THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES 
 
 GIFT OF 
 
 Kate Gordon Moore 
 
 !%>
 
 :s^^M 
 
 ^^^ 
 
 ~~^^^ 
 
 3jQ^i^^^ 
 
 '~'^^;JEj 
 
 iLJfe!^^^ 
 
 
 
 
 >i^ 
 
 
 
 3S 
 
 
 
 Dt: 
 

 
 LIVES 
 
 THE ENaLISH SAINTS. 
 
 ^t Ninian, 
 
 BISHOP OF CANDIDA CA8A. 
 
 MANSUETI H.BREDITABUNT TERRAM, ET DELECTABUNTUR IN 
 MULTITUDINE PACIS. 
 
 LONDON: 
 JAMES TOOVEY, 192, PICCADILLY. 
 
 184").
 
 (3X 
 
 CONTENTS, 
 
 Chap. 
 
 Advertisement 
 
 1. Introduction 
 
 2. St. Ninian's Early Days 
 
 3. St. Ninian's Riper Years 
 
 4. St. Ninian's Journey- to Rome . 
 
 5. St. Ninian's Life at Rome 
 
 6. St. Ninian's Return to Britain 
 7- St. Ninian in Galloway" 
 
 8. Conversion of the Picts 
 y. St. Ninian's Latter Days 
 10. Conclusion 
 
 1 
 
 11 
 
 24 
 
 41 
 
 5() 
 
 75 
 
 85 
 
 119 
 
 130 
 
 140 

 
 rEEFACE. 
 
 It is necessary to say a few words on the sources 
 from which the present Life is derived. The 
 account of St. Aelred's parentage is taken from a 
 manuscript in the Bodleian Library, (Laud, 668) 
 in which are several works ascribed to him, and 
 amongst others, one " De Sanctis Ecclesise Hag- 
 ulstadensis et eorum miraculis." Whether this 
 work is by him or not, the author has not suffi- 
 cient critical judgment to pronounce. It is in 
 some places assigned to him, but one circumstance 
 against it is, that it is principally a Sermon, 
 preached in the Church of Hexham, on the trans- 
 lation of the relics of the old Bishops of Hexham, 
 apparently by the Prior of the Canons. A great 
 part of it, however, from fol. 67 of the manuscript, 
 is a written continuation of the history, and was 
 not preached. If one may be allowed to conjec- 
 ture, this part might be written by St. Aelred. It 
 is like his style (though it should be said that the 
 Sermon also is like it), and the historical know-
 
 rKKFACK. 
 
 ledjre which it displays, also makes it likely to be 
 his. There is nothing in the M.S. itself to indi- 
 cate that the persons of whom it gives an account 
 were St. Aelred's ancestors ; this fact is gathered 
 from Richard of Hexham, De statu Hagulsta- 
 densis Ecclesia2, b. 2, c. 9. There is also an inci- 
 dental proof that St. Aelred's ancestors were per- 
 sons connected with the Church of Durham, in a 
 letter from Reginald, a monk of Durham, to St. 
 Aelred, in which he thanks him for some collec- 
 tions, taken from documents in the Church of 
 Durham by his ancestors, and communicated by 
 him. This letter is found in a Bodleian manu- 
 script, Fairfax, 6. 
 
 The life in Capgrave and the Bollandists has 
 only been partially followed, as it contains various 
 historical inaccuracies. St. Aelred's own works 
 have been on the whole the principal authority 
 made use of. A few notices of the Saint have 
 been inserted in the Life of St. Waltheof, to 
 whom they rather belong. The author hoped to 
 have brought the two lives out together, which, 
 however, has been found impossible. 
 
 St. Aelred was canonized by Pope Celestine 
 III., A. D. 1191, according to the Peterborough 
 Annals.
 
 LIFE OF 
 
 ^t Kinian, 
 
 BISHOP OF CANDIDA CASA, AND 
 
 APOSTLE OF THE SOUTHERN PICTS, 
 CIEC. A. D. 360-432. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Introduction. 
 
 How many of us have never heard of St. Ninian ! 
 How many, on hearing of him, would carelessly put 
 aside the thought of his history, as a matter of no 
 concern, as a tale of former days, of what once was, 
 and is no longer, in any way which connects him with 
 us, or us with him. But this is a thoughtless way of 
 viewing any subject. All things may be connected 
 one with another ; the works of former times may 
 have exercised an influence which still lives. Still 
 more is this the case with Saints. The world passes 
 away, and the works of the world, and men, so far 
 as they are of the world, and unite themselves with 
 the world, pass with it ; but they who are gifted 
 with divine life, and united to Christ, abide for ever ; 
 now more truly living than when the world saw them. 
 If there be one whom the Church has recognized 
 as a Saint, there is a work of Divine Grace at which
 
 2 ST. NINIAN. 
 
 we should pause, and turn aside, and view with 
 reverend awe ; there is a child of Adam renewed 
 in the Divine image ; one in whom a work has been 
 wrought, which is begun in many and perfected 
 in few. His history, could we see it as it is — his 
 inward history — how eventful would it be ; how many 
 a crisis would it involve ! "What motions of Divine 
 grace — what watchful Providences — what a corre- 
 spondence on his own part to the calls of Heaven ! 
 What a precious tale of deeds and sufferings, of watch- 
 fulness and self-restraint, of prayers and heavenly 
 aspirations ! How intense is the interest excited by 
 examining some work of human skill, and tracing its 
 beauty, or contrivance, or finished art ! How full are 
 the natural woi'ks of God of all that is calculated to 
 engage our attention, to awaken surprise, deUght, and 
 admiration. AVith how much more of deep feehng 
 then should we view tlie spiritual creation, and trace 
 out there the workings of providence and the effects 
 of grace. Beautiful as is the natural world, the fair 
 budding of spring, and the grass and trees, and the 
 clear sliining after rain, they are but faint images 
 indeed of holy men, and of their varied graces, whose 
 sweetness Scripture shadows out by the choicest ob- 
 jects of sense. And as we gratefully commemorate 
 the glory and goodness of God, as shown in these 
 passing works, still more should the manifold and 
 abiding graces of His Elect call forth our thankful- 
 ness and praise. 
 
