that of ,juvenal and ,persius2 and was still less likely to have improved afterwards4 ,this is a subject so shocking that it can be only hinted at4 ,but as a single instance--what wonder if the early hermits of ,egypt looked on the crocodile as something diabolic1 after seeing it1 for generations untold1 petted and worshipped in many a city1 simply because it was the incarnate symbol of brute strength1 cruelty1 and cunning8 ,we must remember1 also1 that earlier generations 7the old ,norsemen and ,germans just as much as the old ,egyptians7 were wont to look on animals as more miraculous than we do2 as more akin1 in many cases1 to human beings2 as guided1 not by a mere blind instinct1 but by an intellect which was allied to1 and often surpassed man's intellect4 8,the bear10 said the old ,norsemen1 8had ten men's strength1 and eleven men's wit20 and in some such light must the old hermits have looked on the hyna1 8bellua10 the monster par excellence2 or on the crocodile1 the hippopotamus1 and the poisonous snakes1 which have been objects of terror and adoration in every country where they have been formidable4 ,whether the hynas were dmons1 or were merely sent by the dmons1 ,st4 ,antony and ,st4 ,athanasius do not clearly define1 for they did not know4 ,it was enough for them that the beasts prowled at night in those desert cities1 which were1 according to the opinions1 not only of the ,easterns1 but of the ,romans1 the special haunt of ghouls1 witches1 and all uncanny things4 ,their fiendish laughter--which1 when heard even in a modern menagerie1 excites and shakes most person's nerves--rang through hearts and brains which had no help or comfort1 save in ,god alone4 ,the beast tore up the dead from their graves2 devoured alike the belated child and the foulest offal2 and was in all things a type and incarnation of that which man ought not to be4 ,why should not he1 so like the worst of men1 have some bond or kindred with the evil beings who were not men8 ,why should not the graceful and deadly cobra1 the horrid cerastes1 the huge throttling python1 and even more1 the loathly puff-adder1 undistinguishable from the gravel among which he lay coiled1 till he leaped furiously and unswerving1 as if shot from a bow1 upon his prey--why should not they too be kindred to that evil power who had been1 in the holiest and most ancient books1 personified by the name of the ,serpent8 ,before we have a right to say that the hermits' view of these deadly animals was not the most rational1 as well as the most natural1 which they could possibly have taken up1 we must put ourselves in their places2 and look at nature as they had learnt to look at it1 not from ,scripture and ,christianity1 so much as from the immemorial traditions of their heathen ancestors4 ,if it be argued1 that they ought to have been well enough acquainted with these beasts to be aware of their merely animal nature1 the answer is--that they were probably not well acquainted with the beasts of the desert4 ,they had never1 perhaps1 before their 8conversion10 left the narrow valley1 well tilled and well inhabited1 which holds the ,nile4 ,a climb from it into the barren mountains and deserts east and west was a journey out of the world into chaos1 and the region of the unknown and the horrible1 which demanded high courage from the unarmed and effeminate ,egyptian1 who knew not what monster he might meet ere sundown4 ,moreover1 it is very probable that during these centuries of decadence1 in ,egypt1 as in other parts of the ,roman ,empire1 8the wild beasts of the field had increased0 on the population1 and were reappearing in the more cultivated grounds4 ,but these old hermits appear perpetually in another1 and a more humane1 if not more human aspect1 as the miraculous tamers of savage beasts4 ,those who wish to know all which can be alleged in favour of their having possessed such a power1 should read ,m4 de ,montalembert's chapter1 8,les ,moines et la ,nature40 #bji ,all that learning and eloquence can say in favour of the theory is said there2 and with a candour which demands from no man full belief of many beautiful but impossible stories1 8travesties of historic verity10 which have probably grown up from ever-varying tradition in the course of ages4 ,m4 de ,montalembert himself points out a probable explanation of many of them3--,an ingenious scholar of our times#baj 7he says7 has pointed out their true and legitimate origin--at least in ,ancient ,gaul4 ,according to him1 after the gradual disappearance of the ,gallo-,roman population1 the oxen1 the horses1 the dogs had returned to the wild state2 and it was in the forest that the ,breton missionaries had to seek these animals1 to employ them anew for domestic use4 ,the miracle was1 to restore to man the command and the enjoyment of those creatures1 which ,god had given him as instruments4 ,this theory is probable enough1 and will explain1 doubtless1 many stories4 ,it may even explain those of tamed wolves1 who may have been only feral dogs1 i4e4 dogs run wild4 ,but it will not explain those in which 7in ,ireland as well as in ,gaul7 the stag appears as obeying the hermit's commands4 ,the twelve huge stags who come out of the forest to draw the ploughs for ,st4 ,leonor and his monks1 or those who drew to his grave the corpse of the ,irish hermit ,kellac1 or those who came out of the forest to supply the place of ,st4 ,colodoc's cattle1 which the seigneur had carried off in revenge for his having given sanctuary to a hunted deer1 must have been wild from the beginning2 and many another tale must remain without any explanation whatsoever--save the simplest of all4 ,neither can any such theory apply to the marvels vouched for by ,st4 ,athanasius1 ,st4 ,jerome1 and other contemporaries1 which 8show us 7to quote ,m4 de ,montalembert7 the most ferocious animals at the feet of such men as ,antony1 ,pachomius1 ,macarius1 and ,hilarion1 and those who copied them4 ,at every page one sees wild asses1 crocodiles1 hippopotami1 hynas1 and1 above all1 lions1 transformed into respectful companions and docile servants of these prodigies of sanctity2 and one concludes thence1 not that these beasts had reasonable souls1 but that ,god knew how to glorify those who devoted themselves to his glory1 and thus show how all ,nature obeyed man before he was excluded from ,paradise by his disobedience40 ,this is1 on the whole1 the cause which the contemporary biographers assign for these wonders4 ,the hermits were believed to have returned1 by celibacy and penitence1 to 8the life of angels20 to that state of perfect innocence which was attributed to our first parents in ,eden3 and therefore of them our ,lord's words were true3 8,he that believeth in me1 greater things than these 7which ,i do7 shall he do40 ,but those who are of a different opinion will seek for different causes4 ,they will1 the more they know of these stories1 admire often their gracefulness1 often their pathos1 often their deep moral significance2 they will feel the general truth of ,m4 de ,montalembert's words3 8,there is not one of them which does not honour and profit human nature1 and which does not express a victory of weakness over force1 and of good over evil40 ,but if they look on physical facts as sacred things1 as the voice of ,god revealed in the phenomena of matter1 their first question will be1 8,are they true80 ,some of them must be denied utterly1 like that of ,st4 ,helenus1 riding and then slaying the crocodile4 ,it did not happen4 ,abbot ,ammon #bab;a did not make two dragons guard his cell against robbers4 ,st4 ,gerasimus #bab;b did not set the lion1 out of whose foot he had taken a thorn1 to guard his ass2 and when the ass was stolen by an ,arabian camel-driver1 he did not 7fancying that the lion had eaten the ass7 make him carry water in the ass's stead4 ,neither did the lion1 when next he met the thief and the ass1 bring them up1 in his own justification1 #bab;c to ,st4 ,gerasimus4 ,st4 ,costinian did not put a pack-saddle on a bear1 and make him carry a great stone4 ,a lioness did not bring her five blind whelps to a hermit1 that he might give them sight4 #bab;d ,and1 though ,sulpicius ,severus says that he saw it with his own eyes1 #bab;e it is hard to believe the latter part of the graceful story which he tells--of an old hermit whom he found dwelling alone twelve miles from the ,nile1 by a well of vast depth4 ,one ox he had1 whose whole work was to raise the water by a wheel4 ,around him was a garden of herbs1 kept rich and green amid the burning sand1 where neither seed nor root could live4 ,the old man and the ox fed together on the produce of their common toil2 but two miles off there was a single palm-tree1 to which1 after supper1 the hermit takes his guests4 ,beneath the palm they find a lioness2 but instead of attacking them1 she moves 8modestly0 away at the old man's command1 and sits down to wait for her share of dates4 ,she feeds out of his hand1 like a household animal1 and goes her way1 leaving her guests trembling1 8and confessing how great was the virtue of the hermit's faith1 and how great their own infirmity40 ,this last story1 which one would gladly believe1 were it possible1 ,i have inserted as one of those which hang on the verge of credibility4 ,in the very next page1 ,sulpicius ,severus tells a story quite credible1 of a she-wolf1 which he saw with his own eyes as tame as any dog4 ,there can be no more reason to doubt that fact than to ascribe it to a miracle4 ,we may even believe that the wolf1 having gnawed to pieces the palm basket which the good old man was weaving1 went off1 knowing that she had done wrong1 and after a week came back1 begged pardon like a rational soul1 and was caressed1 and given a double share of bread4 ,many of these stories which tell of the taming of wild beasts may be true1 and yet contain no miracle4 ,they are very few in number1 after all1 in proportion to the number of monks2 they are to be counted at most by tens1 while the monks are counted by tens of thousands4 ,and among many great companies of monks1 there may have been one individual1 as there is1 for instance1 in many a country parish a bee-taker or a horse-tamer1 of quiet temper and strong nerve1 and quick and sympathetic intellect1 whose power over animals is so extraordinary1 as to be attributed by the superstitious and uneducated to some hereditary secret1 or some fairy gift4 ,very powerful to attract wild animals must have been the good hermits' habit of sitting motionless for hours1 till 7as with ,st4 ,guthlac7 the swallows sat and sang upon his knee2 and of moving slowly and gently at his work1 till 7as with ,st4 ,karilef1 while he pruned his vines7 the robin came and built in his hood as it hung upon a tree3 very powerful his freedom from anger1 and1 yet more important1 from fear1 which always calls out rage in wild beasts1 while a calm and bold front awes them3 and most powerful of all1 the kindliness of heart1 the love of companionship1 which brought the wild bison to feed by ,st4 ,karilef's side as he prayed upon the lawn2 and the hind to nourish ,st4 ,giles with her milk in the jungles of the ,bouches du ,rhne4 ,there was no miracle2 save the moral miracle that1 in ages of cruelty and slaughter1 these men had learned 7surely by the inspiration of ,god7 how-- 8,he prayeth well who loveth well ,both man and bird and beast2 ,he prayeth best who loveth best ,all things1 both great and small2 ,for the dear ,god who loveth us1 ,he made and loveth all40 ,after all1 let these old ,lives of the ,fathers tell their own tale4 ,by their own merits let them stand or fall2 and stand they will in one sense3 for whatsoever else they are not1 this they are--the histories of good men4 ,their physical science and their dmonology may have been on a par with those of the world around them3 but they possessed what the world did not possess1 faith in the utterly good and self-sacrificing ,god1 and an ideal of virtue and purity such as had never been seen since the first ,whitsuntide4 ,and they set themselves to realize that ideal with a simplicity1 an energy1 an endurance1 which were altogether heroic4 ,how far they were right in 8giving up the world0 depends entirely on what the world was then like1 and whether there was any hope of reforming it4 ,it was their opinion that there was no such hope2 and those who know best the facts which surrounded them1 its utter frivolity1 its utter viciousness1 the deadness which had fallen on art1 science1 philosophy1 human life1 whether family1 social1 or political2 the prevalence of slavery1 in forms altogether hideous and unmentionable2 the insecurity of life and property1 whether from military and fiscal tyranny1 or from perpetual inroads of the so-called 8,barbarians30 those1 ,i say1 who know these facts best will be most inclined to believe that the old hermits were wise in their generation2 that the world was past salvation2 that it was not a wise or humane thing to marry and bring children into the world2 that in such a state of society1 an honest and virtuous man could not exist1 and that those who wished to remain honest and virtuous must flee into the desert1 and be alone with ,god and their fellows4 ,the question which had to be settled then and there1 at that particular crisis of the human race1 was not--,are certain wonders true or false8 but--,is man a mere mortal animal1 or an immortal soul8 ,is his flesh meant to serve his spirit1 or his spirit his flesh8 ,is pleasure1 or virtue1 the end and aim of his existence8 ,the hermits set themselves to answer that question1 not by arguing or writing about it1 but by the only way in which any question can be settled--by experiment4 ,they resolved to try whether their immortal souls could not grow better and better1 while their mortal bodies were utterly neglected2 to make their flesh serve their spirit2 to make virtue their only end and aim2 and utterly to relinquish the very notion of pleasure4 ,to do this one thing1 and nothing else1 they devoted their lives2 and they succeeded4 ,from their time it has been a received opinion1 not merely among a few philosophers or a few ,pharisees1 but among the lowest1 the poorest1 the most ignorant1 who have known aught of ,christianity1 that man is an immortal soul2 that the spirit1 and not the flesh1 ought to be master and guide2 that virtue is the highest good2 and that purity is a virtue1 impurity a sin4 ,these men were1 it has been well said1 the very fathers of purity4 ,and if1 in that and in other matters1 they pushed their purpose to an extreme--if1 by devoting themselves utterly to it alone1 they suffered1 not merely in wideness of mind or in power of judging evidence1 but even in brain1 till they became some of them at times insane from over-wrought nerves--it is not for us to blame the soldier for the wounds which have crippled him1 or the physician for the disease which he has caught himself while trying to heal others4 ,let us not speak ill of the bridge which carries us over1 nor mock at those who did the work for us as seemed to them best1 and perhaps in the only way in which it could be done in those evil days4 ,as a matter of fact1 through these men's teaching and example we have learnt what morality1 purity1 and ,christianity we possess2 and if any answer that we have learnt them from the ,scriptures1 who but these men preserved the ,scriptures to us8 ,who taught us to look on them as sacred and inspired8 ,who taught us to apply them to our own daily lives1 and find comfort and teaching in every age1 in words written ages ago by another race in a foreign land8 ,the ,scriptures were the book1 generally the only book1 which they read and meditated1 not merely from morn till night1 but1 as far as fainting nature would allow1 from night to morn again3 and their method of interpreting them 7as far as ,i can discover7 differed in nothing from that common to all ,christians now1 save that they interpreted literally certain precepts of our ,lord and of ,st4 ,paul which we consider to have applied only to the 8temporary necessity0 of a decayed1 dying1 and hopeless age such as that in which they lived4 ,and therefore1 because they knew the ,scripture well1 and learned in it lessons of true virtue and true philosophy1 though unable to save civilization in the ,east1 they were able at least to save it in the ,west4 ,the ,european hermits1 and the monastic communities which they originated1 were indeed a seed of life1 not merely to the conquered ,roman population of ,gaul or ,spain or ,britain1 but to the heathen and ,arian barbarians who conquered them4 ,among those fierce and armed savages1 the unarmed hermits stood1 strong only by justice1 purity1 and faith in ,god1 defying the oppressor1 succouring the oppressed1 and awing and softening the new aristocracy of the middle age1 which was founded on mere brute force and pride of race2 because the monk took his stand upon mere humanity2 because he told the wild conqueror1 ,goth or ,sueve1 ,frank or ,burgund1 ,saxon or ,norseman1 that all men were equal in the sight of ,god2 because he told them 7to quote ,athanasius's own words concerning ,antony7 that 8virtue is not beyond human nature20 that the highest moral excellence was possible to the most low-born and unlettered peasant whom they trampled under their horses' hoofs1 if he were only renewed and sanctified by the ,spirit of ,god4 ,they accepted the lowest and commonest facts of that peasant's wretched life2 they outdid him in helplessness1 loneliness1 hunger1 dirt1 and slavery2 and then said1 8,among all these ,i can yet be a man of ,god1 wise1 virtuous1 pure1 free1 and noble in the sight of ,god1 though not in the sight of ,csars1 counts1 and knights40 ,they went on1 it is true1 to glorify the means above the end2 to consecrate childlessness1 self-torture1 dirt1 ignorance1 as if they were things pleasing to ,god and holy in themselves4 ,but in spite of those errors they wrought throughout ,europe a work which1 as far as we can judge1 could have been done in no other way2 done only by men who gave up all that makes life worth having for the sake of being good themselves and making others good4 ,,the ,,hermits ,,of ,,europe ,,most readers will recollect what an important part in the old ballads and romances is played by the hermit4 ,he stands in strongest contrast to the knight4 ,he fills up1 as it were1 by his gentleness and self-sacrifice1 what is wanting in the manhood of the knight1 the slave too often of his own fierceness and self-assertion4 ,the hermit rebukes him when he sins1 heals him when he is wounded1 stays his hand in some mad murderous duel1 such as was too common in days when any two armed horsemen meeting on road or lawn ran blindly at each other in the mere lust of fighting1 as boars or stags might run4 ,sometimes he interferes to protect the oppressed serf2 sometimes to rescue the hunted deer which has taken sanctuary at his feet4 ,sometimes1 again1 his influence is that of intellectual superiority2 of worldly experience2 of the travelled man who has seen many lands and many nations4 ,sometimes1 again1 that of sympathy2 for he has been a knight himself1 and fought and sinned1 and drank of the cup of vanity and vexation of spirit1 like the fierce warrior who kneels at his feet4 ,all who have read 7and all ought to have read7 ,spenser's ,fairy ,queen1 must recollect his charming description of the hermit with whom ,prince ,arthur leaves ,serena and the squire after they have been wounded by 8the blatant beast0 of ,slander2 when-- 8,toward night they came unto a plain ,by which a little hermitage there lay ,far from all neighbourhood1 the which annoy it may4 8,and nigh thereto a little chapel stood1 ,which being all with ivy overspread ,decked all the roof1 and shadowing the rood1 ,seemed like a grove fair branchd overhead2 ,therein the hermit which his here led ,in straight observance of religious vow1 ,was wont his hours and holy things to bed2 ,and therein he likewise was praying now1 ,when as these knights arrived1 they wist not where nor how4 8,they stayed not there1 but straightway in did pass3 ,who when the hermit present saw in place1 ,from his devotions straight he troubled was2 ,which breaking off1 he toward them did pace ,with staid steps and grave beseeming grace3 ,for well it seemed that whilom he had been ,some goodly person1 and of gentle race1 ,that could his good to all1 and well did ween ,how each to entertain with courtesy beseen4 99 99 99 99 99 8,he thence them led into his hermitage1 ,letting their steeds to graze upon the green3 ,small was his house1 and like a little cage1 ,for his own term1 yet inly neat and clean1 ,decked with green boughs1 and flowers gay beseen ,therein he them full fair did entertain1 ,not with such forgd shews1 as fitter been ,for courting fools that courtesies would feign1 ,but with entire affection and appearance plain4 99 99 99 99 99 ,how be that careful hermit did his best ,with many kinds of medicines meet to tame ,the poisonous humour that did most infest ,their reakling wounds1 and every day them duly dressed4 8,for he right well in leech's craft was seen2 ,and through the long experience of his days1 ,which had in many fortunes tossd been1 ,and passed through many perilous assays3 ,he knew the divers want of mortal ways1 ,and in the minds of men had great insight2 ,which with sage counsel1 when they went astray1 ,he could inform and them reduce aright2 ,and all the passions heal which wound the weaker sprite4 8,for whilome he had been a doughty knight1 ,as any one that livd in his days1 ,and provd oft in many a perilous fight1 ,in which he grace and glory won always1 ,and in all battles bore away the bays3 ,but being now attached with timely age1 ,and weary of this world's unquiet ways1 ,he took himself unto this hermitage1 ,in which he lived alone like careless bird in cage40 ,this picture is not poetry alone3 it is history4 ,such men actually lived1 and such work they actually did1 from the southernmost point of ,italy to the northernmost point of ,scotland1 during centuries in which there was no one else to do the work4 ,the regular clergy could not have done it4 ,bishops and priests were entangled in the affairs of this world1 striving to be statesmen1 striving to be landowners1 striving to pass ,church lands on from father to son1 and to establish themselves as an hereditary caste of priests4 ,the chaplain or house-priest who was to be found in every nobleman's1 almost every knight's castle1 was apt to become a mere upper servant1 who said mass every morning in return for the good cheer which he got every evening1 and fetched and carried at the bidding of his master and mistress4 ,but the hermit who dwelt alone in the forest glen1 occupied1 like an old ,hebrew prophet1 a superior and an independent position4 ,he needed nought from any man save the scrap of land which the lord was only too glad to allow him in return for his counsels and his prayers4 ,and to him1 as to a mysterious and supernatural personage1 the lord went privately for advice in his quarrels with the neighbouring barons1 or with his own kin4 ,to him the lady took her children when they were sick1 to be healed1 as she fancied1 by his prayers and blessings2 or poured into his ears a hundred secret sorrows and anxieties which she dare not tell to her fierce lord1 who hunted and fought the livelong day1 and drank too much liquor every night4 ,this class of men sprang up rapidly1 by natural causes1 and yet by a ,divine necessity1 as soon as the ,western ,empire was conquered by the ,german tribes2 and those two young officers whom we saw turning monks at ,trves1 in the time of ,st4 ,augustine1 may1 if they lived to be old men1 have given sage counsel again and again to fierce ,german knights and kinglets1 who had dispossessed the rich and effeminate landowners of their estates1 and sold them1 their wives1 and children1 in gangs by the side of their own slaves4 ,only the ,roman who had turned monk would probably escape that fearful ruin2 and he would remain behind1 while the rest of his race was enslaved or swept away1 as a seed of ,christianity and of civilization1 destined to grow and spread1 and bring the wild conquerors in due time into the kingdom of ,god4 ,for the first century or two after the invasion of the barbarians1 the names of the hermits and saints are almost exclusively ,latin4 ,their biographies represent them in almost every case as born of noble ,roman parents4 ,as time goes on1 ,german names appear1 and at last entirely supersede the ,latin ones2 showing that the conquering race had learned from the conquered to become hermits and monks like them4 ,,st4 ,,severinus1 ,,the ,,apostle ,,of ,,noricum ,,of all these saintly civilizers1 ,st4 ,severinus of ,vienna is perhaps the most interesting1 and his story the most historically instructive4 #bbd ,a common time1 the middle of the fifth century1 the province of ,noricum 7,austria1 as we should now call it7 was the very highway of invading barbarians1 the centre of the human ,maelstrom in which ,huns1 ,alemanni1 ,rugi1 and a dozen wild tribes more1 wrestled up and down and round the starving and beleaguered towns of what had once been a happy and fertile province1 each tribe striving to trample the other under foot1 and