 But, it may be said, little is known of St. Ninian. 
 It is true. Yet tliis might almost enhance our interest 
 in lum, and our wish to know that little. How many 
 are there in every rank of life who pass from this 
 world um-ecognized, save by a few, yet high in the
 
 INTRODUCTION. 3 
 
 Divine favour and of great attainments in sanctity. 
 That Saints should be distinguished in any marked 
 way, seems to be owing to (what we may call) the 
 accident of their being brought by circumstances into 
 positions which have elicited their hidden graces, and 
 manifested them to the world. But as their holiness is 
 independent of its visible effects, so those effects are 
 no measure of it. By the world, men are estimated 
 for their influence on its fortunes ; and in proportion 
 as they have influenced it, is the degree of honour 
 assigned them. But sanctity is independent of such 
 outward manifestations or visible fruits. Though, in 
 St. Ninian's case, if we believe those who in olden 
 time so greatly venerated this holy man, there were 
 not wanting abundant sensible tokens of his power 
 and prevailing intercession. Even Protestant writers^ 
 allow that he had the gift of miracles, and the nu- 
 merous worshippers at his shrine, three or four hun- 
 dred years ago, believed, and would allege facts in 
 proof, that they received blessings, even miraculous 
 ones, through his prayers availing with God. 
 
 Among ourselves, there has been a long suspension 
 of that everlasting remembrance in which the righteous 
 ought to be held, that affectionate interest with which 
 we ought to cherish those who in their day have 
 laboured for the Church, and been marked by special 
 gifts of grace. But it is not many centuries since the 
 name of St. Ninian was one of the most honoured in 
 the Calendar, and people flocked from every part of 
 the island to visit his shrine. His memory, has, in- 
 deed, had singular reverses. From the fifth to the 
 twelfth century, it was scarcely known beyond the 
 
 ^ The Madgeburg Centuriators, torn. 4, 1429.
 
 4 ST. NESTAN. 
 
 limits of the wUd district where he had laboured and 
 died. Tlie only records of him were in the memory of 
 his people, or written in a barbarous and unknown 
 language. The succession of his See was inter- 
 rupted. Successive tribes of uncivilized Celts occu- 
 pied his country, and seemed to have obliterated almost 
 every vestige of his earthly labours. But seven centu- 
 ries passed, and his memory rose from its obscurity ; 
 his power was recognized, his shrine was frequented, 
 and his intercessions sought. Amid the wild wars of 
 Scotland and the Border, a safe conduct was provided 
 for pilgrims who were visitmg his Church, and kings 
 sought his prayers. Their piety was mixed, doubtless, 
 according to the character of individuals, with even 
 the grossest superstition ; stUl it implied a general 
 recognition of his sanctity ; and the reason they 
 would themselves have given of this devotion was, 
 that they had experienced blessings through it ; and 
 that such was, in some instances, at least, the case, is 
 the most natural and obvious account of the matter. 
 
 That little should have been known of his history 
 need not svurprise us. He lived in a dark period of 
 British history, and laboured among a rude people. 
 In the centuries following his death, Galloway was 
 the scene of frequent wars, and changed its masters 
 and its inhabitants. The Southern Picts whom he 
 had converted were in time merged among the other 
 races who inhabited the east of Scotland, and it was, 
 as to the world's history, as if he had never lived. 
 But this is not different from what we might expect. 
 Of how many other distinguished Saints have few 
 traces been left in history ! Of how many of the 
 holy Apostles is it merely recorded that they preached 
 the gospel in certain remote districts, and were mar-
 
 INTRODUCTION. 5 
 
 tyred ! Of the fruits of their preaching, of the 
 Churches they founded, no certain vestiges remain. 
 Yet their names are written in heaven ; their works 
 are recorded there ; and the souls who, through their 
 means, though of distant ages and of barbarous lan- 
 guages, were brought into that Communion, where all 
 learn one language, and are formed after one model, 
 and are brethren and feUow-countrymen in Christ, 
 are blessing and praising God for the mercy he showed 
 in their conversion. It may be to the increase of 
 their blessedness to be thus humbled ; to have their 
 works hidden from the world ; that having no reward 
 of human praise here, they may enjoy a more ample 
 recompense in heaven. 
 
 Do not think slightingly then of St. Ninian because he 
 is little known ; but rather let us trace out with reveren- 
 tial love what may be learnt of him. We know more 
 of him, and on better authority, than we do of many 
 more exalted Saints ; and if in searching out what 
 may be known of him, we seem to be led into dry and 
 antiquarian matter, let it not be an ungrateful labour. 
 It may be repaid by the contemplation of his graces. 
 
 And there are circumstances which give a peculiar 
 interest to St. Ninian. Besides his being one of our own 
 Saints, and the earliest Missionary, and first Bishop in 
 Scotland of whom we have any authentic record ; he 
 lived at a time when there was a change taking place in 
 the mode in which conversions to the faith were made. 
 The barbarous nations were now pouring in vipon the 
 Christians, and threatening the destruction of the em- 
 pire of the Church, as though it were not Christ's. 
 St. Ninian was one of the first of those who turned 
 back the arms of the invaders, and reduced them by 
 meekness and truth, under the gentle and happy sway
 
 6 ST. NINIAN. 
 
 of the gospel. Again, conversions had hitherto been 
 of individuals, now they became national ; that of the 
 Picts was one of the first. And the system on which 
 missions were conducted in the coimtries of Europe, 
 found one of theii' earliest tj\^es in him. 
 
 It may, indeed, very naturally be asked, what do we 
 really know of this ancient Saint, and, considering his 
 age, country, and circumstances, what authentic re- 
 cords can there be of the events of liis life ? 
 