to march southward over their corpses to plunder what was still left of the already plundered wealth of ,italy and ,rome4 ,the difference of race1 in tongue1 and in manners1 between the conquered and their conquerors1 was made more painful by difference in creed4 ,the conquering ,germans and ,huns were either ,arians or heathens4 ,the conquered race 7though probably of very mixed blood71 who called themselves ,romans1 because they spoke ,latin and lived under the ,roman law1 were orthodox ,catholics2 and the miseries of religious persecution were too often added to the usual miseries of invasion4 ,it was about the year #dee-fj4 ,attila1 the great ,king of the ,huns1 who called himself--and who was--8the ,scourge of ,god10 was just dead4 ,his empire had broken up4 ,the whole centre of ,europe was in a state of anarchy and war2 and the hapless ,romans along the ,danube were in the last extremity of terror1 not knowing by what fresh invader their crops would be swept off up to the very gates of the walled towers which were their only defence3 when there appeared among them1 coming out of the ,east1 a man of ,god4 ,who he was1 he would not tell4 ,his speech showed him to be an ,african ,roman--a fellow-countryman of ,st4 ,augustine--probably from the neighbourhood of ,carthage4 ,he had certainly at one time gone to some desert in the ,east1 zealous to learn 8the more perfect life40 ,severinus1 he said1 was his name2 a name which indicated high rank1 as did the manners and the scholarship of him who bore it4 ,but more than his name he would not tell4 8,if you take me for a runaway slave10 he said1 smiling1 8get ready money to redeem me with when my master demands me back40 ,for he believed that they would have need of him2 that ,god had sent him into that land that he might be of use to its wretched people4 ,and certainly he could have come into the neighbourhood of ,vienna at that moment for no other purpose than to do good1 unless he came to deal in slaves4 ,he settled first at a town called by his biographer ,casturis2 and1 lodging with the warden of the church1 lived quietly the hermit life4 ,meanwhile the ,german tribes were prowling round the town2 and ,severinus1 going one day into the church1 began to warn the priests and clergy and all the people that a destruction was coming on them which they could only avert by prayer and fasting and the works of mercy4 ,they laughed him to scorn1 confiding in their lofty ,roman walls1 which the invaders--wild horsemen1 who had no military engines--were unable either to scale or batter down4 ,severinus left the town at once1 prophesying1 it was said1 the very day and hour of its fall4 ,he went on to the next town1 which was then closely garrisoned by a barbarian force1 and repeated his warning there3 but while the people were listening to him1 there came an old man to the gate1 and told them how ,casturis had been already sacked1 as the man of ,god had foretold2 and1 going into the church1 threw himself at the feet of ,st4 ,severinus1 and said that he had been saved by his merits from being destroyed with his fellow-townsmen4 ,then the dwellers in the town hearkened to the man of ,god1 and gave themselves up to fasting and almsgiving and prayer for three whole days4 ,and on the third day1 when the solemnity of the evening sacrifice was fulfilled1 a sudden earthquake happened1 and the barbarians1 seized with panic fear1 and probably hating and dreading--like all those wild tribes--confinement between four stone walls instead of the free open life of the tent and the stockade1 forced the ,romans to open their gates to them1 rushed out into the night1 and in their madness slew each other4 ,in those days a famine fell upon the people of ,vienna2 and they1 as their sole remedy1 thought good to send for the man of ,god from the neighbouring town4 ,he went1 and preached to them1 too1 repentance and almsgiving4 ,the rich1 it seems1 had hidden up their stores of corn1 and left the poor to starve4 ,at least ,st4 ,severinus discovered 7by ,divine revelation1 it was supposed71 that a widow named ,procula had done as much4 ,he called her out into the midst of the people1 and asked her why she1 a noble woman and free-born1 had made herself a slave to avarice1 which is idolatry4 ,if she would not give her corn to ,christ's poor1 let her throw it into the ,danube to feed the fish1 for any gain from it she would not have4 ,procula was abashed1 and served out her hoards thereupon willingly to the poor2 and a little while afterwards1 to the astonishment of all1 vessels came down the ,danube1 laden with every kind of merchandise4 ,they had been frozen up for many days near ,passau1 in the thick ice of the river ,enns3 but the prayers of ,god's servant 7so men believed7 had opened the ice-gates1 and let them down the stream before the usual time4 ,then the wild ,german horsemen swept around the walls1 and carried off human beings and cattle1 as many as they could find4 ,severinus1 like some old ,hebrew prophet1 did not shrink from advising hard blows1 where hard blows could avail4 ,mamertinus1 the tribune1 or officer in command1 told him that he had so few soldiers1 and those so ill-armed1 that he dare not face the enemy4 ,severinus answered1 that they should get weapons from the barbarians themselves2 the ,lord would fight for them1 and they should hold their peace3 only if they took any captives they should bring them safe to him4 ,at the second milestone from the city they came upon the plunderers1 who fled at once1 leaving their arms behind4 ,thus was the prophecy of the man of ,god fulfilled4 ,the ,romans brought the captives back to him unharmed4 ,he loosed their bonds1 gave them food and drink1 and let them go4 ,but they were to tell their comrades that1 if ever they came near that spot again1 celestial vengeance would fall on them1 for the ,god of the ,christians fought from heaven in his servants' cause4 ,so the barbarians trembled1 and went away4 ,and the fear of ,st4 ,severinus fell on all the ,goths1 heretic ,arians though they were2 and on the ,rugii1 who held the north bank of the ,danube in those evil days4 ,st4 ,severinus1 meanwhile1 went out of ,vienna1 and built himself a cell at a place called 8,at the ,vineyards40 ,but some benevolent impulse--,divine revelation1 his biographer calls it--prompted him to return1 and build himself a cell on a hill close to ,vienna1 round which other cells soon grew up1 tenanted by his disciples4 8,there10 says his biographer1 8he longed to escape the crowds of men who were wont to come to him1 and cling closer to ,god in continual prayer3 but the more he longed to dwell in solitude1 the more often he was warned by revelations not to deny his presence to the afflicted people40 ,he fasted continually2 he went barefoot even in the midst of winter1 which was so severe1 the story continues1 in those days around ,vienna1 that wagons crossed the ,danube on the solid ice3 and yet1 instead of being puffed-up by his own virtues1 he set an example of humility to all1 and bade them with tears to pray for him1 that the ,saviour's gifts to him might not heap condemnation on his head4 ,over the wild ,rugii ,st4 ,severinus seems to have acquired unbounded influence4 ,their king1 ,flaccitheus1 used to pour out his sorrows to him1 and tell him how the princes of the ,goths would surely slay him2 for when he had asked leave of him to pass on into ,italy1 he would not let him go4 ,but ,st4 ,severinus prophesied to him that the ,goths would do him no harm4 ,only one warning he must take3 8,let it not grieve him to ask peace even for the least of men40 ,the friendship which had thus begun between the barbarian king and the cultivated saint was carried on by his son ,feva3 but his 8deadly and noxious wife0 ,gisa1 who appears to have been a fierce ,arian1 always1 says his biographer1 kept him back from clemency4 ,one story of ,gisa's misdeeds is so characteristic both of the manners of the time and of the style in which the original biography is written1 that ,i shall take leave to insert it at length4 8,the ,king ,feletheus 7who is also ,feva71 the son of the aforementioned ,flaccitheus1 following his father's devotion1 began1 at the commencement of his reign1 often to visit the holy man4 ,his deadly and noxious wife1 named ,gisa1 always kept him back from the remedies of clemency4 ,for she1 among the other plague-spots of her iniquity1 even tried to have certain ,catholics re-baptized3 but when her husband did not consent1 on account of his reverence for ,st4 ,severinus1 she gave up immediately her sacrilegious intention1 burdening the ,romans1 nevertheless1 with hard conditions1 and commanding some of them to be exiled to the ,danube4 ,for when one day1 she1 having come to the village next to ,vienna1 had ordered some of them to be sent over the ,danube1 and condemned to the most menial offices of slavery1 the man of ,god sent to her1 and begged that they might be let go4 ,but she1 blazing up in a flame of fury1 ordered the harshest of answers to be returned4 #8,i pray thee1' she said1 #8servant of ,god1 hiding there within thy cell1 allow us to settle what we choose about our own slaves4' ,but the man of ,god hearing this1 #8,i trust1' he said1 #8in my ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 that she will be forced by necessity to fulfil that which in her wicked will she has despised4' ,and forthwith a swift rebuke followed1 and brought low the soul of the arrogant woman4 ,for she had confined in close custody certain barbarian goldsmiths1 that they might make regal ornaments4 ,to them the son of the aforesaid king1 ,frederic by name1 still a little boy1 had gone in1 in childish levity1 on the very day on which the queen had despised the servant of ,god4 ,the goldsmiths put a sword to the child's breast1 saying1 that if any one attempted to enter without giving them an oath that they should be protected1 he should die2 and that they would slay the king's child first1 and themselves afterwards1 seeing that they had no hope of life left1 being worn out with long prison4 ,when she heard that1 the cruel and impious queen1 rending her garments for grief1 cried out1 #8,o servant of ,god1 ,severinus1 are the injuries which ,i did thee thus avenged8 ,hast thou obtained by the earnest prayer thou hast poured out this punishment for my contempt1 that thou shouldst avenge it on my own flesh and blood8' ,then1 running up and down with manifold contrition and miserable lamentation1 she confessed that for the act of contempt which she had committed against the servant of ,god she was struck by the vengeance of the present blow2 and forthwith she sent knights to ask for forgiveness1 and sent across the river the ,romans his prayers for whom she had despised4 ,the goldsmiths1 having received immediately a promise of safety1 and giving up the child1 were in like manner let go4 8,the most reverend ,severinus1 when he heard this1 gave boundless thanks to the ,creator1 who sometimes puts off the prayers of suppliants for this end1 that as faith1 hope1 and charity grow1 while lesser things are sought1 ,he may concede greater things4 ,lastly1 this did the mercy of the ,omnipotent ,saviour work1 that while it brought to slavery a woman free1 but cruel overmuch1 she was forced to restore to liberty those who were enslaved4 ,this having been marvellously gained1 the queen hastened with her husband to the servant of ,god1 and showed him her son1 who1 she confessed1 had been freed from the verge of death by his prayers1 and promised that she would never go against his commands40 ,to this period of ,severinus's life belongs the once famous story of his interview with ,odoacer1 the first barbarian king of ,italy1 and brother of the great ,onulph or ,wolf1 who was the founder of the family of the ,guelphs1 ,counts of ,altorf1 and the direct ancestors of ,victoria1 ,queen of ,england4 ,their father was decon1 secretary at one time of ,attila1 and chief of the little tribe of ,turklings1 who1 though ,german1 had clung faithfully to ,attila's sons1 and came to ruin at the great battle of ,netad1 when the empire of the ,huns broke up once and for ever4 ,then ,odoacer and his brother started over the ,alps to seek their fortunes in ,italy1 and take service1 after the fashion of young ,german adventurers1 with the ,romans2 and they came to ,st4 ,severinus's cell1 and went in1 heathens as they probably were1 to ask a blessing of the holy man2 and ,odoacer had to stoop and to stand stooping1 so huge he was4 ,the saint saw that he was no common lad1 and said1 8,go to ,italy1 clothed though thou be in ragged sheepskins3 thou shalt soon give greater gifts to thy friends40 ,so ,odoacer went on into ,italy1 deposed the last of the ,csars1 a paltry boy1 ,romulus ,augustulus by name1 and found himself1 to his own astonishment1 and that of all the world1 the first ,german king of ,italy2 and1 when he was at the height of his power1 he remembered the prophecy of ,severinus1 and sent to him1 offering him any boon he chose to ask4 ,but all that the saint asked was1 that he should forgive some ,romans whom he had banished4 ,st4 ,severinus meanwhile foresaw that ,odoacer's kingdom would not last1 as he seems to have foreseen many things1 by no miraculous revelation1 but simply as a far-sighted man of the world4 ,for when certain ,german knights were boasting before him of the power and glory of ,odoacer1 he said that it would last some thirteen1 or at most fourteen years2 and the prophecy 7so all men said in those days7 came exactly true4 ,there is no need to follow the details of ,st4 ,severinus's labours through some five-and-twenty years of perpetual self-sacrifice--and1 as far as this world was concerned1 perpetual disaster4 ,eugippius's chapters are little save a catalogue of towns sacked one after the other1 from ,passau to ,vienna1 till the miserable survivors of the war seemed to have concentrated themselves under ,st4 ,severinus's guardianship in the latter city4 ,we find1 too1 tales of famine1 of locust-swarms1 of little victories over the barbarians1 which do not arrest wholesale defeat3 but we find through all ,st4 ,severinus labouring like a true man of ,god1 conciliating the invading chiefs1 redeeming captives1 procuring for the cities which were still standing supplies of clothes for the fugitives1 persuading the husbandmen1 seemingly through large districts1 to give even in time of dearth a tithe of their produce to the poor2--a tale of noble work which one regrets to see defaced by silly little prodigies1 more important seemingly in the eyes of the monk ,eugippius than the great events which were passing round him4 ,but this is a fault too common with monk chroniclers4 ,the only historians of the early middle age1 they have left us a miserably imperfect record of it1 because they were looking always rather for the preternatural than for the natural4 ,many of the saints' lives1 as they have come down to us1 are mere catalogues of wonders which never happened1 from among which the antiquary must pick1 out of passing hints and obscure allusions1 the really important facts of the time1--changes political and social1 geography1 physical history1 the manners1 speech1 and look of nations now extinct1 and even the characters and passions of the actors in the story4 ,how much can be found among such a list of wonders1 by an antiquary who has not merely learning but intellectual insight1 is proved by the admirable notes which ,dr4 ,reeves has appended to ,adamnan's life of ,st4 ,columba3 but one feels1 while studying his work1 that1 had ,adamnan thought more of facts and less of prodigies1 he might have saved ,dr4 ,reeves the greater part of his labour1 and preserved to us a mass of knowledge now lost for ever4 ,and so with ,eugippius's life of ,st4 ,severinus4 ,the reader finds how the man who had secretly celebrated a heathen sacrifice was discovered by ,st4 ,severinus1 because1 while the tapers of the rest of the congregation were lighted miraculously from heaven1 his taper alone would not light2 and passes on impatiently1 with regret that the biographer omits to mention what the heathen sacrifice was like4 ,he reads how the ,danube dared not rise above the mark of the cross which ,st4 ,severinus had cut upon the posts of a timber chapel2 how a poor man1 going out to drive the locusts off his little patch of corn instead of staying in the church all day to pray1 found the next morning that his crop alone had been eaten1 while all the fields around remained untouched4 ,even the well-known story1 which has a certain awfulness about it1 how ,st4 ,severinus watched all night by the bier of the dead priest ,silvinus1 and ere the morning dawned bade him in the name of ,god speak to his brethren2 and how the dead man opened his eyes1 and ,severinus asked him whether he wished to return to life1 and he answered complainingly1 8,keep me no longer here2 nor cheat me of that perpetual rest which ,i had already found10 and so1 closing his eyes once more1 was still for ever3--even such a story as this1 were it true1 would be of little value in comparison with the wisdom1 faith1 charity1 sympathy1 industry1 utter self-sacrifice1 which formed the true greatness of such a man as ,severinus4 ,at last the noble life wore itself out4 ,for two years ,severinus had foretold that his end was near2 and foretold1 too1 that the people for whom he had spent himself should go forth in safety1 as ,israel out of ,egypt1 and find a refuge in some other ,roman province1 leaving behind them so utter a solitude1 that the barbarians1 in their search for the hidden treasures of the civilization which they had exterminated1 should dig up the very graves of the dead4 ,only1 when the ,lord willed that people to deliver them1 they must carry away his bones with them1 as the children of ,israel carried the bones of ,joseph4 ,then ,severinus sent for ,feva1 the ,rugian king1 and ,gisa1 his cruel wife2 and when he had warned them how they must render an account to ,god for the people committed to their charge1 he stretched his hand out to the bosom of the king4 8,gisa10 he asked1 8dost thou love most the soul within that breast1 or gold and silver80 ,she answered that she loved her husband above all4 8,cease then10 he said1 8to oppress the innocent3 lest their affliction be the ruin of your power40 ,severinus' presage was strangely fulfilled4 ,feva had handed over the city of ,vienna to his brother ,frederic1--8poor and impious10 says ,eugippius4 ,severinus1 who knew him well1 sent for him1 and warned him that he himself was going to the ,lord2 and that if1 after his death1 ,frederic dared touch aught of the substance of the poor and the captive1 the wrath of ,god would fall on him4 ,in vain the barbarian pretended indignant innocence2 ,severinus sent him away with fresh warnings4 8,then on the nones of ,january he was smitten slightly with a pain in the side4 ,and when that had continued for three days1 at midnight he bade the brethren come to him40 ,he renewed his talk about the coming emigration1 and entreated again that his bones might not be left behind2 and having bidden all in turn come near and kiss him1 and having received the sacrament of communion1 he forbade them to weep for him1 and commanded them to sing a psalm4 ,they hesitated1 weeping4 ,he himself gave out the psalm1 8,praise the ,lord in his saints1 and let all that hath breath praise the ,lord20 and so went to rest in the ,lord4 ,no sooner was he dead than ,frederic seized on the garments kept in the monastery for the use of the poor1 and even commanded his men to carry off the vessels of the altar4 ,then followed a scene characteristic of the time4 ,the steward sent to do the deed shrank from the crime of sacrilege4 ,a knight1 ,anicianus by name1 went in his stead1 and took the vessels of the altar4 ,but his conscience was too strong for him4 ,trembling and delirium fell on him1 and he fled away to a lonely island1 and became a hermit there4 ,frederic1 impenitent1 swept away all in the monastery1 leaving nought but the bare walls1 8which he could not carry over the ,danube40 ,but on him1 too1 vengeance fell4 ,within a month he was slain by his own nephew4 ,then ,odoacer attacked the ,rugii1 and carried off ,feva and ,gisa captive to ,rome4 ,and then the long-promised emigration came4 ,odoacer1 whether from mere policy 7for he was trying to establish a half-,roman kingdom in ,italy71 or for love of ,st4 ,severinus himself1 sent his brother ,onulf to fetch away into ,italy the miserable remnant of the ,danubian provincials1 to be distributed among the wasted and unpeopled farms of ,italy4 ,and with them went forth the corpse of ,st4 ,severinus1 undecayed1 though he had been six years dead1 and giving forth exceeding fragrance1 though 7says ,eugippius7 no embalmer's hand had touched it4 ,in a coffin1 which had been long prepared for it1 it was laid on a wagon1 and went over the ,alps into ,italy1 working 7according to ,eugippius7 the usual miracles on the way1 till it found a resting-place near ,naples1 in that very villa of ,lucullus at ,misenum1 to which ,odoacer had sent the last ,emperor of ,rome to dream his ignoble life away in helpless luxury4 ,so ends this tragic story4 ,of its substantial truth there can be no doubt4 ,the miracles recorded in it are fewer and less strange than those of the average legends--as is usually the case when an eye-witness writes4 ,and that ,eugippius was an eye-witness of much which he tells1 no one accustomed to judge of the authenticity of documents can doubt1 if he studies the tale as it stands in ,pez4 #bch ,as he studies1 too1 he will perhaps wish with me that some great dramatist may hereafter take ,eugippius's quaint and rough legend1 and shape it into immortal verse4 ,for tragic1 in the very nighest sense1 the story is throughout4 ,m4 ,ozanam has well said of that death-bed scene between the saint and the barbarian king and queen--8,the history of invasions has many a pathetic scene3 but ,i know none more instructive than the dying agony of that old ,roman expiring between two barbarians1 and less touched with the ruin of the empire than with the peril of their souls40 ,but even more instructive1 and more tragic also1 is the strange coincidence that the wonder-working corpse of the starved and barefooted hermit should rest beside the last ,emperor of ,rome4 ,it is the symbol of a new era4 ,the kings of this world have been judged and cast out4 ,the empire of the flesh is to perish1 and the empire of the spirit to conquer thenceforth for evermore4 ,but if ,st4 ,severinus's labours in ,austria were in vain1 there were other hermits1 in ,gaul and elsewhere1 whose work endured and prospered1 and developed to a size of which they had never dreamed4 ,the stories of these good men may be read at length in the ,bollandists and ,surius3 in a more accessible and more graceful form in ,m4 de ,montalembert's charming pages4 ,i can only sketch1 in a few words1 the history of a few of the more famous4 ,pushing continually northward and westward from the shores of the ,mediterranean1 fresh hermits settled in the mountains and forests1 collected disciples round them1 and founded monasteries1 which1 during the sanguinary and savage era of the ,merovingian kings1 were the only retreats for learning1 piety1 and civilization4 ,st4 ,martin 7the young soldier who may be seen in old pictures cutting his cloak in two with a sword1 to share it with a beggar7 left1 after twenty campaigns1 the army into which he had been enrolled against his will1 a conscript of fifteen years old1 to become a hermit1 monk1 and missionary4 ,in the desert isle of ,gallinaria1 near ,genoa1 he lived on roots1 to train himself for the monastic life2 and then went north-west1 to ,poitiers1 to found ,ligug 7said to be the most ancient monastery in ,france71 to become ,bishop of ,tours1 and to overthrow throughout his diocese1 often at the risk of his life1 the sacred oaks and ,druid stones of the ,gauls1 and the temples and idols of the ,romans4 ,but he--like many more--longed for the peace of the hermit's cell2 and near ,tours1 between the river ,loire and lofty cliffs1 he hid himself in a hut of branches1 while his eighty disciples dwelt in caves of the rocks above1 clothed only in skins of camels4 ,he died in ,a4,d4 #cig1 at the age of eighty-one1 leaving behind him1 not merely that famous monastery of ,marmontier 7,martini ,monasterium71 which endured till the ,revolution of #agic1 but1 what is infinitely more to his glory1 his solemn and indignant protest against the first persecution by the ,catholic ,church--the torture and execution of those unhappy ,priscillianist fanatics1 whom the ,spanish ,bishops 7the spiritual forefathers of the ,inquisition7 had condemned in the name of the ,god of love4 ,martin wept over the fate of the ,priscillianists4 ,happily he was no prophet1 or his head would have become 7like ,jeremiah's7 a fount of tears1 could he have foreseen that the isolated atrocity of those ,spanish ,bishops would have become the example and the rule1 legalized and formulized and commanded by ,pope after ,pope1 for every country in ,christendom4 ,sulpicius ,severus1 again 7whose ,lives of the ,desert ,fathers ,i have already quoted71 carried the example of these fathers into his own estates in ,aquitaine4 ,selling his lands1 he dwelt among his now manumitted slaves1 sleeping on straw1 and feeding on the coarsest bread and herbs2 till the hapless neophytes found that life was not so easily sustained in ,france as in ,egypt2 and complained to him that it was in vain to try 8to make them live like angels1 when they were only ,gauls40 ,another centre of piety and civilization was the rocky isle of ,lerins1 off the port of ,toulon4 ,covered with the ruins of an ancient ,roman city1 and swarming with serpents1 it was colonized again1 in ,a4,d4 #daj1 by a young man of rank named ,honoratus1 who gathered round him a crowd of disciples1 converted the desert isle into a garden of flowers and herbs1 and made the sea-girt sanctuary of ,lerins one of the most important spots of the then world4 8,the ,west10 says ,m4 de ,montalembert1 8had thenceforth nothing to envy the ,east2 and soon that retreat1 destined by its founder to renew on the shores of ,provence the austerities of the ,thebaid1 became a celebrated school of ,christian theology and philosophy1 a citadel inaccessible to the waves of the barbarian invasion1 an asylum for the letters and sciences which were fleeing from ,italy1 then overrun by the ,goths2 and1 lastly1 a nursery of bishops and saints1 who spread through ,gaul the knowledge of the ,gospel and the glory of ,lerins4 ,we shall soon see the rays of his light flash even into ,ireland and ,england1 by the blessed hands of ,patrick and ,augustine40 ,in the year #dbe1 ,romanus1 a young monk from the neighbourhood of ,lyons1 had gone up into the forests of the ,jura1 carrying with him the 8,lives of the ,hermits10 and a few seeds and tools2 and had settled beneath an enormous pine2 shut out from mankind by precipices1 torrents1 and the tangled trunks of primval trees1 which had fallen and rotted on each other age after age4 ,his brother ,lupicinus joined him2 then crowds of disciples2 then his sister1 and a multitude of women4 ,the forests were cleared1 the slopes planted2 a manufacture of box-wood articles--chairs among the rest--was begun2 and within the next fifty years the ,abbey of ,condat1 or ,st4 ,claude1 as it was afterwards called1 had become1 not merely an agricultural colony1 or even merely a minster for the perpetual worship of ,god1 but the first school of that part of ,gaul2 in which the works of ,greek as well as ,latin orators were taught1 not only to the young monks1 but to young laymen likewise4 ,meanwhile the volcanic peaks of the ,auvergne were hiding from their ,arian invaders the ruined gentry of ,central ,france4 ,effeminate and luxurious slave-holders1 as they are painted by ,sidonius ,appolineris1 bishop of ,clermont1 in that same ,auvergne1 nothing was left for them when their wealth was gone but to become monks3 and monks they became4 ,the lava grottoes held hermits1 who saw visions and dmons1 as ,st4 ,antony had seen them in ,egypt2 while near ,trves1 on the ,moselle1 a young hermit named ,wolflaich tried to imitate ,st4 ,simeon ,stylites' penance on the pillar2 till his bishop1 foreseeing that in that severe climate he would only kill himself1 wheedled him away from his station1 pulled down the pillar in his absence1 and bade him be a wiser man4 ,another figure1 and a more interesting one1 is the famous ,st4 ,goar2 a ,gaul1 seemingly 7from the recorded names of his parents7 of noble ,roman blood1 who took his station on the ,rhine1 under the cliffs of that ,lurlei so famous in legend and ballad as haunted by some fair fiend1 whose treacherous song lured the boatmen into the whirlpool at their foot4 ,to rescue the shipwrecked boatmen1 to lodge1 feed1 and if need be clothe1 the travellers along the ,rhine bank1 was ,st4 ,goar's especial work2 and ,wandelbert1 the monk of ,prum1 in the ,eifel1 who wrote his life at considerable length1 tells us how ,st4 ,goar was accused to the ,archbishop of ,trves as a hypocrite and a glutton1 because he ate freely with his guests2 and how his calumniators took him through the forest to ,trves2 and how he performed divers miracles1 both on the road and in the palace of the ,archbishop1 notably the famous one of hanging his cape upon a sunbeam1 mistaking it for a peg4 ,and other miracles of his there are1 some of them not altogether edifying3 but no reader is bound to believe them1 as ,wandelbert is evidently writing in the interests of the ,abbey of ,prum as against those of the ,prince-,bishops of ,trves2 and with a monk's or regular's usual jealousy of the secular or parochial clergy and their bishops4 ,a more important personage than any of these is the famous ,st4 ,benedict1 father of the ,benedictine order1 and 8father of all monks10 as he was afterwards called1 who1 beginning himself as a hermit1 caused the hermit life to fall1 not into disrepute1 but into comparative disuse2 while the cnobitic life--that is1 life1 not in separate cells1 but in corporate bodies1 with common property1 and under one common rule--was accepted as the general form of the religious life in the ,west4 ,as the author of this organization1 and of the ,benedictine order1 to whose learning1 as well as to whose piety1 the world has owed so much1 his life belongs rather to a history of the monastic orders than to that of the early hermits4 ,but it must be always remembered that it was as a hermit that his genius was trained2 that in solitude he conceived his vast plans2 in solitude he elaborated the really wise and noble rules of his1 which he afterwards carried out as far as he could during his lifetime in the busy world2 and which endured for centuries1 a solid piece of practical good work4 ,for the existence of monks was an admitted fact2 even an admitted necessity3 ,st4 ,benedict's work was to tell them1 if they chose to be monks1 what sort of persons they ought to be1 and how they ought to live1 in order to fulfil their own ideal4 ,in the solitude of the hills of ,subiaco1 above the ruined palace of ,nero1 above1 too1 the town of ,nurscia1 of whose lords he was the last remaining scion1 he fled to the mountain grotto1 to live the outward life of a wild beast1 and1 as he conceived1 the inward life of an angel4 ,how he founded twelve monasteries2 how he fled with some of his younger disciples1 to withdraw them from the disgusting persecutions and temptations of the neighbouring secular clergy2 how he settled himself on the still famous ,monte ,cassino1 which looks down upon the ,gulf of ,gaeta1 and founded there the 8,archi-,monasterium of ,europe10 whose abbot was in due time first premier baron of the kingdom of ,naples1--which counted among its dependencies #bde four bishoprics1 two principalities1 twenty earldoms1 two hundred and fifty castles1 four hundred and forty towns or villages1 three hundred and thirty-six manors1 twenty-three seaports1 three isles1 two hundred mills1 three hundred territories1 sixteen hundred and sixty-two churches1 and at the end of the sixteenth century an annual revenue of #a1ejj1jjj ducats1--are matters which hardly belong to this volume1 which deals merely with the lives of hermits4 ,,the ,,celtic ,,hermits ,,it is not necessary to enter into the vexed question whether any ,christianity ever existed in these islands of an earlier and purer type than that which was professed and practised by the saintly disciples of ,st4 ,antony4 ,it is at least certain that the earliest historic figures which emerge from the haze of barbarous antiquity in both the ,britains and in ,ireland1 are those of hermits1 who1 in celibacy and poverty1 gather round them disciples1 found a convent1 convert and baptize the heathen1 and often1 like ,antony and ,hilarion1 escape from the bustle and toil of the world into their beloved desert4 ,they work the same miracles1 see the same visions1 and live in the same intimacy with the wild animals1 as the hermits of ,egypt1 or of ,roman ,gaul3 but their history1 owing to the wild imagination and 7as the legends themselves prove7 the gross barbarism of the tribes among whom they dwell1 are so involved in fable and legend1 that it is all but impossible to separate fact from fiction2 all but impossible1 often1 to fix the time at which they lived4 ,their mode of life1 it must always be remembered1 is said to be copied from that of the ,roman hermits of ,gaul4 ,st4 ,patrick1 the apostle of ,ireland1 seems to have been of ,roman or ,roman ,british lineage4 ,in his famous 8,confession0 7which many learned antiquaries consider as genuine7 he calls his father1 ,calphurnius a deacon2 his grandfather1 ,potitus a priest--both of these names being ,roman4 ,he is said to have visited1 at some period of his life1 the monastery of ,st4 ,martin at ,tours2 to have studied with ,st4 ,germanus at ,auxerre2 and to have gone to one of the islands of the ,tuscan sea1 probably ,lerins itself2 and1 whether or not we believe the story that he was consecrated bishop by ,pope ,celestine at ,rome1 we can hardly doubt that he was a member of that great spiritual succession of ascetics who counted ,st4 ,antony as their father4 ,such another must that ,palladius have been1 who was sent1 says ,prosper of ,aquitaine1 by ,pope ,celestine to convert the ,irish ,scots1 and who 7according to another story7 was cast on shore on the north-east coast of ,scotland1 founded the church of ,fordun1 in ,kincardineshire1 and became a great saint among the ,pictish folk4 ,another primval figure1 almost as shadowy as ,st4 ,patrick1 is ,st4 ,ninian1 a monk of ,north ,wales1 who 7according to ,bede7 first attempted the conversion of the ,southern ,picts1 and built himself1 at ,whithorn in ,galloway1 the ,candida ,casa1 or ,white ,house1 a little church of stone1--a wonder in those days of 8creel houses0 and wooden stockades4 ,he too1 according to ,bede1 who lived some #bej years after his time1 went to ,rome2 and he is said to have visited and corresponded with ,st4 ,martin of ,tours4 ,dubricius1 again1 whom legend makes the contemporary both of ,st4 ,patrick and of ,king ,arthur1 appears in ,wales1 as bishop and abbot of ,llandaff4 ,he too is ordained by a ,roman bishop1 ,st4 ,germanus of ,auxerre2 and he too ends his career1 according to tradition1 as a hermit1 while his disciples spread away into ,armorica 7,brittany7 and ,ireland4 ,we need not1 therefore1 be surprised to find ,ireland1 ,wales1 ,cornwall1 ,scotland1 and ,brittany1 during the next three centuries1 swarming with saints1 who kept up1 whether in company or alone1 the old hermit-life of the ,thebaid2 or to find them wandering1 whether on missionary work1 or in search of solitude1 or escaping1 like ,st4 ,cadoc the ,wise1 from the ,saxon invaders4 ,their frequent journeys to ,rome1 and even to ,jerusalem1 may perhaps be set down as a fable1 invented in after years by monks who were anxious to prove their complete dependence on the ,holy ,see1 and their perfect communion with the older and more civilized ,christianity of the ,roman ,empire4 ,it is probable enough1 also1 that ,romans from ,gaul1 as well as from ,britain1 often men of rank and education1 who had fled before the invading ,goths and ,franks1 and had devoted themselves 7as we have seen that they often did7 to the monastic life1 should have escaped into those parts of these islands which had not already fallen into the hands of the ,saxon invaders4 ,ireland1 as the most remote situation1 would be especially inviting to the fugitives2 and we can thus understand the story which is found in the ,acts of ,st4 ,senanus1 how fifty monks1 8,romans born10 sailed to ,ireland to learn the ,scriptures1 and to lead a stricter life2 and were distributed between ,st4 ,senan1 ,st4 ,finnian1 ,st4 ,brendan1 ,st4 ,barry1 and ,st4 ,kieran4 ,by such immigrations as this1 it may be1 ,ireland became--as she certainly was for a while--the refuge of what ecclesiastical civilization1 learning1 and art the barbarian invaders had spared2 a sanctuary from whence1 in after centuries1 evangelists and teachers went forth once more1 not only to ,scotland and ,england1 but to ,france and ,germany4 ,very fantastic1 and often very beautiful1 are the stories of these men2 and sometimes tragical enough1 like that of the ,welsh ,st4 ,iltut1 cousin of the mythic ,arthur1 and founder of the great monastery of ,bangor1 on the banks of the ,dee1 which was said--though we are not bound to believe the fact--to have held more than two thousand monks at the time of the ,saxon invasion4 ,the wild warrior was converted1 says this legend1 by seeing the earth open and swallow up his comrades1 who had extorted bread1 beer1 and a fat pig from ,st4 ,cadoc of ,llancarvan1 a princely hermit and abbot1 who had persuaded his father and mother to embrace the hermit life as the regular1 if not the only1 way of saving their souls4 ,in a paroxysm of terror he fled from his fair young wife into the forest2 would not allow her to share with him even his hut of branches2 and devoted himself to the labour of making an immense dyke of mud and stones to keep out the inundations of a neighbouring river4 ,his poor wife went in search of him once more1 and found him in the bottom of a dyke1 no longer a gay knight1 but poorly dressed1 and covered with mud4 ,she went away1 and never saw him more2 8fearing to displease ,god and one so beloved by ,god40 ,iltut dwelt afterwards for four years in a cave1 sleeping on the bare rock1 and seems at last to have crossed over to ,brittany1 and died at ,dol4 ,we must not forget--though he is not strictly a hermit--,st4 ,david1 the popular saint of the ,welsh1 son of a nephew of the mythic ,arthur1 and educated by one ,paulinus1 a disciple1 it is said1 of ,st4 ,germanus of ,auxerre4 ,he is at once monk and bishop3 he gathers round him young monks in the wilderness1 makes them till the ground1 drawing the plough by their own strength1 for he allows them not to own even an ox4 ,he does battle against 8satraps0 and 8magicians0--probably heathen chieftains and ,druids2 he goes to the ,holy ,land1 and is made archbishop by the ,patriarch of ,jerusalem3 he introduces1 it would seem1 into this island the right of sanctuary for criminals in any field consecrated to himself4 ,he restores the church of ,glastonbury over the tomb of his cousin1 ,king ,arthur1 and dies at #ajj years of age1 8the head of the whole ,british nation1 and honour of his fatherland40 ,he is buried in one of his own monasteries at ,st4 ,david's1 near the headland whence ,st4 ,patrick had seen1 in a vision1 all ,ireland stretched out before him1 waiting to be converted to ,christ2 and the ,celtic people go on pilgrimage to his tomb1 even from ,brittany and ,ireland3 and1 canonized in #aabj1 he becomes the patron saint of ,wales4 ,from that same point1 in what year is not said1 an old monk of ,st4 ,david's monastery1 named ,modonnoc1 set sail for ,ireland1 after a long life of labour and virtue4 ,a swarm of bees settled upon the bow of his boat1 and would not be driven away4 ,he took them1 whether he would or not1 with him into ,ireland1 and introduced there1 says the legend1 the culture of bees and the use of honey4 ,ireland was then the 8,isle of ,saints40 ,three orders of them were counted by later historians3 the bishops 7who seem not to have had necessarily territorial dioceses71 with ,st4 ,patrick at their head1 shining like the sun2 the second1 of priests1 under ,st4 ,columba1 shining like the moon2 and the third1 of bishops1 priests1 and hermits1 under ,colman and ,aidan1 shining like the stars4 ,their legends1 full of ,irish poetry and tenderness1 and not without touches here and there of genuine ,irish humour1 lie buried now1 to all save antiquaries1 in the folios of the ,bollandists and ,colgan3 but the memory of their virtue and beneficence1 as well as of their miracles1 shadowy and distorted by the lapse of centuries1 is rooted in the heart and brain of the ,irish peasantry2 and who shall say altogether for evil8 ,for with the tradition of their miracles has been entwined the tradition of their virtues1 as an enduring heirloom for the whole ,irish race1 through the sad centuries which part the era of saints from the present time4 ,we see the ,irish women kneeling beside some well1 whose waters were hallowed1 ages since1 by the fancied miracle of some mythic saint1 and hanging gaudy rags 7just as do the half savage ,buddhists of the ,himalayas7 upon the bushes round4 ,we see them upon holy days crawling on bare and bleeding knees around ,st4 ,patrick's cell1 on the top of ,croagh ,patrick1 the grandest mountain1 perhaps1 with the grandest outlook1 in these ,british ,isles1 where stands still1 ,i believe1 an ancient wooden image1 said to have belonged to ,st4 ,patrick himself2 and where1 too1 hung till late years 7it is now preserved in ,dublin7 an ancient bell2 such a strange little oblong bell as the ,irish saints carried with them to keep off dmons2 one of those magic bells which appear1 so far as ,i am aware1 in no country save ,ireland and ,scotland till we come to ,tartary and the ,buddhists3 such a bell as came down from heaven to ,st4 ,senan3 such a bell as ,st4 ,fursey sent flying through the air to greet ,st4 ,cuandy at his devotions when he could not come himself3 such a bell as another saint1 wandering in the woods1 rang till a stag came out of the covert1 and carried it for him on his horns4 ,on that peak1 so legends tell1 ,st4 ,patrick stood once1 in the spirit and power of ,elias--after whom the mountain was long named2 fasting1 like ,elias1 forty days and forty nights1 and wrestling with the dmons of the storm1 and the snakes of the fen1 and the ,peishta-,more1 the gigantic monster of the lakes1 till he smote the evil things with the golden rod of ,jesus1 and they rolled over the cliff in hideous rout1 and perished in the ,atlantic far below4 ,we know that these tales are but the dreams of children3 but shall we sneer at the devotion of those poor ,irish8 ,not if we remember 7what is an undoubted fact7 that the memory of these same saints has kept up in their minds an ideal of nobleness and purity1 devotion and beneficence1 which1 down-trodden slaves as they have been1 they would otherwise have inevitably lost2 that it has helped to preserve them from mere brutality1 and mere ferocity2 and that the thought that these men were of their own race and their own kin has given them a pride in their own race1 a sense of national unity and of national dignity1 which has endured--and surely for their benefit1 for reverence for ancestors and the self-respect which springs from it is a benefit to every human being--through all the miseries1 deserved or undeserved1 which have fallen upon the ,irish since ,pope ,adrian ,,iv4 7the true author of all the woes of ,ireland71 in the year #aaee1 commissioned ,henry ,,ii4 to conquer ,ireland and destroy its primval ,church1 on consideration of receiving his share of the booty in the shape of ,peter's ,pence4 ,among these ,irish saints1 two names stand out as especially interesting3 that of ,st4 ,brendan1 and that of ,st4 ,columba--the former as the representative of the sailor monks of the early period1 the other as the great missionary who1 leaving his monastery at ,durrow1 in ,ireland1 for the famous island of ,hy1 ,iona1 or ,icolumbkill1 off the western point of ,mull1 became the apostle of ,scotland and the north of ,england4 ,i shall first speak of ,st4 ,brendan1 and at some length4 ,his name has become lately familiar to many1 through the medium of two very beautiful poems1 one by ,mr4 ,matthew ,arnold1 and the other by ,mr4 ,sebastian ,evans2 and it may interest those who have read their versions of the story to see the oldest form in which the story now exists4 ,the ,celts1 it must be remembered1 are not1 in general1 a sea-going folk4 ,they have always neglected the rich fisheries of their coasts2 and in ,ireland every seaport owes its existence1 not to the natives1 but to ,norse colonists4 ,even now1 the ,irishman or ,western ,highlander1 who emigrates to escape the 8,saxons10 sails in a ship built and manned by those very 8,saxons10 to lands which the ,saxons have discovered and civilized4 ,but in the seventh and eighth centuries1 and perhaps earlier1 many ,celts were voyagers and emigrants1 not to discover new worlds1 but to flee from the old one4 ,there were deserts in the sea1 as well as on land2 in them they hoped to escape from men1 and1 yet more1 from women4 ,they went against their carnal will4 ,they had no liking for the salt water4 ,they were horribly frightened1 and often wept bitterly1 as they themselves confess4 ,and they had reason for fear2 for their vessels were1 for the most part1 only 8curachs0 7coracles7 of wattled twigs1 covered with tanned hides4 ,they needed continual exhortation and comfort from the holy man who was their captain2 and needed often miracles likewise for their preservation4 ,tempests had to be changed into calm1 and contrary winds into fair ones1 by the prayers of a saint2 and the spirit of prophecy was needed1 to predict that a whale would be met between ,iona and ,tiree1 who appeared accordingly1 to the extreme terror of ,st4 ,berach's crew1 swimming with open jaws1 and 7intent on eating1 not monks1 but herrings7 nearly upsetting them by the swell which he raised4 ,and when ,st4 ,baithenius met the same whale on the same day1 it was necessary for him to rise1 and bless1 with outspread hands1 the sea and the whale1 in order to make him sink again1 after having risen to breathe4 ,but they sailed forth1 nevertheless1 not knowing whither they went2 true to their great principle1 that the spirit must conquer the flesh3 and so showed themselves actually braver men than the ,norse pirates1 who sailed afterwards over the same seas without fear1 and without the need of miracles1 and who found everywhere on desert islands1 on sea-washed stacks and skerries1 round ,orkney1 ,shetland1 and the ,faros1 even to ,iceland1 the cells of these 8,papas0 or ,popes2 and named them after the old hermits1 whose memory still lingers in the names of ,papa ,strona and ,papa ,westra1 in the ,orkneys1 and in that of ,papey1 off the coast of ,iceland1 where the first ,norse settlers found ,irish books1 bells1 and crosiers1 the relics of old hermits who had long since fasted and prayed their last1 and migrated to the ,lord4 ,adanman1 in his life of ,st4 ,columba1 tells of more than one such voyage4 ,he tells how one ,baitanus1 with the saint's blessing1 sailed forth to find 8a desert0 in the sea2 and how when he was gone1 the saint prophesied that he should be buried1 not in a desert isle1 but where a woman should drive sheep over his grave1 the which came true in the oak-wood of ,calgaich1 now ,londonderry1 whither he came back again4 ,he tells1 again1 of one ,cormac1 8a knight of ,christ10 who three times sailed forth in a coracle to find some desert isle1 and three times failed of his purpose2 and how1 in his last voyage1 he was driven northward by the wind fourteen days' sail1 till he came where the summer sea was full of foul little stinging creatures1 of the size of frogs1 which beat against the sides of the frail boat1 till all expected them to be stove in4 ,they clung1 moreover1 to the oar blades2 #bef and ,cormac was in some danger of never seeing land again1 had not ,st4 ,columba1 at home in ,iona far away1 seen him in a vision1 him and his fellows1 praying and 8watering their cheeks with floods of tears10 in the midst of 8perturbations monstrous1 horrific1 never seen before1 and almost unspeakable40 ,calling together his monks1 he bade them pray for a north wind1 which came accordingly1 and blew ,cormac safe back to ,iona1 to tempt the waves no more4 8,let the reader therefore perpend how great and what manner of man this same blessed personage was1 who1 having so great prophetic knowledge1 could command1 by invoking the name of ,christ1 the winds and ocean40 ,even as late as the year #hia1 says the ,anglo-,saxon ,chronicle3 8,three ,scots came to ,king ,alfred1 in a boat without any oars1 from ,ireland1 whence they had stolen away1 because for the love of ,god they desired to be on pilgrimage1 they recked not where4 ,the boat in which they came was made of two hides and a half2 and they took with them provisions for seven days2 and about the seventh day they came on shore in ,cornwall1 and soon after went to ,king ,alfred4 ,thus they were named1 ,dubslane1 and ,macbeth1 and ,maelinmun40 ,out of such wild feats as these2 out of dim reports of fairy islands in the west2 of the ,canaries and ,azores2 of that ,vinland1 with its wild corn and wild grapes which ,leif1 the son of ,eirek ,rauda1 had found beyond the ocean a thousand years and one after the birth of ,christ2 of icebergs and floes sailing in the far northern sea1 upon the edge of the six-months' night2 out of ,edda stories of the ,midgard snake1 which is coiled round the world2 out of reports1 it may be1 of ,indian fakirs and ,buddhist shamans2 out of scraps of ,greek and ,arab myth1 from the ,odyssey or the ,arabian ,nights1 brought home by 8,jorsala ,farar10 vikings who had been for pilgrimage and plunder up the ,straits of ,gibraltar into the far ,east2--out of all these materials were made up1 as years rolled on1 the famous legend of ,st4 ,brendan and his seven years' voyage in search of the 8land promised to the saints40 ,this tale