 Of the history of Britain at that time, (the close of 
 the fourth and early part of the fifth century) the 
 notices, whether civil or ecclesiastical, are very few, 
 scanty, and unsatisfactory. It was St. Ninian's lot 
 to live at that critical period, when the Roman power 
 was breaking, and the empire was giving way under 
 internal divisions, and the inroads of the Northern 
 tribes. And Britain, which had been raised from a 
 wild and savage condition to considerable civilization, 
 was again to be thrown back into a more miserable 
 barbarism by the inundations of the Caledonians, and 
 the occupation of the Saxons. They were too much 
 engaged in fighting to write narratives of what they 
 did ; and any memorials they had were lost in the 
 troubles which followed. Of its ecclesiastical liistory 
 we are still more ignorant. The age of St. Ninian 
 may be looked on as one of which almost nothing is 
 recorded in the annals of the British Church ; so that 
 we must form our ideas of this particular period by 
 what we know of the times preceding and following 
 it. It would come in to fill the blank between the 
 third and fourth chapters of the account of the British 
 Church, which is prefixed to the life of St. Augustine.^ 
 
 ' No. iii. of this Series.
 
 mTRODUCTION. 7 
 
 Of one then wlio lived in such an age, what records 
 can we have ? May not the history be given up as 
 entirely uncertain ? I conceive not ; and for these rea- 
 sons. Personal history is preserved when public 
 events are unrecorded and forgotten. Nay, in all his- 
 tory it is often through the narratives of the lives of 
 individuals alone, that many circumstances of public 
 importance have been preserved to us ; it is round 
 the individual that interest centres, and his doings 
 which are remembered. "We know how children are 
 impressed by the words and deeds of individual wor- 
 thies, when of the general course of the history they 
 have no clear ideas, so that the best histories for them 
 consist of a series of personal tales. And it is so with 
 men generally, and particularly in a simple state of 
 society. Among Christians this is still more the case ; 
 since with them the affectionate remembrance of those 
 who are gone, is heightened by religious reverence, and 
 sanctioned and sustained by the commemoration of the 
 departed. It is to the individual Saint that Christians 
 look, rather than to the events of general history ; for 
 they view him as the work of Divine grace ; whilst 
 the course of the world, though in its progress and 
 issue, the effect of His providence, is in detail but the 
 manifestation of man's wilfulness and misery. 
 
 We cannot suppose but that the Picts, among whom 
 vSt, Ninian had introduced the Gospel, would retain the 
 memory of one to whom they were indebted for aU 
 they held dear. And in Galloway he had left a stand- 
 ing memorial in the church of stone, which was 
 looked on with no little interest by the admiring 
 Britons, and was thought to give a name to the place 
 where it stood. He left a monastery too, and that
 
 8 ST. NINIAN. 
 
 would be the means of preserving some records of him. 
 That such records were preserved we know, on the 
 authority of the earliest witnesses we could have — ^the 
 most learned and accomplished scholars, and the most 
 holy men of their age — Bede and Alcuin. 
 
 In Bede's time the Southern Picts were still exist- 
 ing as a separate race, and testified to having derived 
 their Christianity from St. Ninian ; and "VNTiithem, 
 with his church and tomb, was a visible memorial. A 
 Saxon succession of Bishops and a Saxon monastery 
 had been established here, on the conquest of Galloway 
 by that people. So that in Bede we have the testimony 
 of one who had full means of informing himself on 
 the subject, as to the main incidents of St. Ninian's 
 life ; as also had Alcuin, of whom there is a letter stiU 
 extant, written to the Brethren of the Saxon Monas- 
 tery of Whithern, recognizing the miracles and holiness 
 of the Saint. And after this we find incidental men- 
 tion of St. Ninian in different writers, all treating the 
 chief facts of his life as matter of authentic history. 
 
 These are however only portions of information inci- 
 dentally given, indications of a larger store existing 
 among the people whom he had converted, and where 
 his Church and monastery were. Among them we 
 might expect that records would exist, (as among 
 the other Celtic tribes in Wales and Ireland,) written 
 in their own language, and from that very circum- 
 stance little known to the rest of tlie world. Galloway 
 had been over-run by different tribes, but (with the ex- 
 ception of the brief occupation by the Saxons) they 
 were all of the Celtic race, and their languages, though 
 different dialects, were mutually intelligible. And we 
 know that in the twelfth century lives of the Saint 
 were extant in their language.
 
 INTRODUCTION. » 
 
 This we learn from the testimony of St. Aelred of 
 Rievaux, who was requested by the brethren of the 
 convent of Whithern to compose a life of their Patron 
 Saint in Latin. In an Introduction addressed to them, 
 he speaks of the disadvantage arising from the life of 
 the Saint only existing in a barbarous language, (or 
 being written in a barbarous style) which obscured his 
 history, and interfered with the pleasure and edification 
 of the readers. It seems to be implied that more than 
 one life was extant in Celtic, and perhaps in Latin, but 
 that very rude and barbarous, and that St. Aelred 
 selected as the groundwork of his Hfe the one which 
 seemed to him the most authentic. And it is possible 
 that a life referred to by Archbishop Usher, as existing 
 among the Irish, may be the representative of some of 
 the others. 
 
 We regard this life then, as representing what St. 
 Aelred considered the most authentic account then 
 existing of St. Ninian, an account not improbably, in 
 tradition at least, almost contemporaneous with the 
 Saint, and supplying the information which Bede 
 and Alcuin possessed respecting him. 
 
 Of the authority of St. Aelred as a biographer, little 
 need be said. He, whom even Bale caUs a second St. 
 Bernard, was endued with that kindred sanctity wliich 
 fitted him to be the biographer of a Saint ; and his edu- 
 cation in the Scottish court and long friendship with the 
 king, and in particular liis connexion with Fergus, the 
 lord of Galloway, and his labours for the restoration of 
 religion in that country, as it led him to tread in the 
 footsteps of St. Ninian, would enable him to ascer- 
 tain all that could be learnt of authority respecting him. 
 
 The work was written towards the close of his own 
 life, between 1153 and 1166. It agrees in style with
 
 10 ST. NINIAN. 
 
 liis Other works, and is every way worthy of him. 
 Being intended for spiritual reading and edifica- 
 tion, it contains much that is inserted for that end, 
 and throws the sentiments which might be supposed to 
 influence the Saint into the dramatic form of a solilo- 
 quy or speech. Perhaps in one or two points it is 
 liable to the charge of anachronism, from the writer's 
 imagining the existence of the customs of his own 
 time, in the days of which he is writing. It is a singular 
 gift in a writer to be able to strip himself of the habits 
 of thought to which he has ever been famiHarized, or 
 even constantly to keep in mind that practices existing 
 in his own day are of recent origin. It ought to be 
 added, that St. Aelred's Life bears internal marks of 
 truth, from its correspondence with other history in 
 minute points of chronology, with the circumstances 
 and habits of the age, and with the distinctions of 
 the tribes who occupied the country, as the re- 
 searches of the latest writers have determined them. 
 Indeed from St. Aelred to the present century, almost all 
 who have written about St. Ninian have fallen into 
 some error or other from which he seems to be free. 
 This life soon became a popular work in our monas- 
 teries, if we may argue from the numerous copies which 
 seem to have been made. 
 