was so popular in the middle age1 that it appears1 in different shapes1 in almost every early ,european language4 #beg ,it was not only the delight of monks1 but it stirred up to wild voyages many a secular man in search of ,st4 ,brendan's ,isle1 8which is not found when it is sought10 but was said to be visible at times1 from ,palma in the ,canaries4 ,the myth must have been well known to ,columbus1 and may have helped to send him forth in search of 8,cathay40 ,thither 7so the ,spanish peasants believed7 ,don ,roderic had retired from the ,moorish invaders4 ,there 7so the ,portuguese fancied7 ,king ,sebastian was hidden from men1 after his reported death in the battle of ,alcazar4 ,the ,west ,indies1 when they were first seen1 were surely ,st4 ,brendan's ,isle3 and the ,mississippi may have been1 in the eyes of such old adventurers as ,don ,ferdinando da ,soto1 when he sought for the ,fountain of ,perpetual ,youth1 the very river which ,st4 ,brendan found parting in two the ,land of ,promise4 ,from the year #aebf 7says ,m4 ,jubinal71 till as late as #agba1 armaments went forth from time to time into the ,atlantic1 and went forth in vain4 ,for the whole tale1 from whatever dim reports of fact they may have sprung1 is truly 7as ,m4 ,jubinal calls it7 a monkish ,odyssey1 and nothing more4 ,it is a dream of the hermit's cell4 ,no woman1 no city1 nor nation1 are ever seen during the seven years' voyage4 ,ideal monasteries and ideal hermits people the 8deserts of the ocean40 ,all beings therein 7save dmons and ,cyclops7 are ,christians1 even to the very birds1 and keep the festivals of the ,church as eternal laws of nature4 ,the voyage succeeds1 not by seamanship1 or geographic knowledge1 nor even by chance3 but by the miraculous prescience of the saint1 or of those whom he meets2 and the wanderings of ,ulysses1 or of ,sinbad1 are rational and human in comparison with those of ,st4 ,brendan4 ,yet there are in them1 as was to be expected1 elements in which the ,greek or the ,arab legends are altogether deficient2 perfect innocence1 patience1 and justice2 utter faith in a ,god who prospers the innocent and punishes the guilty2 ennobling obedience to the saint1 who stands out a truly heroic figure above his trembling crew2 and even more valuable still1 the belief in1 the craving for1 an ideal1 even though that ideal be that of a mere earthly ,paradise2 the 8divine discontent10 as it has been well called1 which is the root of all true progress2 which leaves 7thank ,god7 no man at peace save him who has said1 8,let us eat and drink1 for to-morrow we die40 ,and therefore ,i have written at some length the story of ,st4 ,brendan2 because1 though it be but a monk-ideal1 it is an ideal still3 and therefore profitable for all who are not content with this world1 and its paltry ways4 ,saint ,brendan1 we read1 the son of ,finnloga1 and great grandson of ,alta1 son of ,ogaman1 of the race of ,ciar son of ,fergus1 was born at ,tralee1 and founded1 in #eei1 the ,abbey of ,clonfert1 #bfj;a and was a man famous for his great abstinence and virtues1 and the father of nearly #c1jjj monks4 #bfj;b ,and while he was 8in his warfare10 there came to him one evening a holy hermit named 8,barintus10 of the royal race of ,neill2 and when he was questioned1 he did nought but cast himself on the ground1 and weep and pray4 ,and when ,st4 ,brendan asked him to make better cheer for him and his monks1 he told him a strange tale4 ,how a nephew of his had fled away to be a solitary1 and found a delicious island1 and established a monastery therein2 and how he himself had gone to see his nephew1 and sailed with him to the eastward to an island1 which was called 8the land of promise of the saints10 wide and grassy1 and bearing all manner of fruits2 wherein was no night1 for the ,lord ,jesus ,christ was the light thereof2 and how they abode there for a long while without eating and drinking2 and when they returned to his nephew's monastery1 the brethren knew well where they had been1 for the fragrance of ,paradise lingered on their garments for nearly forty days4 ,so ,barintus told his story1 and went back to his cell4 ,but ,st4 ,brendan called together his most loving fellow-warriors1 as he called them1 and told them how he had set his heart on seeking that ,promised ,land4 ,and he went up to the top of the hill in ,kerry1 which is still called ,mount ,brendan1 with fourteen chosen monks2 and there1 at the utmost corner of the world1 he built him a coracle of wattle1 and covered it with hides tanned in oak-bark and softened with butter1 and set up in it a mast and a sail1 and took forty days' provision1 and commanded his monks to enter the boat1 in the name of the ,holy ,trinity4 ,and as he stood alone1 praying on the shore1 three more monks from his monastery came up1 and fell at his feet1 and begged to go too1 or they would die in that place of hunger and thirst2 for they were determined to wander with him all the days of their life4 ,so he gave them leave4 ,but two of them1 he prophesied1 would come to harm and to judgment4 ,so they sailed away toward the summer solstice1 with a fair wind1 and had no need to row4 ,but after twelve days the wind fell to a calm1 and they had only light airs at night1 till forty days were past1 and all their victual spent4 ,then they saw toward the north a lofty island1 walled round with cliffs1 and went about it three days ere they could find a harbour4 ,and when they landed1 a dog came fawning on them1 and they followed it up to a great hall with beds and seats1 and water to wash their feet4 ,but ,st4 ,brendan said1 8,beware1 lest ,satan bring you into temptation4 ,for ,i see him busy with one of those three who followed us40 ,now the hall was hung all round with vessels of divers metals1 and bits and horns overlaid with silver4 ,then ,st4 ,brendan told his servant to bring the meal which ,god had prepared2 and at once a table was laid with napkins1 and loaves wondrous white1 and fishes4 ,then they blessed ,god1 and ate1 and took likewise drink as much as they would1 and lay down to sleep4 ,then ,st4 ,brendan saw the devil's work2 namely1 a little black boy holding a silver bit1 and calling the brother aforementioned4 ,so they rested three days and three nights4 ,but when they went to the ship1 ,st4 ,brendan charged them with theft1 and told what was stolen1 and who had stolen it4 ,then the brother cast out of his bosom a silver bit1 and prayed for mercy4 ,and when he was forgiven and raised up from the ground1 behold1 a little black boy flew out of his bosom1 howling aloud1 and crying1 8,why1 ,o man of ,god1 dost thou drive me from my habitation1 where ,i have dwelt for seven years80 ,then the brother received the ,holy ,eucharist1 and died straightway1 and was buried in that isle1 and the brethren saw the angels carry his soul aloft1 for ,st4 ,brendan had told him that so it should be3 but that the brother who came with him should have his sepulchre in hell4 ,and as they went on board1 a youth met them with a basket of loaves and a bottle of water1 and told them that it would not fail till ,pentecost4 ,then they sailed again many days1 till they came to an isle full of great streams and fountains swarming with fish2 and sheep there all white1 as big as oxen1 so many that they hid the face of the earth4 ,and they stayed there till ,easter ,eve1 and took one of the sheep 7which followed them as if it had been tame7 to eat for the ,paschal feast4 ,then came a man with loaves baked in the ashes1 and other victual1 and fell down before ,st4 ,brendan and cried1 8,how have ,i merited this1 ,o pearl of ,god1 that thou shouldest be fed at this holy tide from the labours of my hand80 ,and they learned from that man that the sheep grew there so big because they were never milked1 nor pinched with winter1 but they fed in those pastures all the year round4 ,moreover1 he told them that they must keep ,easter in an isle hard by1 opposite a shore to the west1 which some called the ,paradise of ,birds4 ,so to the nearest island they sailed4 ,it had no harbour1 nor sandy shore1 and there was no turf on it1 and very little wood4 ,now the ,saint knew what manner of isle it was1 but he would not tell the brethren1 lest they should be terrified4 ,so he bade them make the boat fast stem and stern1 and when morning came he bade those who were priests to celebrate each a mass1 and then to take the lamb's fleece on shore and cook it in the caldron with salt1 while ,st4 ,brendan remained in the boat4 ,but when the fire blazed up1 and the pot began to boil1 that island began to move like water4 ,then the brethren ran to the boat imploring ,st4 ,brendan's aid2 and he helped them each in by the hand1 and cast off4 ,after which the island sank in the ocean4 ,and when they could see their fire burning more than two miles off1 ,st4 ,brendan told them how that ,god had revealed to him that night the mystery2 that this was no isle1 but the biggest of all fishes which swam in the ocean1 always it tries to make its head and its tail meet1 but cannot1 by reason of its length2 and its name is ,jasconius4 ,then1 across a narrow strait1 they saw another isle1 very grassy and wooded1 and full of flowers4 ,and they found a little stream1 and towed the boat up it 7for the stream was of the same width as the boat71 with ,st4 ,brendan sitting on board1 till they came to the fountain thereof4 ,then said the holy father1 8,see1 brethren1 the ,lord has given us a place wherein to celebrate his holy ,resurrection4 ,and if we had nought else1 this fountain1 ,i think1 would serve for food as well as drink40 ,for the fountain was too admirable4 ,over it was a huge tree of wonderful breadth1 but no great height1 covered with snow-white birds1 so that its leaves and boughs could scarce be seen4 ,and when the man of ,god saw that1 he was so desirous to know the cause of that assemblage of birds1 that he besought ,god upon his knees1 with tears1 saying1 8,god1 who knowest the unknown1 and revealest the hidden1 thou knowest the anxiety of my heart4 4 4 4 ,deign of thy great mercy to reveal to me thy secret4 4 4 4 ,but not for the merit of my own dignity1 but regarding thy clemency1 do ,i presume to ask40 ,then one of those birds flew from off the tree1 and his wings sounded like bells over the boat4 ,and he sat on the prow1 and spread his wings joyfully1 and looked quietly on ,st4 ,brendan4 ,and when the man of ,god questioned that bird1 it told how they were of the spirits which fell in the great ruin of the old enemy2 not by sin or by consent1 but predestined by the piety of ,god to fall with those with whom they were created4 ,but they suffered no punishment2 only they could not1 in part1 behold the presence of ,god4 ,they wandered about this world1 like other spirits of the air1 and firmament1 and earth4 ,but on holy days they took those shapes of birds1 and praised their ,creator in that place4 ,then the bird told him1 how he and his monks had wandered one year already1 and should wander for six more2 and every year should celebrate their ,easter in that place1 and after find the ,land of ,promise2 and so flew back to its tree4 ,and when the eventide was come1 the birds began all with one voice to sing1 and clap their wings1 crying1 8,thou1 ,o ,god1 art praised in ,zion1 and unto ,thee shall the vow be performed in ,jerusalem40 ,and always they repeated that verse for an hour1 and their melody and the clapping of their wings was like music which drew tears by its sweetness4 ,and when the man of ,god wakened his monks at the third watch of the night with the verse1 8,thou shalt open my lips1 ,o ,lord10 all the birds answered1 8,praise the ,lord1 all his angels2 praise him1 all his virtues40 ,and when the dawn shone1 they sang again1 8,the splendour of the ,lord ,god is over us20 and at the third hour1 8,sing psalms to our ,god1 sing2 sing to our ,king1 sing with wisdom40 ,and at the sixth1 8,the ,lord hath lifted up the light of his countenance upon us1 and had mercy on us40 ,and at the ninth1 8,behold how good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell in unity40 ,so day and night those birds gave praise to ,god4 ,st4 ,brendan1 therefore1 seeing these things1 gave thanks to ,god for all his marvels1 and the brethren were refreshed with that spiritual food till the octave of ,easter4 ,after which1 ,st4 ,brendan advised to take of the water of the fountain2 for till then they had only used it to wash their feet and hands4 ,but there came to him the same man who had been with them three days before ,easter1 and with his boat full of meat and drink1 and said1 8,my brothers1 here you have enough to last till ,pentecost3 but do not drink of that fountain4 ,for its nature is1 that whosoever drinks will sleep for four-and-twenty hours40 ,so they stayed till ,pentecost1 and rejoiced in the song of the birds4 ,and after mass at ,pentecost1 the man brought them food again1 and bade them take of the water of the fountain and depart4 ,then the birds came again1 and sat upon the prow1 and told them how they must1 every year1 celebrate ,easter in the ,isle of ,birds1 and ,easter ,eve upon the back of the fish ,jasconius2 and how1 after eight months1 they should come to the isle called ,ailbey1 and keep their ,christmas there4 ,after which they were on the ocean for eight months1 out of sight of land1 and only eating after every two or three days1 till they came to an island1 along which they sailed for forty days1 and found no harbour4 ,then they wept and prayed1 for they were almost worn out with weariness2 and after they had fasted and prayed for three days1 they saw a narrow harbour1 and two fountains1 one foul1 one clear4 ,but when the brethren hurried to draw water1 ,st4 ,brendan 7as he had done once before7 forbade them1 saying that they must take nought without leave from the elders who were in that isle4 ,and of the wonders which they saw in that isle it were too long to tell3 how there met them an exceeding old man1 with snow-white hair1 who fell at ,st4 ,brendan's feet three times1 and led him in silence up to a monastery of four-and-twenty silent monks1 who washed their feet1 and fed them with bread and water1 and roots of wonderful sweetness2 and then at last1 opening his mouth1 told them how that bread was sent them perpetually1 they knew not from whence2 and how they had been there eighty years1 since the times of ,st4 ,patrick1 and how their father ,ailbey and ,christ had nourished them2 and how they grew no older1 nor ever fell sick1 nor were overcome by cold or heat2 and how brother never spoke to brother1 but all things were done by signs2 and how he led them to a square chapel1 with three candles before the mid-altar1 and two before each of the side altars2 and how they1 and the chalices and patens1 and all the other vessels1 were of crystal2 and how the candles were lighted always by a fiery arrow1 which came in through the window1 and returned2 and how ,st4 ,brendan kept his ,christmas there1 and then sailed away till ,lent1 and came to a fruitful island where he found fish2 and how when certain brethren drank too much of the charmed water they slept1 some three days1 and some one2 and how they sailed north1 and then east1 till they came back to the ,isle of ,sheep at ,easter1 and found on the shore their caldron1 which they had lost on ,jasconius's back2 and how1 sailing away1 they were chased by a mighty fish which spouted foam1 but was slain by another fish which spouted fire2 and how they took enough of its flesh to last them three months2 and how they came to an island flat as the sea1 without trees1 or aught that waved in the wind2 and how on that island were three troops of monks 7as the holy man had foretold71 standing a stone's throw from each other3 the first of boys1 robed in snow-white2 the second of young men1 dressed in hyacinthine2 the third of old men1 in purple dalmatics1 singing alternately their psalms1 all day and night3 and how when they stopped singing1 a cloud of wondrous brightness overshadowed the isle2 and how two of the young men1 ere they sailed away1 brought baskets of grapes1 and asked that one of the monks 7as had been prophesied7 should remain with them1 in the ,isle of ,strong ,men2 and how ,st4 ,brendan let him go1 saying1 8,in a good hour did thy mother conceive thee1 because thou hast merited to dwell with such a congregation20 and how those grapes were so big1 that a pound of juice ran out of each of them1 and an ounce thereof fed each brother for a whole day1 and was as sweet as honey2 and how a magnificent bird dropped into the ship the bough of an unknown tree1 with a bunch of grapes thereon2 and how they came to a land where the trees were all bowed down with vines1 and their odour as the odour of a house full of pomegranates2 and how they fed forty days on those grapes1 and strange herbs and roots2 and how they saw flying against them the bird which is called gryphon2 and how that bird who had brought the bough tore out the gryphon's eyes1 and slew him2 and how they looked down into the clear sea1 and saw all the fishes sailing round and round1 head to tail1 innumerable as flocks in the pastures1 and were terrified1 and would have had the man of ,god celebrate mass in silence1 lest the fish should hear1 and attack them2 and how the man of ,god laughed at their folly2 and how they came to a column of clear crystal in the sea1 with a canopy round it of the colour of silver1 harder than marble1 and sailed in through an opening1 and found it all light within2 #bfi and how they found in that hall a chalice of the same stuff as the canopy1 and a paten of that of the column1 and took them1 that they might make many believe2 and how they sailed out again1 and past a treeless island1 covered with slag and forges2 and how a great hairy man1 fiery and smutty1 came down and shouted after them2 and how when they made the sign of the ,cross and sailed away1 he and his fellows brought down huge lumps of burning slag in tongs1 and hurled them after the ship2 and how they went back1 and blew their forges up1 till the whole island flared1 and the sea boiled1 and the howling and stench followed them1 even when they were out of sight of that evil isle2 and how ,st4 ,brendan bade them strengthen themselves in faith and spiritual arms1 for they were now on the confines of hell1 therefore they must watch1 and play the man4 ,all this must needs be hastened over1 that we may come to the famous legend of ,judas ,iscariot4 ,they saw a great and high mountain toward the north1 with smoke about its peak4 ,and the wind blew them close under the cliffs1 which were of immense height1 so that they could hardly see their top1 upright as walls1 and black as coal4 #bgj ,then he who remained of the three brethren who had followed ,st4 ,brendan sprang out of the ship1 and waded to the cliff foot1 groaning1 and crying1 8,woe to me1 father1 for ,i am carried away from you2 and cannot turn back40 ,then the brethren backed the ship1 and cried to the ,lord for mercy4 ,but the blessed ,father ,brendan saw how that wretch was carried off by a multitude of devils1 and all on fire among them4 ,then a fair wind blew them away southward2 and when they looked back they saw the peak of the isle uncovered1 and flame spouting from it up to heaven1 and sinking back again1 till the whole mountain seemed one burning pile4 ,after that terrible vision they sailed seven days to the south1 till ,father ,brendan saw a dense cloud2 when they neared it1 a form as of a man sitting1 and before him a veil1 as big as a sack1 hanging between two iron tongs1 and rocking on the waves like a boat in a whirlwind4 ,which when the brethren saw some thought was a bird1 and some a boat2 but the man of ,god bade them give over arguing1 and row thither4 ,and when they got near1 the waves were still1 as if they had been frozen2 and they found a man sitting on a rough and shapeless rock1 and the waves beating over his head2 and when they fell back1 the bare rock appeared on which that wretch was sitting4 ,and the cloth which hung before him the wind moved1 and beat him with it on the eyes and brow4 ,but when the blessed man asked him who he was1 and how he had earned that doom1 he said1 8,i am that most wretched ,judas1 who made the worst of all bargains4 ,but ,i hold not this place for any merit of my own1 but for the ineffable mercy of ,christ4 ,i expect no place of repentance3 but for the indulgence and mercy of the ,redeemer of the world1 and for the honour of ,his holy resurrection1 ,i have this refreshment2 for it is the ,lord's-day now1 and as ,i sit here ,i seem to myself in a paradise of delight1 by reason of the pains which will be mine this evening2 for when ,i am in my pains ,i burn day and night like lead melted in a pot4 ,but in the midst of that mountain which you saw1 is ,leviathan with his satellites1 and ,i was there when he swallowed your brother2 and therefore the king of hell rejoiced1 and sent forth huge flames1 as he doth always when he devours the souls of the impious40 ,then he told them how he had his refreshings there every ,lord's-day from even to even1 and from ,christmas to ,epiphany1 and from ,easter to ,pentecost1 and from the ,purification of the ,blessed ,virgin to her ,assumption3 but the rest of his time he was tormented with ,herod and ,pilate1 ,annas and ,caiaphas2 and so adjured them to intercede for him with the ,lord that he might be there at least till sunrise in the morn4 ,to whom the man of ,god said1 8,the will of the ,lord be done4 ,thou shalt not be carried off by the dmons till to-morrow40 ,then he asked him of that clothing1 and he told how he had given it to a leper when he was the ,lord's chamberlain2 8but because it was no more mine than it was the ,lord's and the other brethren's1 therefore it is of no comfort to me1 but rather a hurt4 ,and these forks ,i gave to the priests to hang their caldrons on4 ,and this stone on which ,i always sit ,i took off the road1 and threw it into a ditch for a stepping-stone1 before ,i was a disciple of the ,lord40 #bgb 8,but when the evening hour had covered the face of ,thetis10 behold a multitude of dmons shouting in a ring1 and bidding the man of ,god depart1 for else they could not approach2 and they dared not behold their prince's face unless they brought back their prey4 ,but the man of ,god bade them depart4 ,and in the morning an infinite multitude of devils covered the face of the abyss1 and cursed the man of ,god for coming thither2 for their prince had scourged them cruelly that night for not bringing back the captive4 ,but the man of ,god returned their curses on their own heads1 saying that 8cursed was he whom they blest1 and blessed he whom they cursed20 and when they threatened ,judas with double torments because he had not come back1 the man of ,god rebuked them4 8,art thou1 then1 ,lord of all10 they asked1 8that we should obey thee80 8,i am the servant10 said he1 8of the ,lord of all2 and whatsoever ,i command in his name is done2 and ,i have no ministry save what he concedes to me40 ,so they blasphemed him till he left ,judas1 and then returned1 and carried off that wretched soul with great rushing and howling4 ,after which they saw a little isle2 and the holy man told them that now seven years were nigh past2 and that in that isle they should soon see a hermit1 named ,paul the ,spiritual1 who had lived for sixty years without any corporeal food1 but for thirty years before that he had received food from a certain beast4 ,the isle was very small1 about a furlong round2 a bare rock1 so steep that they could find no landing-place4 ,but at last they found a creek1 into which they thrust the boat's bow1 and then discovered a very difficult ascent4 ,up that the man of ,god climbed1 bidding them wait for him1 for they must not enter the isle without the hermit's leave2 and when he came to the top he saw two caves1 with their mouths opposite each other1 and a very small round well before the cave mouth1 whose waters1 as fast as they ran out1 were sucked in again by the rock4 #bgd ,as he went to one entrance1 the old man came out of the other1 saying1 8,behold how good and pleasant it is1 brethren1 to dwell together in unity10 and bade him call up the brethren from the boat2 and when they came1 he kissed them1 and called them each by his name4 ,whereat they marvelled1 not only at his spirit of prophecy1 but also at his attire2 for he was all covered with his locks and beard1 and with the other hair of his body1 down to his feet4 ,his hair was white as snow for age1 and none other covering had he4 ,when ,st4 ,brendan saw that1 he sighed again and again1 and said within himself1 8,woe is me1 sinner that ,i am1 who wear a monk's habit1 and have many monks under me1 when ,i see a man of angelic dignity sitting in a cell1 still in the flesh1 and unhurt by the vices of the flesh40 ,to whom the man of ,god answered1 8,venerable father1 what great and many wonders ,god hath showed thee1 which he hath manifested to none of the fathers1 and thou sayest in thy heart that thou art not worthy to wear a monk's habit4 ,i tell thee1 father1 that thou art greater than a monk2 for a monk is fed and clothed by the work of his own hands3 but ,god has fed and clothed thee and thy family for seven years with his secret things1 while wretched ,i sit here on this rock like a bird1 naked save the hair of my body40 ,then ,st4 ,brendan asked him how and whence he came thither2 and he told how he was nourished in ,st4 ,patrick's monastery for fifty years1 and took care of the cemetery2 and how when the dean had bidden him dig a grave1 an old man1 whom he knew not1 appeared to him1 and forbade him1 for that grave was another man's4 ,and how he revealed to him that he was ,st4 ,patrick1 his own abbot1 who had died the day before1 and bade him bury that brother elsewhere1 and go down to the sea and find a boat1 which would take him to the place where he should wait for the day of his death2 and how he landed on that rock1 and thrust the boat off with his foot1 and it went swiftly back to its own land2 and how1 on the very first day1 a beast came to him1 walking on its hind paws1 and between its fore paws a fish1 and grass to make a fire1 and laid them at his feet2 and so every third day for twenty years2 and every ,lord's day a little water came out of the rock1 so that he could drink and wash his hands2 and how after thirty years he had found these caves and that fountain1 and had fed for the last sixty years on nought but the water thereof4 ,for all the years of his life were #aej1 and henceforth he awaited the day of his judgment in that his flesh4 ,then they took of that water1 and received his blessing1 and kissed each other in the peace of ,christ1 and sailed southward3 but their food was the water from the isle of the man of ,god4 ,then 7as ,paul the ,hermit had foretold7 they came back on ,easter ,eve to the ,isle of ,sheep1 and to him who used to give them victuals2 and then went on to the fish ,jasconius1 and sang praises on his back all night1 and mass at morn4 ,after which the fish carried them on his back to the ,paradise of ,birds1 and there they stayed till ,pentecost4 ,then the man who always tended them1 bade them fill their skins from the fountain1 and he would lead them to the land promised to the saints4 ,and all the birds wished them a prosperous voyage in ,god's name2 and they sailed away1 with forty days' provision1 the man being their guide1 till after forty days they came at evening to a great darkness which lay round the ,promised ,land4 ,but after they had sailed through it for an hour1 a great light shone round them1 and the boat stopped at a shore4 ,and when they landed they saw a spacious land1 full of trees bearing fruit as in autumn time4 ,and they walked about that land for forty days1 eating of the fruit and drinking of the fountains1 and found no end thereof4 ,and there was no night there1 but the light shone like the light of the sun4 ,at last they came to a great river1 which they could not cross1 so that they could not find out the extent of that land4 ,and as they were pondering over this1 a youth1 with shining face and fair to look upon1 met them1 and kissed them with great joy1 calling them each by his name1 and said1 8,brethren1 peace be with you1 and with all that follow the peace of ,christ40 ,and after that1 8,blessed are they who dwell in thy house1 ,o ,lord2 they shall be for ever praising thee40 ,then he told ,st4 ,brendan that that was the land which he had been seeking for seven years1 and that he must now return to his own country1 taking of the fruits of that land1 and of its precious gems1 as much as his ship could carry2 for the days of his departure were at hand1 when he should sleep in peace with his holy brethren4 ,but after many days that land should be revealed to his successors1 and should be a refuge for ,christians in persecution4 ,as for the river that they saw1 it parted that island2 and the light shone there for ever1 because ,christ was the light thereof4 ,then ,st4 ,brendan asked if that land would ever be revealed to men3 and the youth answered1 that when the most high ,creator should have put all nations under his feet1 then that land should be manifested to all his elect4 ,after which ,st4 ,brendan1 when the youth had blessed him1 took of the fruits and of the gems1 and sailed back through the darkness1 and returned to his monastery2 whom when the brethren saw1 they glorified ,god for the miracles which he had heard and seen4 ,after which he ended his life in peace4 ,amen4 ,here ends 7says the ,french version7 concerning ,st4 ,brendan1 and the marvels which he found in the sea of ,ireland4 ,,st4 ,,malo ,,intermingled1 fantastically and inconsistently1 with the story of ,st4 ,brendan1 is that of ,st4 ,maclovius or ,machutus1 who has given his name to the seaport of ,st4 ,malo1 in ,brittany4 ,his life1 written by ,sigebert1 a monk of ,gembloux1 about the year #aajj1 tells us how he was a ,breton1 who sailed with ,st4 ,brendan in search of the fairest of all islands1 in which the citizens of heaven were said to dwell4 ,with ,st4 ,brendan ,st4 ,malo celebrated ,easter on the whale's back1 and with ,st4 ,brendan he returned4 ,but another old hagiographer1 ,johannes ,bosco1 tells a different story1 making ,st4 ,malo an ,irishman brought up by ,st4 ,brendan1 and preserved by his prayers from a wave of the sea4 ,he gives1 moreover1 to the ,isle of ,paradise the name of ,inga1 and says that ,st4 ,brendan and his companions never reached it after all1 but came home after sailing round the ,orkneys and other ,northern isles4 ,the fact is1 that the same saints reappear so often on both sides of the ,british and the ,irish ,channels1 that we must take the existence of many of them as mere legend1 which has been carried from land to land by monks in their migrations1 and taken root upon each fresh soil which it has reached4 ,one incident in ,st4 ,malo's voyage is so fantastic1 and so grand likewise1 that it must not be omitted4 ,the monks come to an island whereon they find the barrow of some giant of old time4 ,st4 ,malo1 seized with pity for the lost soul of the heathen1 opens the mound and raises the dead to life4 ,then follows a strange conversation between the giant and the saint4 ,he was slain1 he says1 by his kinsmen1 and ever since has been tormented in the other world4 ,in that nether pit they know 7he says7 of the ,holy ,trinity3 but that knowledge is rather harm than gain to them1 because they did not choose to know it when alive on earth4 ,therefore he begs to be baptized1 and so delivered from his pain4 ,he is therefore instructed1 catechised1 and in due time baptized1 and admitted to the ,holy ,communion4 ,for fifteen days more he remains alive3 and then1 dying once more1 is again placed in his sepulchre1 and left in peace4 ,from fragmentary recollections of such tales as these 7it may be observed in passing7 may have sprung the strange fancy of the modern ,cornishmen1 which identifies these very ,celtic saints of their own race with the giants who1 according to ,geoffrey of ,monmouth1 inhabited the land before ,brutus and his ,trojans founded the ,arthuric dynasty4 ,st4 ,just1 for instance1 who is one of the guardian saints of the ,land's ,end1 and ,st4 ,kevern1 one of the guardian saints of the ,lizard1 are both giants2 and ,cornishmen a few years since would tell how ,st4 ,just came from his hermitage by ,cape ,cornwall to visit ,st4 ,kevern in his cave on the east side of ,goonhilly ,downs2 and how they took the ,holy ,communion together2 and how ,st4 ,just1 tempted by the beauty of ,st4 ,kevern's paten and chalice1 arose in the night and fled away with the holy vessels1 wading first the ,looe ,pool1 and then ,mount's ,bay itself2 and how ,st4 ,kevern pursued him1 and hurled after him three great boulders of porphyry1 two of which lie on the slates and granites to this day2 till ,st4 ,just1 terrified at the might of his saintly brother1 tossed the stolen vessels ashore opposite ,st4 ,michael's ,mount1 and1 fleeing back to his own hermitage1 never appeared again in the neighbourhood of ,st4 ,kevern4 ,but to return4 ,st4 ,malo1 coming home with ,st4 ,brendan1 craves for peace1 and solitude1 and the hermit's cell1 and goes down to the sea-shore1 to find a vessel which may carry him out once more into the infinite unknown4 ,then there comes by a boat with no one in it but a little boy1 who takes him on board1 and carries him to the isle of the hermit ,aaron1 near the town of ,aletha1 which men call ,st4 ,malo now2 and then the little boy vanishes away1 and ,st4 ,malo knows that he was ,christ himself4 ,there he lives with ,aaron1 till the ,bretons of the neighbourhood make him their bishop4 ,he converts the idolaters around1 and performs the usual miracles of hermit saints4 ,he changes water into wine1 and restores to life not only a dead man1 but a dead sow likewise1 over whose motherless litter a wretched slave1 who has by accident killed the sow with a stone1 is weeping and wringing his hands in dread of his master's fury4 ,while ,st4 ,malo is pruning vines1 he lays his cape upon the ground1 and a redbreast comes and lays an egg on it4 ,he leaves it there1 for the bird's sake1 till the young are hatched1 knowing1 says his biographer1 that without ,god the ,father not a sparrow falls to the ground4 ,hailoch1 the prince of ,brittany1 destroys his church1 and is struck blind4 ,restored to sight by the saint1 he bestows large lands on the ,church4 8,the impious generation10 who1 with their children after them1 have lost their property by ,hailoch's gift1 rise against ,st4 ,malo4 ,they steal his horses1 and in mockery leave him only a mare4 ,they beat his baker1 tie his feet under the horse's body1 and leave him on the sand to be drowned by the rising tide4 ,the sea by a miracle stops a mile off1 and the baker is saved4 ,st4 ,malo1 weary of the wicked ,bretons1 flees to ,saintonge in ,aquitaine1 where he performs yet more miracles4 ,meanwhile1 a dire famine falls on the ,bretons1 and a thousand horrible diseases4 ,penitent1 they send for ,st4 ,malo1 who delivers them and their flocks4 ,but1 at the command of an angel1 he returns to ,saintonge and dies there1 and ,saintonge has his relics1 and the innumerable miracles which they work1 even to the days of ,sigebert1 of ,gembloux4 ,,st4 ,,columba ,,the famous ,st4 ,columba cannot perhaps be numbered among the hermits3 but as the spiritual father of many hermits1 as well as many monks1 and as one whose influence upon the ,christianity of these islands is notorious and extensive1 he must needs have some notice in these pages4 ,those who wish to study his life and works at length will of course read ,dr4 ,reeves's invaluable edition of ,adamnan4 ,the more general reader will find all that he need know in ,mr4 ,hill ,burton's excellent 8,history of ,scotland10 chapters vii4 and viii42 and also in ,mr4 ,maclear's 8,history of ,christian ,missions during the ,middle ,ages0--a book which should be in every ,sunday library4 ,st4 ,columba1 like ,st4 ,david and ,st4 ,cadoc of ,wales1 and like many great ,irish saints1 is a prince and a statesman as well as a monk4 ,he is mixed up in quarrels between rival tribes4 ,he is concerned1 according to antiquaries1 in three great battles1 one of which sprang1 according to some1 from ,columba's own misdeeds4 ,he copies by stealth the ,psalter of ,st4 ,finnian4 ,st4 ,finnian demands the copy1 saying it was his as much as the original4 ,the matter is referred to ,king ,dermod1 who pronounces1 in high court at ,tara1 the famous decision which has become a proverb in ,ireland1 that 8to every cow belongs her own calf40 #bhc ,st4 ,columba1 who does not seem at this time to have possessed the dove-like temper which his name1 according to his disciples1 indicates1 threatens to avenge upon the king his unjust decision4 ,the son of the king's steward and the son of the ,king of ,connaught1 a hostage at ,dermod's court1 are playing hurley on the green before ,dermod's palace4 ,the young prince strikes the other boy1 kills him1 and flies for protection to ,columba4 ,he is nevertheless dragged away1 and slain upon the spot4 ,columba leaves the palace in a rage1 goes to his native mountains of ,donegal1 and returns at the head of an army of northern and western ,irish to fight the great battle of ,cooldrevny in ,sligo4 ,but after a while public opinion turns against him2 and at the ,synod of ,teltown1 in ,meath1 it is proclaimed that ,columba1 the man of blood1 shall quit ,ireland1 and win for ,christ out of heathendom as many souls as have perished in that great fight4 ,then ,columba1 with twelve comrades1 sails in a coracle for the coast of ,argyleshire2 and on the eve of ,pentecost1 ,a4,d4 #efc1 lands upon that island which1 it may be1 will be famous to all times as ,iona1 ,hy1 or ,icolumkill1--,hy of ,columb of the ,cells4 ,thus had ,columba1 if the tale be true1 undertaken a noble penance2 and he performed it like a noble man4 ,if1 according to the fashion of those times1 he bewailed his sins with tears1 he was no morbid or selfish recluse1 but a man of practical power1 and of wide humanity4 ,like one of ,homer's old heroes1 ,st4 ,columba could turn his hand to every kind of work4 ,he could turn the hand-mill1 work on the farm1 heal the sick1 and command as a practised sailor the little fleet of coracles which lay hauled up on the strand of ,iona1 ready to carry him and his monks on their missionary voyages to the mainland or the isles4 ,tall1 powerful1 handsome1 with a face which1 as ,adamnan said1 made all who saw him glad1 and a voice so stentorian that it could be heard at times a full mile off1 and coming too of royal race1 it is no wonder if he was regarded as a sort of demigod1 not only by his own monks1 but by the ,pictish chiefs to whom he preached the ,cross4 ,we hear of him at ,craig ,phadrick1 near ,inverness2 at ,skye1 at ,tiree1 and other islands2 we hear of him receiving visits from his old monks of ,derry and ,durrow2 returning to ,ireland to decide between rival chiefs2 and at last dying at the age of seventy-seven1 kneeling before the altar in his little chapel of ,iona--a death as beautiful as had been the last thirty-four years of his life2 and leaving behind him disciples destined to spread the light of ,christianity over the whole of ,scotland and the northern parts of ,england4 ,st4 ,columba1 at one period or other of his life1 is said to have visited a missionary hermit1 whose name still lingers in ,scotland as ,st4 ,kentigern1 or more commonly ,st4 ,mungo1 the patron saint of ,glasgow4 ,the two men1 it is said 7but the story belongs to the twelfth century1 and can hardly be depended on71 exchanged their crooked staves or crosiers in token of ,christian brotherhood1 and that which ,st4 ,columba is said to have given to ,st4 ,kentigern was preserved in ,ripon ,cathedral to the beginning of the fifteenth century4 ,but who ,st4 ,kentigern was1 or what he really did1 is hard to say2 for all his legends1 like most of these early ones1 are as tangled as a dream4 ,he dies in the year #fja3 and yet he is the disciple of the famous ,st4 ,servanus or ,st4 ,serf1 who lived in the times of ,st4 ,palladius and ,st4 ,patrick1 #ahj years before4 ,this ,st4 ,serf is a hermit of the true old type2 and even if his story be1 as ,dr4 ,reeves thinks1 a fabrication throughout1 it is at least a very early one1 and true to the ideal which had originated with ,st4 ,antony4 ,he is brought up in a monastery at ,culross3 he is tempted by the devil in a cave in the parish of ,dysart 7the ,desert71 in ,fifeshire1 which still retains that name4 ,the dmon1 fleeing from him1 enters an unfortunate man1 who is forthwith plagued with a wolfish appetite4 ,st4 ,serf cures him by putting his thumb into his mouth4 ,a man is accused of stealing and eating a lamb1 and denies the theft4 ,st4 ,serf1 however1 makes the lamb bleat in the robber's stomach1 and so substantiates the charge beyond all doubt4 ,he works other wonders2 among them the slaying of a great dragon in the place called 8,dunyne20 sails for the ,orkneys1 and converts the people there2 and vanishes thenceforth into the dream-land from which he sprung4 ,two great disciples he has1 ,st4 ,ternan and ,st4 ,kentigern2 mystery and miracle hang round the boyhood of the latter4 ,his father is unknown4 ,his mother is condemned to be cast from the rock of 8,dunpelder10 but is saved and absolved by a miracle4 ,before the eyes of the astonished ,picts1 she floats gently down through the air1 and arrives at the cliff foot unhurt4 ,st4 ,kentigern is thenceforth believed to be virgin-born1 and is reverenced as a miraculous being from his infancy4 ,he goes to school to the mythic ,st4 ,serf1 who calls him ,mungo1 or the ,beloved2 which name he bears in ,glasgow until this day4 ,his fellow-scholars envy his virtue and learning1 and try to ruin him with their master4 ,st4 ,serf has a pet robin1 which is wont to sit and sing upon his shoulder4 ,the boys pull off its head1 and lay the blame upon ,kentigern4 ,the saint comes in wrathful1 tawse in hand1 and ,kentigern is for the moment in serious danger2 but1 equal to the occasion then as afterwards1 he puts the robin's head on again1 sets it singing1 and amply vindicates his innocence4 ,to this day the robin figures in the arms of the good city of ,glasgow1 with the tree which ,st4 ,kentigern1 when his enemies had put out his fire1 brought in from the frozen forest and lighted with his breath1 and the salmon in whose mouth a ring which had been cast into the ,clyde had been found again by ,st4 ,kentigern's prophetic spirit4 ,the envy of his fellow-scholars1 however1 is too much for ,st4 ,kentigern's peace of mind4 ,he wanders away to the spot where ,glasgow city now stands1 lives in a rock hollowed out into a tomb1 is ordained by an ,irish bishop 7according to a ,celtic custom1 of which antiquaries have written learnedly and dubiously likewise71 and has ecclesiastical authority over all the ,picts from the ,frith of ,forth to the ,roman ,wall4 ,but all these stories1 as ,i said before1 are tangled as a dream2 for the twelfth century monks1 in their loyal devotion to the see of ,rome1 are apt to introduce again and again ecclesiastical customs which belonged to their own time1 and try to represent these primval saints as regular and well-disciplined servants of the ,pope4 ,it may be remarked that ,st4 ,serf is said to have come into a 8dysart0 or desert4 ,so did many monks of the school of ,st4 ,columba and his disciples1 who wished for a severer and a more meditative life than could be found in the busy society of a convent4 8,there was a #8disert1'0 says ,dr4 ,reeves1 8for such men to retire to1 besides the monastery of ,derry1 and another at ,iona itself1 situate near the shore in the low ground1 north of the ,cathedral1 as may be inferred from ,portandisiart1 the name of a little bay in this situation40 ,a similar 8disert0 or collection of hermit cells was endowed at ,cashel in #aaja2 and a 8disert columkill10 with two townland mills and a vegetable garden1 was endowed at ,kells1 at a somewhat earlier period1 for the use of 8devout pilgrims10 as those were called who left the society of men to worship ,god in solitude4 ,the ,venerable ,bede speaks of as many as three personages1 ,saxons by their names1 who in the ,isle of ,ireland led the 8,pilgrim0 or anchoritic life1 to obtain a country in heaven2 and tells of a ,drycthelm of the monastery at ,melrose1 who went into a secret dwelling therein to give himself more utterly to prayer1 and who used to stand for hours in the cold waters of the ,tweed1 as ,st4 ,godric did centuries afterwards in those of the ,wear4 ,solitaries1 8recluses10 are met with again and again in these old records1 who more than once became ,abbots of ,iona itself4 ,but there is no need to linger on over instances which are only quoted to show that some of the noblest spirits of the ,celtic ,church kept up wherever they could the hermit's ideal1 the longing for solitude1 for passive contemplation1 for silence and perpetual prayer1 which they had inherited from ,st4 ,antony and the ,fathers of the ,egyptian ,desert4 ,the same ideal was carried by them over the ,border into ,england4 ,off its extreme northern coast1 for instance1 nearly half-way between ,berwick and ,bamborough ,castle1 lies1 as travellers northward may have seen for themselves1 the 8,holy ,island10 called in old times ,lindisfarne4 ,a monk's chapel on that island was the mother of all the churches between ,tyne and ,tweed1 as well as of many between ,tyne and ,humber4 ,the ,northumbrians had been nominally converted1 according to ,bede1 ,a4,d4 #fbg1 under their ,king ,edwin1 by ,paulinus1 one of the ,roman monks who had followed in the steps of ,st4 ,augustine1 the apostle of ,kent4 ,evil times had fallen on them4 ,penda1 at the head of the idolatrous ,mercians 7the people of ,mid-,england71 and ,ceadwalla1 at the head of the ,western ,britons1 had ravaged the country north of ,tweed with savage cruelty1 slain ,king ,edwin1 at ,hatfield1 near ,doncaster1 and exterminated ,christianity2 while ,paulinus had fled to ,kent1 and become ,bishop of ,rochester4 ,the invaders had been driven out1 seemingly by ,oswald1 who knew enough of ,christianity to set up1 ere he engaged the enemy1 a cross of wood on the 8,heavenfield10 near ,hexham4 ,that cross stood till the time of ,bede1 some #aej years after2 and had become1 like ,moses' brazen serpent1 an object of veneration4 ,for if chips cut off from it were put into water1 that water cured men or cattle of their diseases4 ,oswald1 believing that it was through the mercy of him whom that cross symbolized he had conquered the ,mercians and the ,britons1 would needs reconvert his people to the true faith4 ,he had been in exile during ,edwin's lifetime among the ,scots1 and had learned from them something of ,christianity4 ,so out of ,iona a monk was sent to him1 ,aidan by name1 to be a bishop over the ,northumbrians2 and he settled himself upon the isle of ,lindisfarne1 and began to convert it into another ,iona4 8,a man he was10 says ,bede1 8of singular sweetness1 piety1 and moderation2 zealous in the cause of ,god1 though not altogether according to knowledge1 for he was wont to keep ,easter after the fashion of his country20 i4e4 of the ,picts and ,northern ,scots4 4 4 4 8,from that time forth many ,scots came daily into ,britain1 and with great devotion preached the word to these provinces of the ,english over whom ,king ,oswald reigned4 4 4 4 ,churches were built1 money and lands were given of the king's bounty to build monasteries2 the ,english1 great and small1 were by their ,scottish masters instructed in the rules and observance of regular discipline2 for most of those who came to preach were monks40 #bij ,so says the ,venerable ,bede1 the monk of ,jarrow1 and the father 7as he has been well called7 of ,english history4 ,he tells us too1 how ,aidan1 wishing1 it may be supposed1 for greater solitude1 went away and lived on the rocky isle of ,farne1 some two miles out at sea1 off ,bamborough ,castle2 and how1 when he saw ,penda and his ,mercians1 in a second invasion of ,northumbria1 trying to burn down the walls of ,bamborough--which were probably mere stockades of timber--he cried to ,god1 from off his rock1 to 8behold the mischief30 whereon the wind changed suddenly1 and blew the flames back on the besiegers1 discomfiting them1 and saving the town4 ,bede tells us1 too1 how ,aidan wandered1 preaching from place to place1 haunting ,king ,oswald's court1 but owning nothing of his own save his church1 and a few fields about it2 and how1 when death came upon him1 they set up a tent for him close by the wall at the west end of the church1 so that it befell that he gave up the ghost leaning against a post1 which stood outside to strengthen the wall4 ,a few years after1 ,penda came again and burned the village1 with the church2 and yet neither could that fire1 nor one which happened soon after1 destroy that post4 ,wherefore the post was put inside the church1 as a holy thing1 and chips of it1 like those of the ,cross of ,heaven ,field1 healed many folk of their distempers4 4 4 4 ,a tale at which we may look in two different humours4 ,we may pass it by with a sneer1 and a hypothesis 7which will be probably true7 that the post was of old heart-of-oak1 which is burnt with extreme difficulty2 or we may pause a moment in reverence before the noble figure of the good old man1 ending a life of unselfish toil without a roof beneath which to lay his head2 penniless and comfortless in this world3 but sure of his reward in the world to come4 ,a few years after ,aidan's death another hermit betook him to the rocks of ,farne1 who rose to far higher glory2 who became1 in fact1 the tutelar saint of the fierce ,northern men2 who was to them1 up to the time even of the ,tudor monarchs1 what ,pallas ,athene was to ,athens1 or ,diana to the ,ephesians4 ,st4 ,cuthbert's shrine1 in ,durham ,cathedral 7where his biographer ,bede also lay in honour71 was their rallying point1 not merely for ecclesiastical jurisdiction or for miraculous cures1 but for political movements4 ,above his shrine rose the noble pile of ,durham4 ,the bishop1 who ruled in his name1 was a ,count ,palatine1 and an almost independent prince4 ,his sacred banner went out to battle before the ,northern levies1 or drove back again and again the flames which consumed the wooden houses of ,durham4 ,his relics wrought innumerable miracles2 and often he himself