 It was abridged by John of Tinmouth, and from 
 him was inserted by Capgrave in his collection. It 
 has receiven the highest sanction from the Scottish 
 Church, as selections from it were read as Lessons for 
 St. Ninian's day, in the Aberdeen Breviary. There 
 are copies made within a few years after St. Aelred's 
 death, in the Bodleian and the British Museum ; 
 and it has been printed, though without the Intro-
 
 ST. ninian's early days. 1 1 
 
 duction, by Pinkerton, in a collection of old Lives of 
 Scottish Saints. 
 
 Later writers mention further circumstances re- 
 specting St. Ninian, but we have little evidence of their 
 truth. They may in some cases be regarded as tradi- 
 tional stories, and have credit given to them as not 
 being intrinsically improbable, in others the silence of 
 St. Aelred respecting them may be taken as a fair 
 proof that he did not know, or did not believe them. 
 The Irish life referred to by Archbishop Usher does not 
 appear entitled to much consideration. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 St. JVinian's early Days. 
 
 The date of St. Ninian's birth must be placed about 
 the middle of the fourth century. Alford has given 
 360. We may rather conceive it to have been a few 
 years earlier, as in 357, so as to make him forty years 
 of age at his consecration as a Bishop, in 397. 
 
 His name has been variously written and pronoun- 
 ced. We now uniformly call him Ninian, as he has 
 usually been called in England, and so his name is given 
 in the Roman Martyrology and by St. Aelred. In 
 Bede, however, the name is Nynias, in William of 
 Malmesbury Ninas, in other writers Ninus. In Scot- 
 land he is popularly called Ringan, the word being 
 pronounced Rin'nan, or Rinnian, or, (as in the Shetland 
 Isles) Ronyan. In L'eland, both Ringan and Ninian. 
 How the difference in the first letter arose (for the
 
 12 ST. NINIAN's EAJiLY DAYS. 
 
 rest is much the same in pronunciation) we have no 
 means of conjectui-ing. 
 
 The father of the Saint, as his biographer ex- 
 plicitly states, was a British Prince. To appreciate 
 however the condition of such a person in the age of 
 St. Ninian, we must forget the associations which we 
 usually connect with the Ancient Britons. This was 
 no longer a country occupied by wild savages, with 
 half naked and painted bodies, who lived in assem- 
 blages of miserable huts, buried in woods and pro- 
 tected by morasses. This state of things might ex- 
 ist in those parts of the Island which were unsubdued 
 or unoccupied by the Romans ; but those in which they 
 had now for tlu-ee centuries been predominant, had, 
 like their other provinces, become assimilated to the 
 habits of the conquerors. 
 
 Under this transforming system, a complete change 
 had been made in the appearance of the country and 
 the habits of the people. Forests had been cleared, 
 marshes drained, bridges thrown over the rivers, and 
 roads formed, intersecting the whole island, and af- 
 fording speedy and secure communication. Towns 
 sprung up, which imitated the cities of the conti- 
 nent. They had their temples, basiUcas, and the- 
 atres adorned with painting and sculpture ; their 
 shows and exhibitions. So that in a period of three 
 hundred years, Britain advanced in wealth and pros- 
 perity, and her artisans rivalled in activity and skill 
 those of the continent ; " every production of art and 
 nature, every object of convenience or luxm-y, was 
 accumulated in this rich and fruitful province." The 
 remains wliich are still left among us, bespeak the 
 advance of luxury and civilization. The tesselated 
 pavement, the marble bath, the elegant vase, tell what
 
 ST. NINIAN S EABLY DATS. 13 
 
 Roman taste had produced in England ; while we still 
 use, after a lapse of sixteen hundred years, the roads 
 which her labour formed. 
 
 With these changes there rose up a corresponding 
 alteration in the native population. They became 
 Romans ; filled the ranks of the legions ; acquired the 
 rights of citizens, and naturally imitated, as the model 
 of refinement and civilization, the dress, language, 
 and manners of the Italian. The British language 
 still continued as the mother tongue of the great body 
 of the people, but even that was in a measure Latin- 
 ized, and among the higher classes, Latin was gene- 
 rally spoken. The pleadings of the courts were con- 
 ducted in it, and the British youth were taught to 
 speak it by their grammarians and rhetoricians, whose 
 instructions formed the chief part of Roman educa- 
 tion. Even in the days of Agricola Latin was culti- 
 vated, and the natives excelled in eloquence ; the 
 sons of the British chieftains received a Roman edu- 
 cation, and began to adopt the Roman dress ; and in 
 the fourth century, these beginnings had issued in 
 the complete assimilation of the Provincial to the 
 Roman habits ; and the son of a British prince 
 may be conceived not to have difi'ered much, in point 
 of manners and civilization, from the inhabitants of 
 any other part of the empire. 
 
 Alford, indeed, smiles at the flattery of his bio- 
 grapher, in exalting the Saint to the v.orldly distinction 
 of the son of a king. St. Aelred, however, or his 
 Galwegian authority, was quite aware of the meaning 
 of this title when applied to a British chief. He says, 
 in speaking of Tuduval, a petty prince in Galloway, 
 " That the whole island was divided into portions sub- 
 ject to different kings." Like the other Celtic nations,
 
 14 ST. ninian's early days. 
 
 tlie Britons consisted of distinct tribes, with various 
 subdivisions of septs and clans, each under its own 
 chieftain, and these subordinated to a superior one. 
 Thus the four Kings whom Caesar speaks of in the one 
 kingdom of Kent. These national subordinations, 
 living on under, and through, the Roman period, and 
 naturally prevailing most on the outskirts of the em- 
 pire, are supposed to have been the origin of the 
 clans of the Scottish border. St. Aelred would identify 
 the position of the father of our Saint, with the kings 
 who governed the whole of the Cumbrian Britons 
 till within the memory of his own time ; though 
 this is giving him a wider extent of authority than he 
 probably possessed. 
 