appeared with long countenance1 ripened by abstinence1 his head sprinkled with grey hairs1 his casule of cloth of gold1 his mitre of glittering crystal1 his face brighter than the sun1 his eyes mild as the stars of heaven1 the gems upon his hand and robes rattling against his pastoral staff beset with pearls4 #bib ,thus glorious the demigod of the ,northern men appeared to his votaries1 and steered with his pastoral staff1 as with a rudder1 the sinking ship in safety to ,lindisfarne2 received from the hands of ,st4 ,brendan1 as from a saint of inferior powers1 the innocent yeoman1 laden with fetters1 whom he had delivered out of the dungeon of ,brancepeth1 and1 smiting asunder the massive ,norman walls1 led him into the forest1 and bade him flee to sanctuary in ,durham1 and be safe2 or visited the little timber vine-clad chapel of ,lixtune1 on the ,cheshire shore1 to heal the sick who watched all night before his altar1 or to forgive the lad who had robbed the nest which his sacred raven had built upon the roof1 and1 falling with the decayed timber1 had broken his bones1 and maimed his sacrilegious hand4 ,originally1 says ,bede1 a monk at ,melrose1 and afterward abbot of the same place1 he used to wander weeks together out of his monastery1 seemingly into ,ettrick and the ,lammermuirs1 and preach in such villages as 8being seated high up among craggy1 uncouth mountains1 were frightful to others even to look at1 and whose poverty and barbarity rendered them inaccessible to other teachers40 8,so skilful an orator was he1 so fond of enforcing his subject1 and such a brightness appeared in his angelic face1 that no man presumed to conceal from him the most hidden secrets of their hearts1 but all openly confessed what they had done40 ,so he laboured for many years1 till his old abbot ,eata1 who had become bishop and abbot at ,lindisfarne1 sent for him thither1 and made him prior of the monks for several years4 ,but at last he longed1 like so many before him1 for solitude4 ,he considered 7so he said afterwards to the brethren7 that the life of the disciplined and obedient monk was higher than that of the lonely and independent hermit3 but yet he longed to be alone2 longed1 it may be1 to recall at least upon some sea-girt rock thoughts which had come to him in those long wanderings on the heather moors1 with no sound to distract him save the hum of the bee and the wail of the curlew2 and so he went away to that same rock of ,farne1 where ,aidan had taken refuge some ten or fifteen years before1 and there1 with the deep sea rolling at his feet and the gulls wailing about his head1 he built himself one of those 8,picts' ,houses10 the walls of which remain still in many parts of ,scotland--a circular hut of turf and rough stone--and dug out the interior to a depth of some feet1 and thatched it with sticks and grass2 and made1 it seems1 two rooms within2 one for an oratory1 one for a dwelling-place3 and so lived alone1 and worshipped ,god4 ,he grew his scanty crops of barley on the rock 7men said1 of course1 by miracle73 he had tried wheat1 but1 as was to be expected1 it failed4 ,he found 7men said1 of course1 by miracle7 a spring upon the rock4 ,now and then brethren came to visit him4 ,and what did man need more1 save a clear conscience and the presence of his ,creator8 ,certainly not ,cuthbert4 ,when he asked the brethren to bring him a beam that he might prop up his cabin where the sea had eaten out the floor1 and when they forgot the commission1 the sea itself washed one up in the very cove where it was needed3 when the choughs from the cliff stole his barley and the straw from the roof of his little hospice1 he had only to reprove them1 and they never offended again2 on one occasion1 indeed1 they atoned for their offence by bringing him a lump of suet1 wherewith he greased his shoes for many a day4 ,we are not bound to believe this story2 it is one of many which hang about the memory of ,st4 ,cuthbert1 and which have sprung out of that love of the wild birds which may have grown up in the good man during his long wanderings through woods and over moors4 ,he bequeathed 7so it was believed7 as a sacred legacy to the wild-fowl of the ,farne islands1 8,st4 ,cuthbert's peace20 above all to the eider-ducks1 which swarmed there in his days1 but are now1 alas6 growing rarer and rarer1 from the intrusion of vulgar sportsmen who never heard ,st4 ,cuthbert's name1 or learnt from him to spare ,god's creatures when they need them not4 ,on ,farne1 in ,reginald's time1 they bred under your very bed1 got out of your way if you made a sign to them1 let you take up them or their young ones1 and nestled silently in your bosom1 and croaked joyfully with fluttering wings when stroked4 8,not to nature1 but to grace2 not to hereditary tendency1 but only to the piety and compassion of the blessed ,st4 ,cuthbert10 says ,reginald1 8is so great a miracle to be ascribed4 ,for the ,lord who made all things in heaven and earth has subjected them to the nod of his saints1 and prostrated them under the feet of obedience40 ,insufficient induction 7the cause of endless mistakes1 and therefore of endless follies and crimes7 kept ,reginald unaware of the now notorious fact that the female eider1 during the breeding season1 is just as tame1 allowing for a little exaggeration1 as ,st4 ,cuthbert's own ducks are1 while the male eider is just as wild and wary as any other sea-bird3 a mistake altogether excusable in one who had probably never seen or heard of eider-ducks in any other spot4 ,it may be1 nevertheless1 that ,st4 ,cuthbert's special affection for the eider may have been called out by another strange and well-known fact about them of which ,reginald oddly enough takes no note--namely1 that they line their nests with down plucked from their own bosom2 thus realizing the fable which has made the pelican for so many centuries the type of the ,church4 ,it is a question1 indeed1 whether the pelican1 which is always represented in medival paintings and sculptures with a short bill1 instead of the enormous bill and pouch which is the especial mark of the 8,onocrotalus0 of the ancients1 now miscalled pelican1 be not actually the eider-duck itself1 confounded with the true pelecanus1 which was the medival1 and is still the scientific1 name of the cormorant4 ,be that as it may1 ill befell any one who dare touch one of ,st4 ,cuthbert's birds1 as was proved in the case of ,liveing1 servant to lric1 who was a hermit in ,farne after the time of ,st4 ,cuthbert4 ,for he1 tired it may be of barley and dried fish1 killed and ate an eider-duck in his master's absence1 scattering the bones and feathers over the cliffs4 ,but when the hermit came back1 what should he find but those same bones and feathers rolled into a lump and laid inside the door of the little chapel2 the very sea1 says ,reginald1 not having dared to swallow them up4 ,whereby the hapless ,liveing being betrayed1 was soundly flogged1 and put on bread and water for many a day2 the which story ,liveing himself told to ,reginald4 ,not only the eider1 but all birds in ,farne1 were protected by ,st4 ,cuthbert's peace4 ,bartholomew1 who was a famous hermit there in after years1 had a tame bird1 says the chronicler1 who ate from his hand1 and hopped about the table among him and his guests1 till some thought it a miracle2 and some1 finding1 no doubt1 the rocks of ,farne weary enough1 derived continual amusement from the bird4 ,but when he one day went off to another island1 and left his bird to keep the house1 a hawk came in and ate it up4 ,cuthbert1 who could not save the bird1 at least could punish the murderer4 ,the hawk flew round and round the island1 imprisoned1 so it was thought1 by some mysterious power1 till1 terrified and worn out1 it flew into the chapel1 and lay1 cowering and half dead1 in a corner by the altar4 ,bartholomew came back1 found his bird's feathers1 and the tired hawk4 ,but even the hawk must profit by ,st4 ,cuthbert's peace4 ,he took it up1 carried it to the harbour1 and there bade it depart in ,st4 ,cuthbert's name1 whereon it flew off free1 and was no more seen4 ,such tales as these may be explained1 even to their most minute details1 by simply natural causes3 and yet1 in this age of wanton destruction of wild birds1 one is tempted at moments to wish for the return of some such graceful and humane superstition which could keep down1 at least in the name of mercy and humanity1 the needless cruelty of man4 ,but to return4 ,after ,st4 ,cuthbert1 says ,bede1 had served ,god in the solitude of ,farne for many years1 the mound which encompassed his habitation being so high that he could see nothing from thence but heaven1 to which he so ardently aspired1 he was compelled by tears and entreaties--,king ,egfrid himself coming to the island1 with bishops and religious and great men--to become himself bishop in ,holy ,island4 ,there1 as elsewhere1 he did his duty4 ,but after two years he went again to ,farne1 knowing that his end was near4 ,for when1 in his episcopal labours1 he had gone across to ,lugubalia--old ,penrith1 in ,cumberland--there came across to him a holy hermit1 ,herebert by name1 who dwelt upon an island in ,derwentwater1 and talked with him a long while on heavenly things2 and ,cuthbert bade him ask him then all the questions which he wished to have resolved1 for they should see each other no more in this world4 ,herebert1 who seems to have been one of his old friends1 fell at ,cuthbert's feet1 and bade him remember that whenever he had done wrong he had submitted himself to him utterly1 and always tried to live according to his rules2 and all he wished for now was that1 as they had served ,god together upon earth1 they might depart for ever to see his bliss in heaven3 the which befell2 for a few months afterwards1 that is1 on the #bjth of ,march1 their souls quitted their mortal bodies on the same day1 and they were re-united in spirit4 ,st4 ,cuthbert wished to have been buried on his rock in ,farne3 but the brethren had persuaded him to allow his corpse to be removed to ,holy ,island4 ,he begged them1 said ,bede1 should they be forced to leave that place1 to carry his bones along with them2 and so they were forced to do at last2 for in the year #hge2 whilst the ,danes were struggling with ,alfred in ,wessex1 an army of them1 with ,halfdene at their head1 went up into ,northumbria1 burning towns1 destroying churches1 tossing children on their pike-points1 and committing all those horrors which made the ,norsemen terrible and infamous for so many years4 ,then the monks fled from the monastery1 bearing the shrine of ,st4 ,cuthbert1 and all their treasures1 and followed by their retainers1 men1 women1 and children1 and their sheep and oxen3 and behold6 the hour of their flight was that of an exceedingly high spring tide4 ,the ,danes were landing from their ships in their rear2 in their front was some two miles of sea4 ,escape seemed hopeless2 when1 says the legend1 the water retreated before the holy relics as they advanced2 and became1 as to the children of ,israel of old1 a wall on their right hand and on their left2 and so ,st4 ,cuthbert came safe to shore1 and wandered in the woods1 borne upon his servants' shoulders1 and dwelling in tents for seven years1 and found rest at last in ,durham1 till at the ,reformation his shrine1 and that of the ,venerable ,bede1 were robbed of their gold and jewels2 and no trace of them 7as far as ,i know7 is left1 save that huge slab1 whereon is written the monkish rhyme3-- ,hic jacet in foss ,bed ,venerabilis ossa4 #bii ,,st4 ,,guthlac ,,hermits dwelling in the wilderness1 as far as ,i am aware1 were to be seen only in the northern and western parts of the island1 where not only did the forest afford concealment1 but the crags and caves shelter4 ,the southern and eastern ,english seldom possess the vivid imagination of the ,briton1 the ,northumbrian1 and the ,scot2 while the rich lowlands of central1 southern1 and eastern ,england1 well peopled and well tilled1 offered few spots lonely enough for the hermit's cell4 ,one district only was desolate enough to attract those who wished to be free from the world1--namely1 the great fens north of ,cambridge2 and there1 accordingly1 as early as the seventh century1 hermits settled in morasses now so utterly transformed that it is difficult to restore in one's imagination the original scenery4 ,the fens in the seventh century were probably very like the forests at the mouth of the ,mississippi1 or the swampy shores of the ,carolinas4 ,their vast plain is now1 in summer1 one sea of golden corn2 in winter1 a black dreary fallow1 cut into squares by stagnant dykes1 and broken only by unsightly pumping mills and doleful lines of poplar-trees4 ,of old it was a labyrinth of black wandering streams2 broad lagoons2 morasses submerged every spring-tide2 vast beds of reed and sedge and fern2 vast copses of willow1 alder1 and grey poplar1 rooted in the floating peat1 which was swallowing up slowly1 all-devouring1 yet all-preserving1 the forests of fir and oak1 ash and poplar1 hazel and yew1 which had once grown on that low1 rank soil1 sinking slowly 7so geologists assure us7 beneath the sea from age to age4 ,trees1 torn down by flood and storm1 floated and lodged in rafts1 damming the waters back upon the land4 ,streams1 bewildered in the flats1 changed their channels1 mingling silt and sand with the peat moss4 ,nature1 left to herself1 ran into wild riot and chaos more and more1 till the whole fen became one 8,dismal ,swamp10 in which1 at the time of the ,norman ,conquest1 the 8,last of the ,english10 like ,dred in ,mrs4 ,stowe's tale1 took refuge from their tyrants1 and lived1 like him1 a free and joyous life awhile4 ,for there are islands in the sea which have escaped the destroying deluge of peat-moss1--outcrops of firm and fertile land1 which in the early ,middle ,age were so many natural parks1 covered with richest grass and stateliest trees1 swarming with deer and roe1 goat and boar1 as the streams around swarmed with otter and beaver1 and with fowl of every feather1 and fish of every scale4 ,beautiful after their kind were those far isles in the eyes of the monks who were the first settlers in the wilderness4 ,the author of the 8,history of ,ramsey0 grows enthusiastic1 and somewhat bombastic also1 as he describes the lovely isle1 which got its name from the solitary ram who had wandered thither1 either in extreme drought or over the winter ice1 and1 never able to return1 was found feeding among the wild deer1 fat beyond the wont of rams4 ,he tells of the stately ashes1 most of them cut in his time1 to furnish mighty beams for the church roof2 of the rich pastures painted with all gay flowers in spring2 of the 8green crown0 of reed and alder which encircled the isle2 of the fair wide mere 7now drained7 with its 8sandy beach0 along the forest side2 8a delight10 he says1 8to all who look thereon40 ,in like humour ,william of ,malmesbury1 writing in the first half of the twelfth century1 speaks of ,thorney ,abbey and its isle4 8,it represents10 says he1 8a very paradise2 for that in pleasure and delight it resembles heaven itself4 ,these marshes abound in trees1 whose length1 without a knot1 doth emulate the stars4 ,the plain there is as level as the sea1 alluring the eye with its green grass1 and so smooth that there is nought to trip the foot of him who runs through it4 ,neither is there any waste place2 for in some parts are apples1 in others vines1 which are either spread on the ground1 or raised on poles4 ,a mutual strife there is between ,nature and ,art2 so that what one produces not the other supplies4 ,what shall ,i say of those fair buildings1 which 'tis so wonderful to see the ground among those fens upbear80 ,so wrote ,william of ,malmesbury1 after the industry and wisdom of the monks1 for more than four centuries1 had been at work to civilize and cultivate the wilderness4 ,yet even then there was another side to the picture2 and ,thorney1 ,ramsey1 or ,crowland would have seemed1 for nine months every year1 sad places enough to us comfortable folk of the nineteenth century4 ,but men lived hard in those days1 even the most high-born and luxurious nobles and ladies2 under dark skies1 in houses which we should think1 from darkness1 draught1 and want of space1 unfit for felons' cells4 ,hardly they lived2 and easily were they pleased2 and thanked ,god for the least gleam of sunshine1 the least patch of green1 after the terrible and long winters of the ,middle ,ages4 ,and ugly enough those winters must have been1 what with snow and darkness1 flood and ice1 ague and rheumatism2 while through the dreary winter's night the whistle of the wind and the wild cries of the waterfowl were translated into the howls of witches and dmons2 and 7as in ,st4 ,guthlac's case71 the delirious fancies of marsh fever made those fiends take hideous shapes before the inner eye1 and act fantastic horrors round the fen-man's bed of sedge4 ,concerning this ,st4 ,guthlac full details remain1 both in ,latin and ,anglo-,saxon2 the author of the original document professing to be one ,felix1 a monk of ,ramsey near by1 who wrote possibly as early as the eighth century4 #cjc ,there we may read how the young warrior-noble ,guthlac 78,the ,battle-,play10 the 8,sport of ,war071 tired of slaying and sinning1 bethought him to fulfil the prodigies seen at his birth2 how he wandered into the fen1 where one ,tatwin 7who after became a saint likewise7 took him in his canoe to a spot so lonely as to be almost unknown1 buried in reeds and alders1 and how he found among the trees nought but an old 8law10 as the ,scots still call a mound1 which men of old had broken into seeking for treasure1 and a little pond2 and how he built himself a hermit's cell thereon1 and saw visions and wrought miracles2 and how men came to him1 as to a fakir or shaman of the ,east2 notably one ,beccel1 who acted as his servant2 and how as ,beccel was shaving the saint one day there fell on him a great temptation3 ,why should he not cut ,st4 ,guthlac's throat1 and instal himself in his cell1 that he might have the honour and glory of sainthood8 ,but ,st4 ,guthlac perceived the inward temptation 7which is told with the nave honesty of those half-savage times71 and rebuked the offender into confession1 and all went well to the end4 ,there we may read1 too1 a detailed account of the ,fauna now happily extinct in the fens2 of the creatures who used to hale ,st4 ,guthlac out of his hut1 drag him through the bogs1 carry him aloft through frost and fire--8,develen and luther gostes0--such as tormented in like wise ,st4 ,botolph 7from whom ,botulfston ,boston1 has its name71 and who were supposed to haunt the meres and fens1 and to have an especial fondness for old heathen barrows with their fancied treasure-hoards3 how they 8filled the house with their coming1 and poured in on every side1 from above1 and from beneath1 and everywhere4 ,they were in countenance horrible1 and they had great heads1 and a long neck1 and a lean visage2 they were filthy and squalid in their beards1 and they had rough ears1 and crooked #8nebs1' and fierce eyes1 and foul mouths2 and their teeth were like horses' tusks2 and their throats were filled with flame1 and they were grating in their voice2 they had crooked shanks1 and knees big and great behind1 and distorted toes1 and cried hoarsely with their voices2 and they came with immoderate noise and immense horror1 that he thought that all between1 heaven and earth resounded with their voices4 4 4 4 ,and they tugged and led him out of the cot1 and led him to the swart fen1 and threw and sunk him in the muddy waters4 ,after that they brought him into the wild places of the wilderness1 among the thick beds of brambles1 that all his body was torn4 4 4 4 ,after that they took him and beat him with iron whips1 and after that they brought him on their creaking wings between the cold regions of the air40 ,but there are gentler and more human touches in that old legend4 ,you may read in it how all the wild birds of the fen came to ,st4 ,guthlac1 and he fed them after their kind2 how the ravens tormented him1 stealing letters1 gloves1 and what not1 from his visitors2 and then1 seized with compunction at his reproofs1 brought them back1 or hanged them on the reeds2 and how1 as ,wilfrid1 a holy visitant1 was sitting with him1 discoursing of the contemplative life1 two swallows came flying in1 and lifted up their song1 sitting now on the saint's hand1 now on his shoulder1 now on his knee2 and how1 when ,wilfrid wondered thereat1 ,guthlac made answer1 8,know you not that he who hath led his life according to ,god's will1 to him the wild beasts and the wild birds draw the more near80 ,after fifteen years of such a life1 in fever1 ague1 and starvation1 no wonder if ,st4 ,guthlac died4 ,they buried him in a leaden coffin 7a grand and expensive luxury in the seventh century7 which had been sent to him during his life by a ,saxon princess2 and then1 over his sacred and wonder-working corpse1 as over that of a ,buddhist saint1 there arose a chapel1 with a community of monks1 companies of pilgrims who came to worship1 sick who came to be healed2 till at last1 founded on great piles driven into the bog1 arose the lofty wooden ,abbey of ,crowland2 in 8sanctuary of the four rivers10 with its dykes1 parks1 vineyards1 orchards1 rich ploughlands1 from which1 in time of famine1 the monks of ,crowland fed all people of the neighbouring fens2 with its tower with seven bells1 which had not their like in ,england2 its twelve altars rich with the gifts of ,danish vikings and princes1 and even with twelve white bear-skins1 the gift of ,canute's self2 while all around were the cottages of the corrodiers1 or folk who1 for a corrody1 or life pittance from the abbey1 had given away their lands1 to the wrong and detriment of their heirs4 ,but within those four rivers1 at least1 were neither tyranny nor slavery4 ,those who took refuge in ,st4 ,guthlac's place from cruel lords must keep his peace toward each other1 and earn their living like honest men1 safe while they so did3 for between those four rivers ,st4 ,guthlac and his abbot were the only lords2 and neither summoner1 nor sheriff of the king1 nor armed force of knight or earl1 could enter--8the inheritance of the ,lord1 the soil of ,st4 ,mary and ,st4 ,bartholomew1 the most holy sanctuary of ,st4 ,guthlac and his monks2 the minister free from worldly servitude2 the special almshouse of most illustrious kings2 the sole refuge of any one in worldly tribulation2 the perpetual abode of the saints2 the possession of religious men1 specially set apart by the common council of the realm2 by reason of the frequent miracles of the holy confessor ,st4 ,guthlac1 an ever-fruitful mother of camphire in the vineyards of ,engedi2 and1 by reason of the privileges granted by the kings1 a city of grace and safety to all who repent40 ,does not all this sound like a voice from another planet8 ,it is all gone2 and it was good and right that it should go when it had done its work1 and that the civilization of the fen should be taken up and carried out by men like the good knight1 ,richard of ,rulos1 who1 two generations after the ,conquest1 marrying ,hereward's grand-daughter1 and becoming ,lord of ,deeping 7the deep meadow71 thought that he could do the same work from the hall of ,bourne as the monks did from their cloisters2 got permission from the ,crowland monks1 for twenty marks of silver1 to drain as much as he could of the common marshes2 and then shut out the ,welland by strong dykes1 built cottages1 marked out gardens1 and tilled fields1 till 8out of slough and bogs accursed he made a garden of pleasure40 ,yet one lasting work those monks of ,crowland seem to have done1 besides those firm dykes and rich corn-lands of the ,porsand1 which endure unto this day4 ,for within two generations of the ,norman conquest1 while the old wooden abbey1 destroyed by fire1 was being replaced by that noble pile of stone whose ruins are still standing1 the ,french abbot of ,crowland 7so runs the legend7 sent ,french monks to open a school under the new ,french donjon1 in the little ,roman town of ,grante-brigge2 whereby--so does all earnest work1 however mistaken1 grow and spread in this world1 infinitely and for ever--,st4 ,guthlac1 by his canoe-voyage into ,crowland ,island1 became the spiritual father of the ,university of ,cambridge in the old world2 and therefore of her noble daughter1 the ,university of ,cambridge1 in the new world which fen-men sailing from ,boston deeps colonized and ,christianized #hjj years after ,st4 ,guthlac's death4 ,,st4 ,,godric ,,of ,,finchale ,a ,,personage quite as interesting1 though not as famous1 as ,cuthbert or ,guthlac1 is ,st4 ,godric2 the hermit around whose cell rose the ,priory of ,finchale4 ,in a loop of the river ,wear1 near ,durham1 there settled in the days of ,bishop ,flambard1 between #ajii and #aabh1 a man whose parentage and history was for many years unknown to the good folks of the neighbourhood4 ,he had come1 it seems1 from a hermitage in ,eskdale1 in the parish of ,whitby1 whence he had been driven by the ,percys1 lords of the soil4 ,he had gone to ,durham1 become the doorkeeper of ,st4 ,giles's church1 and gradually learnt by heart 7he was no scholar7 the whole ,psalter4 ,then he had gone to ,st4 ,mary's church1 where 7as was the fashion of the times7 there was a children's school2 and1 listening to the little ones at their lessons1 picked up such hymns and prayers as he thought would suffice his spiritual wants4 ,and then1 by leave of the bishop1 he had gone away into the woods1 and devoted himself to the solitary life in ,finchale4 ,buried in the woods and crags of the 8,royal ,park10 as it was then called1 which swarmed with every kind of game1 there was a little flat meadow1 rough with sweet-gale and bramble and willow1 beside a teeming salmon-pool4 ,great wolves haunted the woods2 but ,godric cared nought for them2 and the shingles swarmed with snakes1--probably only the harmless collared snakes of wet meadows1 but reputed1 as all snakes are by the vulgar1 venomous3 but he did not object to become 8the companion of serpents and poisonous asps40 ,he handled them1 caressed them1 let them lie by the fire in swarms on winter nights1 in the little cave which he had hollowed in the ground and thatched with turf4 ,men told soon how the snakes obeyed him2 how two especially huge ones used to lie twined about his legs2 till after many years1 annoyed by their importunity1 he turned them all gently out of doors1 with solemn adjurations never to return1 and they1 of course1 obeyed4 ,his austerities knew no bounds4 ,he lived on roots and berries1 flowers and leaves2 and when the good folk found him out1 and put gifts of food near his cell1 he carried them up to the crags above1 and1 offering them solemnly up to the ,god who feeds the ravens when they call on him1 left them there for the wild birds4 ,he watched1 fasted1 and scourged himself1 and wore always a hair shirt and an iron cuirass4 ,he sat1 night after night1 even in mid-winter1 in the cold ,wear1 the waters of which had hollowed out a rock near by into a natural bath1 and afterwards in a barrel sunk in the floor of a little chapel of wattle1 which he built and dedicated to the blessed ,virgin ,mary4 ,he tilled a scrap of ground1 and ate the grain from it1 mingled with ashes4 ,he kept his food till it was decayed before he tasted it2 and led a life the records of which fill the reader with astonishment1 not only at the man's iron strength of will1 but at the iron strength of the constitution which could support such hardships1 in such a climate1 for a single year4 ,a strong and healthy man must ,godric have been1 to judge from the accounts 7there are two1 both written by eye-witnesses7 of his personal appearance--a man of great breadth of chest and strength of arm2 black-haired1 hook-nosed1 deep-browed1 with flashing grey eyes2 altogether a personable and able man1 who might have done much work and made his way in many lands4 ,but what his former life had been he would not tell4 ,mother-wit he had in plenty1 and showed insight into men and things which the monks of ,durham were ready enough to call the spirit of prophecy4 ,after awhile it was whispered that he wrought miraculous cures3 that even a bit of the bread which he was wont to eat had healed a sick woman2 that he fought with dmons in visible shape2 that he had seen 7just as one of the old ,egyptian hermits had seen7 a little black boy running about between two monks who had quarrelled and come to hard blows and bleeding faces because one of them had made mistakes in the evening service3 and1 in short1 there were attributed to him1 during his lifetime1 and by those who knew him well1 a host of wonders which would be startling and important were they not exactly the same as those which appear in the life of every hermit since ,st4 ,antony4 ,it is impossible to read the pages of ,reginald of ,durham 7for he1 the biographer of ,st4 ,cuthbert1 is also the biographer of ,st4 ,godric7 without feeling how difficult it is to obtain anything like the truth1 even from eye-witnesses1 if only men are 7as they were in those days7 in a state of religious excitement1 at a period of spiritual revivals4 ,the ignorant populace were ready to believe1 and to report1 anything of the ,fakeer of ,finchale4 ,the monks of ,durham were glad enough to have a wonder-working man belonging to them2 for ,ralph ,flambard1 in honour of ,godric1 had made over to them the hermitage of ,finchale1 with its fields and fisheries4 ,the lad who1 in after years1 waited on the hermit1 would have been ready enough to testify that his master saw dmons and other spiritual beings2 for he began to see them on his own account2 #cab fell asleep in the forest coming home from ,durham with some bottles2 was led in a vision by ,st4 ,john the ,baptist to the top of a hill1 and shown by him wonders unspeakable2 saw1 on another occasion1 a dmon in ,st4 ,godric's cell1 hung all over with bottles of different liquors1 offering them to the saint1 who bade the lad drive him out of the little chapel1 with a holy water sprinkle1 but not go outside it himself4 ,but the lad1 in the fury of successful pursuit1 overstepped the threshold2 whereon the dmon1 turning in self-defence1 threw a single drop of one of his liquors into the lad's mouth1 and vanished with a laugh of scorn4 ,the boy's face and throat swelled horribly for three days2 and he took care thenceforth to obey the holy man more strictly3 a story which ,i have repeated1 like the one before it1 only to show the real worth of the evidence on which ,reginald has composed his book4 ,ailred1 ,abbot of ,rievaux 7for ,reginald's book1 though dedicated to ,hugh ,pudsey1 his bishop1 was prompted by ,ailred7 was capable 7as his horrible story of the nun of ,watton proves7 of believing anything and everything which fell in with his fanatical1 though pious and gentle1 temper4 ,and here a few words must be said to persons with whose difficulties ,i deeply sympathise1 but from whose conclusions ,i differ utterly3 those1 namely1 who say that if we reject the miracles of these saints' lives1 we must reject also the miracles of the ,new ,testament4 ,the answer is1 as ,i believe1 that the ,apostles and ,evangelists were sane men3 men in their right minds1 wise1 calm2 conducting themselves 7save in the matter of committing sins7 like other human beings1 as befitted the disciples of that ,son of ,man who came eating and drinking1 and was therefore called by the ascetics of his time a gluttonous man1 and a wine-bibber3 whereas these monks were not 7as ,i have said elsewhere7 in their right minds at all4 ,this is1 or ought to be1 patent to any one who will compare the style of the ,apostles and ,evangelists with that of the monkish hagiologists4 ,the calm1 the simplicity1 the brevity1 the true grandeur of the former is sufficient evidence of their healthy-mindedness and their trustworthiness4 ,the affectation1 the self-consciousness1 the bombast1 the false grandeur of the latter is sufficient evidence that they are neither healthy-minded or trustworthy4 ,let students compare any passage of ,st4 ,luke or ,st4 ,john1 however surprising the miracle which it relates1 with ,st4 ,jerome's life of ,paul the ,first ,hermit1 or with that famous letter of his to ,eustochium1 which 7although historically important7 is unfit for the eyes of pure-minded readers and does not appear in this volume2 and let them judge for themselves4 ,let them compare1 again1 the opening sentences of the ,four ,gospels1 or of the ,acts of the ,apostles1 with the words with which ,reginald begins this life of ,st4 ,godric4 8,by the touch of the ,holy ,spirit's finger the chord of the harmonic human heart resounds melodiously4 ,for when the vein of the heart is touched by the grace of the ,holy ,spirit1 forthwith1 by the permirific sweetness of the harmony1 an exceeding operation of sacred virtue is perceived more manifestly to spring forth4 ,with this sweetness of spirit1 ,godric1 the man of ,god1 was filled from the very time of his boyhood1 and grew famous for many admirable works of holy work 7sic71 because the harmonic teaching of the ,holy ,spirit fired the secrets of his very bosom with a wondrous contact of spiritual grace30--and let them say1 after the comparison1 if the difference between the two styles is not that which exists between one of ,god's lilies1 fresh from the field1 and a tawdry bunch of artificial flowers8 ,but to return4 ,godric himself took part in the history of his own miracles and life4 ,it may be that he so overworked his brain that he believed that he was visited by ,st4 ,peter1 and taught a hymn by the blessed ,virgin ,mary1 and that he had taken part in a hundred other prodigies2 but the ,prologue to the ,harleian manuscript 7which the learned ,editor1 ,mr4 ,stevenson1 believes to be an early edition of ,reginald's own composition7 confesses that ,reginald1 compelled by ,ailred of ,rievaux1 tried in vain for a long while to get the hermit's story from him4 8,you wish to write my life80 he said4 8,know then that ,godric's life is such as this3--,godric1 at first a gross rustic1 an unclean liver1 an usurer1 a cheat1 a perjurer1 a flatterer1 a wanderer1 pilfering and greedy2 now a dead flea1 a decayed dog1 a vile worm1 not a hermit1 but a hypocrite2 not a solitary1 but a gad-about in mind2 a devourer of alms1 dainty over good things1 greedy and negligent1 lazy and snoring1 ambitious and prodigal1 one who is not worthy to serve others1 and yet every day beats and scolds those who serve him3 this1 and worse than this1 you may write of ,godric40 8,then he was silent as one indignant10 says ,reginald1 8and ,i went off in some confusion10 and the grand old man was left to himself and to his ,god4 ,the ecclesiastical ,boswell dared not mention the subject again to his hero for several years1 though he came after from ,durham to visit him1 and celebrate mass for him in his little chapel4 ,after some years1 however1 he approached the matter again2 and whether a pardonable vanity had crept over ,godric1 or whether he had begun at last to believe in his miracles1 or whether the old man had that upon his mind of which he longed to unburthen himself1 he began to answer questions1 and ,reginald delighted to listen and note down till he had finished1 he says1 that book of his life and miracles2 #caf and after a while brought it to the saint1 and falling on his knees1 begged him to bless1 in the name of ,god1 and for the benefit of the faithful1 the deeds of a certain religious man1 who had suffered much for ,god in this life which he 7,reginald7 had composed accurately4 ,the old man perceived that he himself was the subject1 blessed the book with solemn words 7what was written therein he does not seem to have read71 and bade ,reginald conceal it till his death1 warning him that a time would come when he should suffer rough and bitter things on account of that book1 from those who envied him4 ,that prophecy1 says ,reginald1 came to pass2 but how1 or why1 he does not tell4 ,there may have been1 among those shrewd ,northumbrian heads1 even then1 incredulous men1 who used their common sense4 ,but the story which ,godric told was wild and beautiful2 and though we must not depend too much on the accuracy of the old man's recollections1 or on the honesty of ,reginald's report1 who would naturally omit all incidents which made against his hero's perfection1 it is worth listening to1 as a vivid sketch of the doings of a real human being1 in that misty distance of the ,early ,middle ,age4 ,he was born1 he said1 at ,walpole1 in ,norfolk1 on the old ,roman sea-bank1 between the ,wash and the deep ,fens4 ,his father's name was ilward2 his mother's1 dwen--8the ,keeper of ,blessedness10 and 8the ,friend of ,blessedness10 as ,reginald translates them--poor and pious folk2 and1 being a sharp boy1 he did not take to field-work1 but preferred wandering the fens as a pedlar1 first round the villages1 then1 as he grew older1 to castles and to towns1 buying and selling--what1 ,reginald does not tell us3 but we should be glad to know4 ,one day he had a great deliverance1 which ,reginald thinks a miracle4 ,wandering along the great tide-flats near ,spalding and the old ,well-stream1 in search of waifs1 and strays1 of wreck or eatables1 he saw three porpoises stranded far out upon the banks4 ,two were alive1 and the boy took pity on them 7so he said7 and let them be3 but one was dead1 and off it 7in those days poor folks ate anything7 he cut as much flesh and blubber as he could carry1 and toiled back towards the high-tide mark4 ,but whether he lost his way among the banks1 or whether he delayed too long1 the tide came in on him up to his knees1 his waist1 his chin1 and at last1 at times1 over his head4 ,the boy made the sign of the cross 7as all men in danger did then7 and struggled on valiantly a full mile through the sea1 like a brave lad never loosening his hold of his precious porpoise-meat till he reached the shore at the very spot from which he had set out4 ,as he grew1 his pedlar journeys became longer4 ,repeating to himself1 as he walked1 the ,creeds and the ,lord's ,prayer--his only lore--he walked for four years through ,lindsey2 then went to ,st4 ,andrew's in ,scotland2 after that1 for the first time1 to ,rome4 ,then the love of a wandering sea life came on him1 and he sailed with his wares round the east coasts2 not merely as a pedlar1 but as a sailor himself1 he went to ,denmark and to ,flanders1 buying and selling1 till he owned 7in what port we are not told1 but probably in ,lynn or ,wisbeach7 half one merchant ship and the quarter of another4 ,a crafty steersman he was1 a wise weather-prophet1 a shipman stout in body and in heart1 probably such a one as ,chaucer tells us of #cej years after3-- 8--,a dagger hanging by a las hadde hee ,about his nekke under his arm adoun4 ,the hote summer hadde made his hewe al broun4 ,and certainly he was a good felaw2 ,full many a draught of wine he hadde draw1 ,from ,burdeaux ward1 while that the chapmen slepe1 ,of nice conscience took he no kepe4 ,if that he fought1 and hadde the higher hand1 ,by water he sent hem home to every land4 ,but of his craft to recken wel his tides1 ,his stremes and his strandes him besides1 ,his herberwe1 his mone1 and his lode manage1 ,there was none swiche1 from ,hull unto ,carthage4 ,hardy he was1 and wise1 ,i undertake3 ,with many a tempest hadde his berd be shake4 ,he knew wel alle the havens1 as they were1 ,from ,gotland to the ,cape de ,finisterre1 ,and every creke in ,bretagne and in ,spain40 ,but gradually there grew on the stout merchantman the thought that there was something more to be done in the world than making money4 ,he became a pious man after the fashion of those days4 ,he worshipped at the famous shrine of ,st4 ,andrew4 ,he worshipped1 too1 at ,st4 ,cuthbert's hermitage at ,farne1 and there1 he said afterwards1 he longed for the first time for the rest and solitude of the hermitage4 ,he had been sixteen years a seaman now1 with a seaman's temptations--it may be 7as he told ,reginald plainly7 with some of a seaman's vices4 ,he may have done things which lay heavy on his conscience4 ,but it was getting time to think about his soul4 ,he took the cross1 and went off to ,jerusalem1 as many a man did then1 under difficulties incredible1 dying1 too often1 on the way4 ,but ,godric not only got safe thither1 but went out of his way home by ,spain to visit the sanctuary of ,st4 ,james of ,compostella1 a see which ,pope ,calixtus ,,ii4 had just raised to metropolitan dignity4 ,then he appears as steward to a rich man in the ,fens1 whose sons and young retainers1 after the lawless fashion of those ,anglo-,norman times1 rode out into the country round to steal the peasants' sheep and cattle1 skin them on the spot1 and pass them off to the master of the house as venison taken in hunting4 ,they ate and drank1 roystered and rioted1 like most other young ,normans2 and vexed the staid soul of ,godric1 whose nose told him plainly enough1 whenever he entered the kitchen1 that what was roasting had never come off a deer4 ,in vain he protested and warned them1 getting only insults for his pains4 ,at last he told his lord4 ,the lord1 as was to be expected1 cared nought about the matter4 ,let the lads rob the ,english villains3 for what other end had their grandfathers conquered the land8 ,godric punished himself1 as he could not punish them1 for the unwilling share which he had had in the wrong4 ,it may be that he1 too1 had eaten of that stolen food4 ,so away he went into ,france1 and down the ,rhone1 on pilgrimage to the hermitage of ,st4 ,giles1 the patron saint of the wild deer2 and then on to ,rome a second time1 and back to his poor parents in the ,fens4 ,and now follows a strange and beautiful story4 ,all love of seafaring and merchandise had left the deep-hearted sailor4 ,the heavenly and the eternal1 the salvation of his sinful soul1 had become all in all to him2 and yet he could not rest in the little dreary village on the ,roman bank4 ,he would go on pilgrimage again4 ,then his mother would go likewise1 and see ,st4 ,peter's church1 and the ,pope1 and all the wonders of ,rome1 and have her share in all the spiritual blessings which were to be obtained 7so men thought then7 at ,rome alone4 ,so off they set on foot2 and when they came to ford or ditch1 ,godric carried his mother on his back1 until they came to ,london town4 ,and there dwen took off her shoes1 and vowed out of devotion to the holy apostles ,peter and ,paul 7who1 so she thought1 would be well pleased at such an act7 to walk barefoot to ,rome and barefoot back again4 ,now just as they went out of ,london1 on the ,dover ,road1 there met them in the way the loveliest maiden they had ever seen1 and asked to bear them company in their pilgrimage4 ,and when they agreed1 she walked with them1 sat with them1 and talked with them with superhuman courtesy and grace2 and when they turned into an inn1 she ministered to them herself1 and washed and kissed their feet1 and then lay down with them to sleep1 after the simple fashion of those days4 ,but a holy awe of her1 as of some saint and goddess1 fell on the wild seafarer2 and he never1 so he used to aver1 treated her for a moment save as a sister4 ,never did either ask the other who they were1 and whence they came2 and ,godric reported 7but this was long after the event7 that no one of the company of pilgrims could see that fair maid1 save he and his mother alone4 ,so they came safe to ,rome1 and back to ,london town2 and when they were at the place outside ,southwark1 where the fair maid had met them first1 she asked permission to leave them1 for she 8must go to her own land1 where she had a tabernacle of rest1 and dwelt in the house of her ,god40 ,and then1 bidding them bless ,god1 who had brought them safe over the ,alps1 and across the sea1 and all along that weary road1 she went on her way1 and they saw her no more4 ,then with this fair mysterious face clinging to his memory1 and it may be never leaving it1 ,godric took his mother safe home1 and delivered her to his father1 and bade them both after awhile farewell1 and wandered across ,england to ,penrith1 and hung about the churches there1 till some kinsmen of his recognised him1 and gave him a psalter 7he must have taught himself to read upon his travels71 which he learnt by heart4 ,then1 wandering ever in search of solitude1 he went into the woods and found a cave1 and passed his time therein in prayer1 living on green herbs and wild honey1 acorns and crabs2 and when he went about to gather food1 he fell down on his knees every few yards and said a prayer1 and rose and went on4 ,after awhile he wandered on again1 until at ,wolsingham1 in ,durham1 he met with another holy hermit1 who had been a monk at ,durham1 living in a cave in forests in which no man dare dwell1 so did they swarm with packs of wolves2 and there the two good men dwelt together till the old hermit fell sick1 and was like to die4 ,godric nursed him1 and sat by him1 to watch for his last breath4 ,for the same longing had come over him which came over ,marguerite d',angoulme when she sat by the dying bed of her favourite maid of honour--to see if the spirit1 when it left the body1 were visible1 and what kind of thing it was3 whether1 for instance1 it was really like the little naked babe which is seen in medival illuminations flying out of the mouths of dying men4 ,but1 worn out with watching1 ,godric could not keep from sleep4 ,all but despairing of his desire1 he turned to the dying man1 and spoke1 says ,reginald1 some such words as these3--8,o spirit6 who art diffused in that body in the likeness of ,god1 and art still inside that breast1 ,i adjure thee by the ,highest1 that thou leave not the prison of this thine habitation while ,i am overcome by sleep1 and know not of it40 ,and so he fell asleep3 but when he woke1 the old hermit lay motionless and breathless4 ,poor ,godric wept1 called on the dead man1 called on ,god2 his simple heart was set on seeing this one thing4 ,and1 behold1 he was consoled in a wondrous fashion4 ,for about the third hour of the day the breath returned4 ,godric hung over him1 watching his lips4 ,three heavy sighs he drew1 then a shudder1 another sigh3 #cbc and then 7so ,godric was believed to have said in after years7 he saw the spirit flit4 ,what it was like1 he did not like to say1 for the most obvious reason--that he saw nothing1 and was an honest man4 ,a monk teased him much to impart to him this great discovery1 which seemed to the simple untaught sailor a great spiritual mystery1 and which was1 like some other medival mysteries which were miscalled spiritual 7transubstantiation above all71 altogether material and gross imaginations4 ,godric answered wisely enough1 that 8no man could perceive the substance of the spiritual soul40 ,but the monk insisting1 and giving him no rest1 he answered1--whether he wished to answer a fool according to his folly1 or whether he tried to fancy 7as men will who are somewhat vain--and if a saint was not vain1 it was no fault of the monks who beset him7 that he had really seen something4 ,he told how it was like a dry1 hot wind rolled into a sphere1 and shining like the clearest glass1 but that what it was really like no one could express4 ,thus much1 at least1 may be gathered from the involved bombast of ,reginald4 ,another pilgrimage to the ,holy ,sepulchre did ,godric make before he went to the hermitage in ,eskdale1 and settled finally at ,finchale4 ,and there about the hills of ,juda he found1 says ,reginald1 hermits dwelling in rock-caves1 as they had dwelt since the time of ,st4 ,jerome4 ,he washed himself1 and his hair shirt and little cross1 in the sacred waters of the ,jordan1 and returned1 after incredible suffering1 to become the saint of ,finchale4 ,his hermitage became1 in due time1 a stately priory1 with its community of monks1 who looked up to the memory of their holy father ,godric as to that of a demigod4 ,the place is all ruinate now2 the memory of ,st4 ,godric gone2 and not one in ten thousand1 perhaps1 who visit those crumbling walls beside the rushing ,wear1 has heard of the sailor-saint1 and his mother1 and that fair maid who tended them on their pilgrimage4 ,meanwhile there were hermits for many years in that same hermitage in ,eskdale1 from which a ,percy expelled ,st4 ,godric1 possibly because he interfered with the prior claim of some protg of their own2 for they had1 a few years before ,godric's time1 granted that hermitage to the monks of ,whitby1 who were not likely to allow a stranger to establish himself on their ground4 ,about that hermitage hung one of those stories so common in the ,middle ,ages1 in which the hermit appears as the protector of the hunted wild beast2 a story1 too1 which was probably authentic1 as the curious custom which was said to perpetuate its memory lasted at least till the year #agec4 ,i quote it at length from ,burton's 8,monasticon ,eboracense10 p4 #gh1 knowing no other authority4 8,in the fifth year of the reign of ,king ,henry ,,ii4 after the conquest of ,england by ,william1 duke of ,normandy1 the ,lord of ,uglebardby1 then called ,william de ,bruce1 and the ,lord of ,sneton1 called ,ralph de ,perci1 with a gentleman and a freeholder called ,allatson1 did on the #afth day of ,october appoint to meet and hunt the wild boar1 in a certain wood or desert place belonging to the abbot of the monastery of ,whitby2 the place's name is ,eskdale-side2 the abbot's name was ,sedman4 ,then these gentlemen being met1 with their hounds and boar-staves1 in the place before-named1 and there having found a great wild boar1 the hounds ran him well near about the chapel and hermitage of ,eskdale-side1 where was a monk of ,whitby1 who was a hermit4 ,the boar being very sore1 and very hotly pursued1 and dead run1 took in at the chapel door1 and there died3 whereupon the hermit shut the hounds out of the chapel1 and kept himself within at his meditations and prayers1 the hounds standing at bay without4 ,the gentlemen in the thick of the wood1 being put behind their game1 followed the cry of their hounds1 and so came to the hermitage1 calling on the hermit1 who opened the door and came forth1 and within they found the boar lying dead1 for which the gentlemen in very great fury 7because their hounds were put from their game7 did most violently and cruelly run at the hermit