 To suppose St. Ninian the son of one of the minor 
 chieftains under the Roman sway, is not assigning 
 him a very high or improbable distinction. These 
 kings, indeed, from their lands, or the contributions of 
 their tribes, often acquired considerable wealth, and 
 this coincides with what is said by his biographer of the 
 sacrifice he made in relinquishing his father's house 
 and his prospects in Britain, as well as with all we hear 
 of his education, and his acquaintance with the full 
 extent of theological teacliing, which his own country 
 could supply. 
 
 St. Ninian's father then was a petty chieftain of a 
 British tribe, and, as we should infer from St. Aelred's 
 description, on the north-west coast of Cumberland. It 
 is true that the claim of Cumberland to this her one 
 only native Saint may be disputed, and the right we have 
 to introduce St. Ninian into a series of English Saints, 
 For two other parts of the island have been generally 
 assigned. On the one hand, though without any alleged 
 ground so far as we cao ascertain, North Wales is stated
 
 ST. ninian's early days. 15 
 
 to have been his birth-place by Leland, Bale, and 
 others ; while he has most commonly been regarded as 
 a native of Scotland, and it has not unnaturally been 
 supposed that he was born near Whithern, the seat of 
 his futm'e Bishopric ; not unnaturally, because it was 
 to labour for the restoration of religion among his 
 own countrymen, primarily, that he was sent from 
 Rome. The inhabitants of Galloway, however, were of 
 one and the same race with the Britons of Cumber- 
 land, and so were really his countrymen, even if he 
 were born in Cumberland ; and as we go on it will 
 appear that his mission at first was not directed to 
 Whithern, but that after landing and preaching in his 
 native country, he chose that as his permanent abode. 
 St. Aelred is certainly an unprejudiced witness. His 
 authority was a Galwegian life, and he was writing his 
 narrative for the Church of Galloway, and he had 
 strong affections for that country. Still he states, as the 
 received opinion of his day, that the coast of Cumber- 
 land by the Solway was the birth-place of the Saint. 
 His words are, " in that district, as it is thought, which 
 lying in the western parts of the island, (where the 
 sea, stretching out, as it were, an arm, and forming two 
 angles on each side, separates what are now the king- 
 doms of the Scotch and English) is proved, not only by 
 the authority of histories, but also by the memory of 
 some persons, to have had kings of its own, even to the 
 latest times of the Saxons." ^ This arm of the sea 
 
 ' " In ea, ut putatur, regione, quae in occiduis ipsius insulae 
 partibus (ubi Oceanus quasi brachium porrigens, et ex utraque 
 parte duos angulos faciens, Scotorum nunc et Anglorum regna 
 dividit) constituta, usque ad novisslma Anglorum tempora pro- 
 prium habuisse regem, non solum historiarum fide, sed quorun- 
 dam quoque memoria comprobatur."
 
 16 ST. NINIAn'S early DATS. 
 
 is evidently the Solway, which on the cession of 
 Cumberland to Henry II., 1153, became the boun- 
 dary of the two kingdoms ; and it was on the western 
 shore of the Island, and in a district which had kings 
 of its own, " usque ad novissima Anglorum tempora ;" 
 that is, till the end of the Saxon times. The Cumbrian 
 Britons had kings of their own till the year 946, when 
 the last of their princes, Dunmail, fell in defence of 
 their narrow territories, and Edmund gave the con- 
 quered country to the Scottish kings. The British in- 
 habitants continued as a separate race in the time of 
 St. Aeb-ed, and took a conspicuous part in the Battle 
 of the Standard. 
 
 It is quite clear that Galloway was not the coimtry 
 intended, for it had Lords of its own, who were in 
 power in Aelred's day, and some time after ; and as he 
 was on terms of intimate friendship with Fergus, the 
 then lord, he would certainly not speak of them as 
 matter either of history or tradition. 
 
 Pinkertou indeed in a note on St. Aelred's life, sup- 
 poses as others had done, that Strathclydd, the Scottish 
 portion of the great northern settlement of Britons, 
 is the district referred to. But there are these ob- 
 jections to the view. Strathclydd which lies on the 
 opposite side of the Solway, and stretches to the 
 Clyde, would scarcely have been described as in the 
 western parts, in connexion with the mention of that 
 sea, as it is its south-eastern coast only which abuts 
 upon the Solway. Again, though the Strathclydd 
 race of kings had continued till 975, or perhaps 1018, 
 when there is the last mention of the inhabitants 
 of Strathclydd as having a king ; yet it does not 
 appear why they should be mentioned in connexion 
 with the Angli — the Saxons — who had not occupied
 
 ST. ninian's early days. 17 
 
 that district for some centuries previously, and then 
 only for a short time and very partially. Indeed the 
 " usque ad novissima Anglorum tempora" would not 
 seem to have any meaning as regarded any part of 
 Scotland, where, in St. Aelred's days, the Angli still 
 continued in as much power as at any previous time.^ 
 
 And there is a remarkable confirmation of our view 
 in Leland's account ; for though he represents North 
 Wales as Ninian's birth-place, and throughout his 
 history differs materially from St. Aelred, yet he says 
 that the country the Saint first visited as a mission- 
 ary, was the coast of Cumberland, " between St. Bees 
 Head and Carlisle," and Galloway. This is what we 
 conceive him to have done, supposing that part of 
 Cumberland to have been his birth-place, ^nd so far it 
 coincides with St. Aelred's account, that he first went 
 to his native place ; except that Leland, quite erro- 
 neously it would seem, places that missionary visit 
 before, instead of after, his residence at Rome. 
 
 It is allowed that St. Aelred's description is obscure, 
 but to suppose it to describe the Cumbrian coast, seems 
 the most natural interpretation. Let us then assume 
 that St. Ninian is an English and a Cumbrian Saint. 
 In that case he would be one of the great tribe of Bri- 
 gantes, who occupied the whole of the Northern coun- 
 ties of England. The district where he was born was 
 
 ' The name Cumbria was given to the whole district occu- 
 pied by the Cwmry, in Scotland and the north of England, 
 sometimes including even Galloway. The Scottish part was 
 called Strathclydd ; the English, to which the name of Cum- 
 berland was afterwards appropriated, Reged. We must not, 
 therefore, claim the authority of writers who call St. Ninian a 
 native of Cumbria, as they may have meant, of the Scottish 
 portion. 
 