with their boar-staves1 whereby he died soon after3 thereupon the gentlemen1 perceiving and knowing that they were in peril of death1 took sanctuary at ,scarborough4 ,but at that time the abbot1 being in very great favour with ,king ,henry1 removed them out of the sanctuary1 whereby they came in danger of the law1 and not to be privileged1 but likely to have the severity of the law1 which was death4 ,but the hermit1 being a holy and devout man1 at the point of death sent for the abbot1 and desired him to send for the gentlemen who had wounded him3 the abbot so doing1 the gentlemen came1 and the hermit1 being very sick and weak1 said unto them1 #8,i am sure to die of those wounds you have given me4' ,the abbot answered1 #8,they shall as surely die for the same2' but the hermit answered1 #8,not so1 for ,i will freely forgive them my death1 if they will be contented to be enjoined this penance for the safeguard of their souls4' ,the gentlemen being present1 and terrified with the fear of death1 bade him enjoin what penance he would1 so that he would but save their lives4 ,then said the hermit1 #8,you and yours shall hold your lands of the ,abbot of ,whitby and his successors in this manner3 ,that upon ,ascension ,eve1 you or some of you shall come to the woods of the ,strag ,heads1 which is in ,eskdale-side1 the same day at sun-rising1 and there shall the abbot's officer blow his horn1 to the intent that you may know how to find him2 and he shall deliver unto you1 ,william de ,bruce1 ten stakes1 eleven strut-towers1 and eleven yethers1 to be cut by you or some for you1 with a knife of one penny price2 and you1 ,ralph de ,perci1 shall take twenty and one of each sort1 to be cut in the same manner2 and you1 ,allatson1 shall take nine of each sort1 to be cut as aforesaid1 and to be taken on your backs1 and carried to the town of ,whitby1 and to be there before nine of the clock the same day before-mentioned2 at the same hour of nine of the clock 7if it be full sea7 your labour or service shall cease2 but if it be not full sea1 each of you shall set your stakes at the brim1 each stake one yard from the other1 and so yether them on each side of your yethers1 and so stake on each side with your strut-towers1 that they may stand three tides without removing by the force thereof3 each of you shall do1 make1 and execute the said service at that very hour every year1 except it shall be full sea at that hour3 but when it shall so fall out1 this service shall cease4 ,you shall faithfully do this in remembrance that you did most cruelly slay me2 and that you may the better call to ,god for mercy1 repent unfeignedly for your sins1 and do good works1 the officers of ,eskdale-side shall blow1 ,out on you1 out on you1 out on you1 for this heinous crime4 ,if you or your successors shall refuse this service1 so long as it shall not be full sea at the aforesaid hour1 you or yours shall forfeit your lands to the ,abbot of ,whitby1 or his successors4 ,this ,i intreat1 and earnestly beg that you may have lives and goods preserved for this service2 and ,i request of you to promise by your parts in heaven that it shall be done by you and your successors1 as it is aforesaid requested1 and ,i will confirm it by the faith of an honest man4' ,then the hermit said3 #8,my soul longeth for the ,lord1 and ,i do as freely forgive these men my death as ,christ forgave the thieves upon the cross2' and in the presence of the abbot and the rest he said1 moreover1 these words3 #8,into thy hands1 ,o ,lord1 ,i commend my spirit1 for from the bonds of death ,thou hast redeemed me1 ,o ,lord of truth4 ,amen4' ,so he yielded up the ghost the eighth day of ,december1 ,a4,d4 #aafj1 upon whose soul ,god have mercy4 ,amen40 ,,anchorites1 ,,strictly ,,so ,,called ,,the fertile and peaceable lowlands of ,england1 as ,i have just said1 offered few spots sufficiently wild and lonely for the habitation of a hermit2 those1 therefore1 who wished to retire from the world into a more strict and solitary life than that which the monastery afforded were in the habit of immuring themselves1 as anchorites1 or in old ,english 8,ankers10 in little cells of stone1 built usually against the wall of a church4 ,there is nothing new under the sun2 and similar anchorites might have been seen in ,egypt1 #ejj years before the time of ,st4 ,antony1 immured in cells in the temples of ,isis or ,serapis4 ,it is only recently that antiquaries have discovered how common this practice was in ,england1 and how frequently the traces of these cells are to be found about our parish churches4 ,they were so common in the ,diocese of ,lincoln in the thirteenth century1 that in #abcc the archdeacon is ordered to inquire whether any ,anchorites' cells had been built without the ,bishop's leave2 and in many of our parish churches may be seen1 either on the north or the south side of the chancel1 a narrow slit in the wall1 or one of the lights of a window prolonged downwards1 the prolongation1 if not now walled up1 being closed with a shutter4 ,through these apertures the 8incluse10 or anker1 watched the celebration of mass1 and partook of the ,holy ,communion4 ,similar cells were to be found in ,ireland1 at least in the diocese of ,ossory2 and doubtless in ,scotland also4 ,ducange1 in his ,glossary1 on the word 8inclusi10 lays down rules for the size of the anker's cell1 which must be twelve feet square1 with three windows1 one opening into the church1 one for taking in his food1 and one for light2 and the 8,salisbury ,manual0 as well as the 8,pontifical0 of ,lacy1 bishop of ,exeter1 in the first half of the fifteenth century1 contains a regular 8service0 for the walling in of an anchorite4 #ccj ,there exists too a most singular and painful book1 well known to antiquaries1 but to them alone1 8,the ,ancren ,riwle10 addressed to three young ladies who had immured themselves 7seemingly about the beginning of the thirteenth century7 at ,kingston ,tarrant1 in ,dorsetshire4 ,for women as well as men entered these living tombs2 and there spent their days in dirt and starvation1 and such prayer and meditation doubtless as the stupified and worn-out intellect could compass2 their only recreation being the gossip of the neighbouring women1 who came to peep in through the little window--a recreation in which 7if we are to believe the author of 8,the ,ancren ,riwle07 they were tempted to indulge only too freely2 till the window of the recluse's cell1 he says1 became what the smith's forge or the alehouse has become since--the place where all the gossip and scandal of the village passed from one ear to another4 ,but we must not believe such scandals of all4 ,only too much in earnest must those seven young maidens have been1 whom ,st4 ,gilbert of ,sempringham persuaded to immure themselves1 as a sacrifice acceptable to ,god1 in a den along the north wall of his church2 or that ,st4 ,hutta1 or ,huetta1 in the beginning of the thirteenth century1 who after ministering to lepers1 and longing and even trying to become a leper herself1 immured herself for life in a cell against the church of ,huy near ,lige4 ,fearful must have been the fate of these incluses if any evil had befallen the building of which 7one may say7 they had become a part4 ,more than one in the stormy ,middle ,age may have suffered the fate of the poor women immured beside ,st4 ,mary's church at ,mantes1 who1 when town and church were burnt by ,william the ,conqueror1 unable to escape 7or1 according to ,william of ,malmesbury1 thinking it unlawful to quit their cells even in that extremity71 perished in the flames2 and so consummated once and for all their long martyrdom4 ,how long the practice of the hermit life was common in these islands is more than my learning enables me to say4 ,hermits seem1 from the old ,chartularies1 #cca to have been not unfrequent in ,scotland and the ,north of ,england during the whole ,middle ,age4 ,we have seen that they were frequent in the times of ,malcolm ,canmore and the old ,celtic ,church2 and the ,latin ,church1 which was introduced by ,st4 ,margaret1 seems to have kept up the fashion4 ,in the middle of the thirteenth century1 ,david de ,haigh conveyed to the monks of ,cupar the hermitage which ,gilmichael the ,hermit once held1 with three acres of land4 ,in #acbi the ,convent of ,durham made a grant of a hermitage to ,roger ,eller at ,norham on the ,tweed1 in order that he might have a 8fit place to fight with the old enemy and bewail his sins1 apart from the turmoil of men40 ,in #adde ,james the ,second1 king of ,scots1 granted to ,john ,smith the hermitage in the forest of ,kilgur1 8which formerly belonged in heritage to ,hugh ,cominch the ,hermit1 and was resigned by him1 with the croft and the green belonging to it1 and three acres of arable land40 ,i have quoted these few instances1 to show how long the custom lingered2 and doubtless hermits were to be found in the remoter parts of these realms when the sudden tempest of the ,reformation swept away alike the palace of the rich abbot and the cell of the poor recluse1 and exterminated throughout ,england the ascetic life4 ,the two last hermits whom ,i have come across in history are both figures which exemplify very well those times of corruption and of change4 ,at ,loretto 7not in ,italy1 but in ,musselburgh1 near ,edinburgh7 there lived a hermit who pretended to work miracles1 and who it seems had charge of some image of 8,our ,lady of ,loretto40 ,the scandals which ensued from the visits of young folks to this hermit roused the wrath of that terrible scourge of monks1 ,sir ,david ,lindsay of the ,mount3 yet as late as #aecf1 ,james the ,fifth of ,scotland made a pilgrimage from ,stirling to the shrine1 in order to procure a propitious passage to ,france in search of a wife4 ,but in #aedc1 ,lord ,hertford1 during his destructive voyage to the ,forth1 destroyed1 with other objects of greater consequence1 the chapel of the 8,lady of ,lorett10 which was not likely in those days to be rebuilt2 and so the hermit of ,musselburgh vanishes from history4 ,a few years before1 in #aecg1 says ,mr4 ,froude1 #ccc while the harbours1 piers1 and fortresses were rising in ,dover1 8an ancient hermit tottered night after night from his cell to a chapel on the cliff1 and the tapers on the altar before which he knelt in his lonely orisons made a familiar beacon far over the rolling waters4 ,the men of the rising world cared little for the sentiment of the past4 ,the anchorite was told sternly by the workmen that his light was a signal to the ,king's enemies0 7a ,spanish invasion from ,flanders was expected71 8and must burn no more2 and1 when it was next seen1 three of them waylaid the old man on his way home1 threw him down and beat him cruelly40 ,so ended1 in an undignified way1 as worn-out institutions are wont to end1 the hermit life in the ,british ,isles4 ,will it ever reappear8 ,who can tell8 ,to an age of luxury and unbelief has succeeded1 more than once in history1 an age of remorse and superstition4 ,gay gentlemen and gay ladies may renounce the world1 as they did in the time of ,st4 ,jerome1 when the world is ready to renounce them4 ,we have already our nunneries1 our monasteries1 of more creeds than one2 and the mountains of ,kerry1 or the pine forests of the ,highlands1 may some day once more hold hermits1 persuading themselves to believe1 and at last succeeding in believing1 the teaching of ,st4 ,antony1 instead of that of our ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 and of that ,father of the spirits of all flesh1 who made love1 and marriage1 and little children1 sunshine and flowers1 the wings of butterflies and the song of birds2 who rejoices in his own works1 and bids all who truly reverence him rejoice in them with him4 ,the fancy may seem impossible4 ,it is not more impossible than many religious phenomena seemed forty years ago1 which are now no fancies1 but powerful facts4 ,the following books should be consulted by those who wish to follow out this curious subject in detail3-- ,the 8,vit ,patrum ,eremiticorum40 ,the 8,acta ,sanctorum40 ,the ,bollandists are1 of course1 almost exhaustive of any subject on which they treat4 ,but as they are difficult to find1 save in a few public libraries1 the 8,acta ,sanctorum0 of ,surius1 or of ,aloysius ,lipommasius1 may be profitably consulted4 ,butler's 8,lives of the ,saints0 is a book common enough1 but of no great value4 ,m4 de ,montalembert's 8,moines d',occident10 and ,ozanam's 8,etudes ,germaniques10 may be read with much profit4 ,dr4 ,reeves' edition of ,adamnan's 8,life of ,st4 ,columba10 published by the ,irish ,archological and ,celtic ,society1 is a treasury of learning1 which needs no praise of mine4 ,the lives of ,st4 ,cuthbert and ,st4 ,godric may be found among the publications of the ,surtees ,society4 ,,footnotes #ab ,about ,a4,d4 #cfh4 ,see the details in ,ammianus ,marcellinus1 lib4 xxviii4 #ae ,in the ,celtic ,irish ,church1 there seems to have been no other pattern4 ,the hermits who became abbots1 with their monks1 were the only teachers of the people--one had almost said1 the only ,christians4 ,whence1 as early as the sixth century1 if not the fifth1 they1 and their disciples of ,iona and ,scotland1 derived their peculiar tonsure1 their use of bells1 their ,eastern mode of keeping the ,paschal feast1 and other peculiarities1 seemingly without the intervention of ,rome1 is a mystery still unsolved4 #ag;a ,a book which1 from its bearing on present problems1 well deserves translation4 #ag;b 8,vit ,patrum40 ,published at ,antwerp1 #afbh4 #bc ,he is addressing our ,lord4 #bd 8,agentes in rebus40 ,on the ,emperor's staff8 #bg ,st4 ,augustine says1 that ,potitianus's adventure at ,trves happened 8,i know not when40 ,his own conversation with ,potitianus must have happened about ,a4,d4 #che1 for he was baptized ,april #be1 ,a4,d4 #chg4 ,he does not mention the name of ,potitianus's emperor3 but as ,gratian was ,augustus from ,a4,d4 #cfg to ,a4,d4 #cge1 and actual ,emperor of the ,west till ,a4,d4 #chc1 and as ,trves was his usual residence1 he is most probably the person meant3 but if not1 then his father ,valentinian4 #bi ,see the excellent article on ,gratian in ,smith's ,dictionary1 by ,mr4 ,means4 #cj ,i cannot explain this fact3 but ,i have seen it with my own eyes4 #cb ,i use throughout the text published by ,heschelius1 in #afaa4 #cc ,he is said to have been born at ,coma1 near ,heracleia1 in ,middle ,egypt1 ,a4,d4 #bea4 #cd ,seemingly the ,greek language and literature4 #ce ,i have thought it more honest to translate by 8training10 which is now1 as then1 its true equivalent2 being a metaphor drawn from the ,greek games by ,st4 ,paul1 #a ,tim4 iv4 #h4 #da ,i give this passage as it stands in the ,greek version4 ,in the ,latin1 attributed to ,evagrius1 it is even more extravagant and rhetorical4 #db ,surely the imagery painted on the inner walls of ,egyptian tombs1 and probably believed by ,antony and his compeers to be connected with devil-worship1 explain these visions4 ,in the 8,words of the ,elders0 a monk complains of being troubled with 8pictures1 old and new40 ,probably1 again1 the pain which ,antony felt was the agony of a fever2 and the visions which he saw1 its delirium4 #dd ,here is an instance of the original use of the word 8monastery10 viz4 a cell in which a single person dwelt4 #de ,an allusion to the heathen mysteries4 #di ,a4,d4 #caa4 ,galerius ,valerius ,maximinus 7his real name was ,daza7 had been a shepherd-lad in ,illyria1 like his uncle ,galerius ,valerius ,maximianus2 and rose1 like him1 through the various grades of the army to be co-,emperor of ,rome1 over ,syria1 ,egypt1 and ,asia ,minor2 a furious persecutor of the ,christians1 and a brutal and profligate tyrant4 ,such were the 8kings of the world0 from whom those old monks fled4 #eb;a ,the lonely alluvial flats at the mouths of the ,nile4 8,below the cliffs1 beside the sea10 as one describes them4 #eb;b ,now the monastery of ,deir ,antonios1 over the ,wady el ,arabah1 between the ,nile and the ,red ,sea1 where ,antony's monks endure to this day4 #fj ,this most famous monastery1 i4e4 collection of monks' cells1 in ,egypt is situate forty miles from ,alexandria1 on a hill where nitre was gathered4 ,the hospitality and virtue of its inmates are much praised by ,ruffinus and ,palladius4 ,they were1 nevertheless1 the chief agents in the fanatical murder of ,hypatia4 #fe ,it appears from this and many other passages1 that extempore prayer was usual among these monks1 as it was afterwards among the ,puritans 7who have copied them in so many other things71 whenever a godly man visited them4 #ff;a ,meletius1 bishop of ,lycopolis1 was the author of an obscure schism calling itself the 8,church of the ,martyrs10 which refused to communicate with the rest of the ,eastern ,church4 ,see ,smith's 8,dictionary10 on the word 8,meletius40 #ff;b ,arius 7whose most famous and successful opponent was ,athanasius1 the writer of this biography7 maintained that the ,son of ,god was not co-equal and co-eternal with the ,father1 but created by ,him out of nothing1 and before the world4 ,his opinions were condemned in the famous ,council of ,nica1 ,a4,d4 #cbe4 #fg ,if ,st4 ,antony could use so extreme an argument against the ,arians1 what would he have said to the ,mariolatry which sprang up after his death8 #fh;a ,i4e4 those who were still heathens4 #fh;b 4 ,the ,christian priest is always called in this work simply 1 or elder4 #gb;a ,probably that of ,a4,d4 #cda1 when ,gregory of ,cappadocia1 nominated by the ,arian ,bishops1 who had assembled at the ,council of ,antioch1 expelled ,athanasius from the see of ,alexandria1 and great violence was committed by his followers and by ,philagrius the ,prefect4 ,athanasius meanwhile fled to ,rome4 #gb;b ,i4e4 celebrated there their own ,communion4 #gg ,evidently the primval custom of embalming the dead1 and keeping mummies in the house1 still lingered among the ,egyptians4 #ajh ,these sounds1 like those which ,st4 ,guthlac heard in the ,english fens1 are plainly those of wild-fowl4 #aae ,the ,brucheion1 with its palaces and museum1 the residence of the kings and philosophers of ,egypt1 had been destroyed is the days of ,claudius and ,valerian1 during the senseless civil wars which devastated ,alexandria for twelve years2 and monks had probably taken up their abode in the ruins4 ,it was in this quarter1 at the beginning of the next century1 that ,hypatia was murdered by the monks4 #aaf ,probably the ,northern1 or ,lesser ,oasis1 ,ouah el ,baharieh1 about eighty miles west of the ,nile4 #aag;a ,jerome 7who sailed that sea several times7 uses the word here1 as it is used in ,acts xxvii4 #bg1 for the sea about ,malta1 8driven up and down in ,adria40 #aag;b ,the southern point of ,sicily1 now ,cape ,passaro4 #aah ,in the ,morea1 near the modern ,navarino4 #aai;a ,at the mouth of the ,bay of ,cattaro4 #aai;b ,this story--whatever belief we may give to its details--is one of many which make it tolerably certain that a large snake 7,python7 still lingered in ,eastern ,europe4 ,huge tame snakes were kept as sacred by the ,macedonian women2 and one of them 7according to ,lucian7 ,peregrinus ,proteus1 the ,cagliostro of his time1 fitted with a linen mask1 and made it personate the god sculapius4 ,in the 8,historia ,lausiaca10 cap4 lii4 is an account by an eye-witness of a large snake in the ,thebaid1 whose track was 8as if a beam had been dragged along the sand40 ,it terrifies the ,syrian monks3 but the ,egyptian monk sets to work to kill it1 saying that he had seen much larger--even up to fifteen cubits4 #aba ,now ,capo ,st4 ,angelo and the island of ,cerigo1 at the southern point of ,greece4 #abc;a ,see p4 #eb4 #abc;b ,probably dedicated to the ,paphian ,venus4 #acj ,the lives of these two hermits and that of ,st4 ,cuthbert will be given in a future number4 #aca ,sihor1 the black river1 was the ancient name of the ,nile1 derived from the dark hue of its waters4 #aei ,ammianus ,marcellinus1 ,book xxv4 cap4 #i4 #afj ,by ,dr4 ,burgess4 #afc ,history of ,christianity1 vol4 iii4 p4 #aji4 #bjc ,an authentic fact4 #bjd ,if any one doubts this1 let him try the game called 8,russian scandal10 where a story1 passed secretly from mouth to mouth1 ends utterly transformed1 the original point being lost1 a new point substituted1 original names and facts omitted1 and utterly new ones inserted1 c4 c42 an experiment which is ludicrous1 or saddening1 according to the temper of the experimenter4 #bji ,les ,moines d',occident1 vol4 ii4 pp4 #ccb-dfg4 #baj ,m4 ,la ,borderie1 8,discours sur les ,saints ,bretons20 a work which ,i have unfortunately not been able to consult4 #bab;a ,vit ,patrum1 p4 #gec4 #bab;b ,ibid4 p4 #hic4 #bab;c ,ibid4 p4 #eci4 #bab;d ,ibid4 p4 #edj4 #bab;e ,ibid4 p4 #ecb4 #bbd ,it has been handed down1 in most crabbed ,latin1 by his disciple1 ,eugippius2 it may be read at length in ,pez1 ,scriptores ,austriacarum ,rerum4 #bch ,scriptores ,austriacarum ,rerum4 #bde ,hften1 quoted by ,montalembert1 vol4 ii4 p4 #bb1 in note4 #bef ,dr4 ,reeves supposes these to have been 8crustacea30 but their stinging and clinging prove them surely to have been jelly-fish--medus4 #beg ,i have followed the ,latin prose version of it1 which ,m4 ,achille ,jubinal attributes to the eleventh century4 ,here and there ,i have taken the liberty of using the ,french prose version1 which he attributes to the latter part of the twelfth4 ,i have often condensed the story1 where it was prolix or repeated itself3 but ,i have tried to follow faithfully both matter and style1 and to give1 word for word1 as nearly as ,i could1 any notable passages4 ,those who wish to know more of ,st4 ,brendan should consult the learned brochure of ,m4 ,jubinal1 8,la ,lgende ,latine de ,st4 ,brandaines10 and the two ,english versions of the ,legend1 edited by ,mr4 ,thomas ,wright for the ,percy ,society1 vol4 xiv4 ,one is in verse1 and of the earlier part of the fourteenth century1 and spirited enough3 the other1 a prose version1 was printed by ,wynkyn de ,worde1 in his edition of the 8,golden ,legend20 #aebg4 #bfj;a ,in the ,barony of ,longford1 ,county ,galway4 #bfj;b #c1jjj1 like #cjj1 seems to be1 ,i am informed1 only an ,irish expression for any large number4 #bfi ,some dim legend concerning icebergs1 and caves therein4 #bgj ,probably from reports of the volcanic coast of ,iceland4 #bgb ,this part of the legend has been changed and humanized as time ran on4 ,in the ,latin and ,french versions it has little or no point or moral4 ,in the ,english1 ,judas accounts for the presence of the cloth thus3-- 8,here ,i may see what it is to give other men's 7goods7 with harm4 ,as will many rich men with unright all day take1 ,of poor men here and there1 and almisse 7alms7 sithhe 7afterwards7 make40 ,for the tongs and the stone he accounts by saying that1 as he used them for 8good ends1 each thing should surely find him which he did for ,god's love40 ,but in the prose version of ,wynkyn de ,worde1 the tongs have been changed into 8ox-tongues10 8which ,i gave some tyme to two preestes to praye for me4 ,i bought them with myne owne money1 and therefore they ease me1 bycause the fysshes of the sea gnaw on them1 and spare me40 ,this latter story of the ox-tongues has been followed by ,mr4 ,sebastian ,evans1 in his poem on ,st4 ,brendan4 ,both he and ,mr4 ,matthew ,arnold have rendered the moral of the ,english version very beautifully4 #bgd ,copied1 surely1 from the life of ,paul the first hermit4 #bhc ,the famous ,cathach1 now in the museum of the ,royal ,irish ,academy1 was long popularly believed to be the very ,psalter in question4 ,as a relic of ,st4 ,columba it was carried to battle by the ,o',donnels1 even as late as #adig1 to insure victory for the clan4 #bij ,bede1 book iii4 cap4 #c4 #bib ,these details1 and countless stories of ,st4 ,cuthbert's miracles1 are to be found in ,reginald of ,durham1 8,de ,admirandis ,beati ,cuthberti10 published by the ,surtees ,society4 ,this curious book is admirably edited by ,mr4 ,j4 ,raine2 with an ,english synopsis at the end1 which enables the reader for whom the ,latin is too difficult to enjoy those pictures of life under ,stephen and ,henry ,,ii41 whether moral1 religious1 or social1 of which the book is a rich museum4 #bii 8,in this hole lie the bones of the ,venerable ,bede40 #cjc ,an ,english translation of the ,anglo-,saxon life has been published by ,mr4 ,godwin1 of ,cambridge1 and is well worth perusal4 #cab ,vita ,s4 ,godrici1 pp4 #ccb1 #ccc4 #caf ,the earlier one2 that of the ,harleian ,,mss4 which 7,mr4 ,stevenson thinks7 was twice afterwards expanded and decorated by him4 #cbc ,reginald wants to make 8a wonder incredible in our own times10 of a very common form 7thank ,god7 of peaceful death4 ,he makes miracles in the same way of the catching of salmon and of otters1 simple enough to one who1 like ,godric1 knew the river1 and every wild thing which haunted it4 #ccj ,that of the ,salisbury ,manual is published in the 8,ecclesiologist0 for ,august #ahdh1 by the ,rev4 ,sir ,w4 ,h4 ,cope1 to whom ,i am indebted for the greater number of these curious facts4 #cca ,i owe these facts to the courtesy of ,mr4 ,john ,stuart1 of the ,general ,register ,office1 ,edinburgh4 #ccc 8,history of ,england10 vol4 iii4 p4 #bef1 note4