 N
 
 18 ST. ninian's early days. I 
 
 in those days one of considerable importance. It lay 
 close to the wall of Severus, which there came to its 
 western limit, and for the defence of this line, a very 
 large proportion of the Roman forces was stationed in 
 the neighbourhood ; and it was near the point where 
 the great line of road through York to Carlisle termi- 
 nated. These circumstances made the district a busy 
 and excited one, and gave many opportunities of in- 
 tercourse with the Romans, and the rest of the world. 
 Still it was the busy scene of camps and warfare, for 
 the country was intersected by roads, and filled by 
 o-arrisons ; and its position on the Scottish border must 
 even then have made it a restless and unsettled dwell- 
 ing-place. 
 
 In a religious point of view, it is possible that this 
 free intercourse may have brought a knowledge of the 
 Gospel earlier amongst the natives of this district, 
 than of others which were in actual distance less re- 
 mote. "We know so little of the religious history of 
 Britain at tliis time, that we must judge much by 
 probabilities, and the parallels of other countries. 
 There had long been a Bishop at York, and probably 
 the small size of the island would have promoted a 
 more general conversion of the people than in France, 
 where, at the same period, a large portion of the 
 country were still unconverted. In the towns, Chris- 
 tian Churches would be established ; but in country 
 districts, the people might still be to a great extent 
 pagan. Indeed, it was to complete the conversion of 
 the inhabitants of the western side of the island, as 
 well as to root out the errors which prevailed among 
 those who were Christians, that St. Ninian was many 
 years after sent back from Rome. That the father 
 of St. Ninian was a Christian, is mentioned as a dis- 
 tinction.
 
 ST. ninian's eakly days. 19 
 
 We might probably infer, from the prince of the 
 district having accepted the gospel, that it would be 
 promoted among his countrymen, that Churches were 
 built, and clergy fixed among them. St. Ninian's reve- 
 rence for Churches is mentioned by his biographer, as 
 a mark of his youthful piety. Now, not far from the 
 sea-coast, in the very part of Cumberland where we 
 conceive St. Ninian to have been born, and of which 
 his father was the chieftain, there is a church, the 
 architecture of which has been supposed to indicate 
 its being built during the Roman occupation of Britain 
 — that of Newton Arloch, in the parish of Holme 
 Cultram. It is, then, not an improbable conjecture, 
 that this church, wliich, unlike the rest of the British 
 churches, was built of stone, may have been con- 
 nected with the family of our Saint. Shall we imagine 
 its erection the work of the British prince, and his 
 son baptized, and praying there ? Or the fruit of the 
 return of the Saint from Rome, when, as his Cathedral 
 at Whithern was built of stone, a corresponding work 
 of piety was performed, in the rebuilding the Church of 
 his native district. Anyhow, if such, as is by no 
 means improbable, be the age of the Church, and this 
 the birthplace of St. Ninian, we cannot but connect 
 them with each other. 
 
 The very circumstance that Christians were living 
 surrounded by a heathen population, assisted them to 
 realize that they were a distinct people, enjoying pecu- 
 liar privileges, and under especial obligations, separated 
 from the world, as in profession, so in duties and in 
 destinies. It was a state which gave a vivid force to 
 the language of the New Testament, and a manifest 
 visibility to the Church ; and their faith may Avell be 
 supposed to have been united to personal earnestness
 
 20 ST. ninian's early days. 
 
 and conviction, to actual renunciation of the world, 
 and a life corresponding to their calling. Such the 
 father of Ninian is said to have been ; " one of such 
 faith and merit, as to be thought worthy of a son 
 through whom the deficiencies in the faith of his own 
 people might be supplied, and a distinct tribe (the 
 Southern Picts) brought to a participation in the mys- 
 teries of our Holy religion." 
 
 His mother has been supposed to be one of a family 
 of Saints. The notion is not unnatural. In those 
 days, when the few names we know are those of Saint- 
 we should wish to imagine that they, at least, knew, 
 and were connected with, each other. And the in- 
 stances in sacred history, the selection of families 
 for privileges, the rewarding the children for the 
 piety of their parents, and the obvious effects of asso- 
 ciation, common education, and mutual intercession, 
 would lead us to think it likely. All this would sug- 
 gest the notion, till it passed into a probability, and 
 guesses became reports, and their very likelihood made 
 men believe them. Thus one would account for tin 
 tradition, that the mothers of St. Ninian and St. Pa- 
 trick, whose name is said to have been Conch, or Con- 
 chessa, were sisters of St. Martin of Tours ; thus 
 uniting, by the ties of blood, these holy men. This 
 statement, as regards the mother of St. Ninian, is 
 found in a MS. Catalogue of Saints, at Louvain, and 
 in Hector Boethius, and otlier later writers, of little 
 authority. But to say nothing of the improbability 
 that the daughters of a Roman officer, in Pannonia or 
 Italy, should have married two Britons, the life of St. 
 Aelred would be decisive against it. It is not to be 
 supposed that he should not have known it, had it in 
 his day been matter of probable tradition. Yet he
 
 ST. nlnian's early days. 21 
 
 not only omits it, but implies that St. Ninian's know- 
 ledge of St. Martin arose from the Life of the Saint, 
 by Sulpicius. 
 
 A brother is mentioned by St. Aeh-ed, in the later 
 part of St. Ninian's life, as his companion in his epis- 
 copal travels in Galloway. His name was Plebeius ; 
 and he is spoken of as his equal in sanctity. He, 
 probably, was one who stayed in his father's house, 
 and on the return of Ninian from Rome, became liis 
 feUow-laboui'er in the conversion of their countrymen, 
 and his helper, by example and admonition, in personal 
 holiness. 
 
 Born of such parents, our Saint " was in infancy 
 regenerated in the sacred waters of Baptism." So his 
 biographer begins his history — with the first element of 
 spiritual life, the source of all his graces ; and very 
 beautifully does he describe the preservation of the 
 purity then imparted. We might, indeed, wish to 
 know the circumstances by which the youthful Saint 
 was surrounded ; the events which befel him, and the 
 temptations he surmounted ; but it seems as if we 
 were to view him as Angels might love to do, in his 
 true spiritual condition, looking only to the Divine 
 work in him, not to those temporary and earthly acci- 
 dents by which it was carried out ; for of them no 
 record is left us. It is this inward life only which St. 
 Aelred records, and the graces in which it developed 
 itself. We must imagine the outward circumstances 
 of his condition as best we may. 
 
 " The wedding garment," he says, " which he then 
 put on," that pure bright clothing of the soul by the 
 gifts of grace, which the white robes of the new-bap- 
 tized figured, " he preserved unsullied." Such was his 
 special blessedness ; as one of those virgin souls which
 
 22 ST. niniajn's early days. 
 
 follow tho Lamb whithersoever he goeth. " Victo- 
 rious over his foults" — those tendencies to evil which 
 remain in the soul, like the Canaanites in Israel, to 
 exercise the Christian warrior in watchfulness and 
 obedience-r-" he presented it, spotless as it was, in 
 the presence of Christ, And coming thus pure for 
 the gift of Confirmation, he deserved, by the sanctity 
 of his character, to have, as the enlightener of his 
 holy heart, that Holy Spirit whom at first he had re- 
 ceived to purify it." 
 
 " Under this Divine Guide, whilst still a child, yet 
 with no childish mind, he shrunk from everything con- 
 trary to religion, from all that was opposed to chastity, 
 to right conduct, or the laws of truth ; and ceased not 
 to cultivate with the understanding of a man all that 
 was of the law, of grace, of good report, whatever 
 was of service to his neighbour and acceptable to God." 
 
 The circumstances of this holy childhood we must 
 imagine — the examples of religious parents, the 
 blessedness of a house where no sentiment unfavour- 
 able to piety was ever heard, the training of a saintly 
 mother, his first lisping prayers, his reverend intro- 
 duction to the Church. His first lessons in sacred 
 reading, his little playmates, his youthful trials, his 
 first schooling ; of these we only know that their in- 
 fluence issued in his sanctification and growth in grace. 
 One means of this, St. Aelred specially intimates — the 
 study of Holy Scripture, that meditative study which 
 is the only way to let its truths take a deep and sure 
 root in the heart. 
 
 " Blessed," his Life proceeds, " was he whose delight 
 was in the Law of the Lord ; in His Law did he 
 meditate day and night. He was like a tree planted
 
 ST. niniak's early days. 23 
 
 by the water side, Avliich brought forth his fruit in 
 due season." 
 
 This fruit was abundantly produced in the after-life 
 of St. Ninian. Let us observe the preparation for it ; 
 the early practice of meditating on Holy Scripture, 
 by withdi-awing the thoughts from dissipating obj ects, 
 and calmly and silently turning them to God ; dwell- 
 ing upon His word, and extracting from it all its 
 sweetness. This is that studying, exercising one's self 
 in, meditating, thinking on it, which we hear so much 
 of in the Psalms. It is very important to accustom 
 children to this practice, that they may not merely 
 read over certain portions of Scripture, but, taking a 
 few verses, dwell on them in silence, endeavouring to 
 enter into their meaning, to realize what they contain, 
 and apply it to themselves. " To read little and think 
 much," is a rule of Bishop Taylor's. 
 
 But in subordination to this sacred reading and 
 meditation, we cannot doubt that Ninian had all those 
 advantages of secular learning Avhich Britain afforded ; 
 and these were not inconsiderable. At the neigh- 
 bouring town of Lugubalia, our Carlisle, he would 
 have the means of acquiring the preparatory learning 
 of the encyclical course,^ as no doubt the military 
 establishments in the neighbourhood would induce 
 even a higher class of teachers than ordinary to resort 
 thither. 
 
 At York, Avliich was in turns with London the seat 
 of government, still greater opportunities would be 
 afforded for completing his secular studies ; and the 
 zeal and earnestness with which he would avail him- 
 self of them, his after history will abundantly testify. 
 
 ' See Life of St. German, No. IX. of this series, pp. 14, 15.
 
 24 ST. ninian's riper tears. 
 
 Oi his character in this part of Iiis life St. Aelrcfl 
 writes, desci'ibing it as the fruit which in its season 
 was brought forth from his continual meditation on the 
 divine law, and the purifying and enlightening in- 
 fluence of the Holy Spirit, " He brought forth his 
 fruit in due season," he says, " fulfilling in riper years 
 wliat he had with the utmost devotion learnt in youtli. 
 His devout reverence for Churches was wonderful ; 
 wonderful his affection for his companions. He was 
 temperate in food, sparing in words, assiduous in read- 
 ing. His manners were engaging, he abstained from 
 jesting, and ever subjected the flesh to the spirit." 
 
 CHAPTER III. < 
 
 St. Ninians Itiper Years. 
 
 Proceeding (we may well suppose) from this spiritual 
 mind, and the fruit of it, was that mental energy and 
 resolution wliich soon distinguislied him. Indeed it 
 could not fail to be so. It is matter of common obser- 
 vation, how remarkably the understanding of a poor 
 and uneducated man is developed l)y religious earnest- 
 ness. Such a one is awakened from sluggish indiffe- 
 rence. The end of his being is set before him, and he 
 feels that he has duties to discharge. The value of 
 Christian knowledge begins to be appreciated, medita- 
 tion on divine truths expands the faculties, and leads him 
 to see tlie connexion of religious ideas ; and love of the 
 Object of Whom sometliing is known, creates a holy 
 eagerness to know more. 
 
 The young and noble Briton, with {^tvi advantages
 
 ST, ninian's riper years. 25 
 
 indeed, yet earnestly desirous to use those few, had more 
 given. He began in careful self-government, unfeigned 
 reverence for Holy things, in sweetness of temper and 
 purity of heart. The Holy Spirit whose first fruits 
 were love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, good- 
 ness, faith, meekness, self control, imparted in due sea- 
 son and fuller measure his sevenfold gifts. Such is the 
 true course of attaining divine wisdom. Holy Scripture, 
 in enumerating these gifts, mentions first that which 
 is the highest, and therefore the last attained ; in the 
 actual order they are inverted, and become the steps of 
 wisdom ; first is fear, the beginning of wisdom, fear 
 of offending God and losing our souls ; then ?'eve- 
 rence for every manifestation of the Divine will and His 
 truth ; hence knowledge imparted to the docile heart ; 
 then counsel guiding us to choose our course each day 
 ai'ight ; then resoluteness and strength to adhere to it ; 
 understanding readily to discern the Divine will and to 
 enter into the meaning of His words ; and lastly, as 
 the crowning point, wisdom in the contemplation and 
 perception of the highest truth. 
 
 Far different in its origin is that unpractical temper 
 which would treat the truths of our most Holy Faith 
 as matters of mere intellectual knowledge, and seek to 
 know what is and what may be said about them, in a 
 curious and disputatious spirit, tampering with most 
 sacred things. Such a temper can only end in dark- 
 ness, ignorance, and error, even if it retains the out- 
 ward expression of the truth ; for it is quite compati- 
 ble with the neglect of relative duties, self-indulgence, 
 angry passions, and gross habitual violations of the 
 divine law. Nay, from its offensiveness to Almighty 
 God, and profane familiarity in His most Holy Pre- 
 sence, and the hardening of a heart which has been
 
 26 ST. ntntan's riper years. 
 
 accustomed to close the affections and the will against 
 the most influential truths, it is most likely to lead to 
 falKng away from grace and final departure from God. 
 
 But far different was the case of St. Ninian ; humil- 
 ity, i)urity, and love, were the elements of his character. 
 In him holiness of heart was the principle which led to 
 an earnest desire after divine knowledge. There was 
 One Supreme Object of his affections, and on that same 
 Object his thoughts would ever be fixed : where the 
 heart is kept in the love of God, the mind will turn to 
 the knowledge of Him. And it was the working of this 
 simple principle which determined the course of Ids 
 life. He had been taught the principles of the faith, 
 and he sought to realize more and more what is 
 revealed respecting the Heavenly Father, and the 
 Eternal Son and the Holy Ghost. He was constant in 
 drinking in at the fountain of Eternal Life in the 
 Scriptures, and tracing there the manifestations of 
 the truth ; and the result was a yearning after a 
 more exact knowledge of Religious Truth, after that 
 Truth which would be consistent with itself, and har- 
 monize with the statements of Holy "Writ. 
 
 " Before the mind," it has been said, " has been roused 
 to reflection and inquisitiveness about its own acts and 
 impressions, it acquiesces, if religiously trained, in that 
 practical devotion to the Blessed Trinity, and implicit 
 acknowledgement of the Divinity of Son and Spirit, 
 which Holy Scripture at once teaches and exemplifies." 
 " But as the intellect is cultivated and expanded, it can- 
 not refrain from the attempt to analyze the vision 
 >vhich influences the heart, and the Object in which it 
 centres. Nor does it stop here, till it has, in some sort, 
 succeeded in expressing in words, what has all along 
 been a principle both of the affections and of practical 
 obedience."
 
 ST. ninian's riper years. 27 
 
 Such seems to have been the state of St. Ninian's 
 mind ; and a most critical period it was in his spiritual 
 history. For whereas the Divine arrangement is, to 
 provide, by the gradual teaching of the Church, that 
 knowledge which the religious mind desires, the cir- 
 cumstances of the British Church at that time failed 
 to supply it. His heart would have responded to 
 the notes of truth, but they were not truly and 
 clearly heard. 
 
 It is not a pleasing task to depreciate the estimate 
 which may have been formed of the religious condition 
 of Britons at any period ; but a writer of vSt. Ninian's 
 life cannot avoid the subject ; it stands full in his 
 way, tor the whole of our history turns upon the fact 
 that the teaching of the British Church at that time 
 was very imperfect and erroneous. His biographer 
 is explicit on this point, and the evidence from other 
 sources inclines the same way. Bede's statement as 
 to the prevalence of Arianism, does not imply merely 
 that when the British bishops consented to the sup- 
 pression of the true doctrine at Ariminum, our church, 
 like the rest of Christendom, wondered to find itself 
 Arian. On the contrary, he speaks of a pecuKar pre- 
 valence of error here ; an infection of Arianism first, 
 and that followed by every form of heresy ; and the 
 cause he assigns for it in the fickleness of the national 
 character, would lead us to expect what he intimates, 
 the inconsiderate reception of errors, and the want 
 of any sound or stable teaching of the truth ; " novi 
 semper aliquid audire gaudenti, et nihil certi firmiter 
 obtinenti." 
 
 Nor is it at all inconsistent with this, to believe that 
 the Bishops adhered to the Nicene formulary, and that 
 such was the profession of the British Church gene-
 
 28 ST. XIXIAX'S RIPER YEARS. 
 
 rally. In 353, they had unwillingly yielded at Arimi- 
 num, but in 3G3, St. Athanasius, in his letter to Jovian, 
 enumerates them among a long list of nations who 
 acknowledged the Creed of Nice. Persons might 
 agree to the form in which the Catholic doctrine was 
 expressed, and feel shocked at the idea of separating 
 themselves from the faith and communion of the whole 
 Church, and yet not have any deep hold on the truth 
 itself, or, when they came to explain what they meant, 
 any accurate knowledge of it. We may well imagine 
 more active minds openly Arianizing ; more religious 
 and less intellectual ones obscure and inconsistent in 
 their statements, and quite unfit to teach dogmatically ; 
 and this would coincide with the fact of the Bishops 
 submitting under their trials to an Arianizing formula. 
 St. Jerome and St. Chrysostom have repeatedly, in- 
 deed, been referred to, as witnessing to the orthodoxy 
 of the British Church, but the passages really bear very 
 slightly on the subject, and rather suggest a different 
 view ; for in each case the mention of Britain is intro- 
 duced to establish the universal prevalence of the 
 practice they are speaking of ; it existed even in Bri- 
 tain ; and Britons were regarded as very exiles from 
 the rest of the world. " The Gospel has prevailed 
 over heathenism," argues St. Chrysostom ;^ " besides 
 the Scythians, Moors, and Indians, even the British 
 Isles have felt its power, and churches and altars 
 are established there." " That it is not lawful to have 
 a brother's wife, resounded even in Britain," besides 
 other remote and barbarous countries. Again, in a 
 passage more to the point, of which the beauty itself 
 
 ' St. Chrys. torn. 10. 638, torn. 1. 515, torn. 3. 71, Ed. Ben. 
 are the references made by Stillingfleet.
 
 ST. ninian's kiper years. 29 
 
 will be an excuse for quoting it at length, speaking of 
 the study of the Holy Scriptures, he compares them 
 to a " Paradise of Delight, not like that of Eden con- 
 fined to one place, but filling the whole earth, and 
 extending to the utmost bounds of the habitable 
 world. ' Their sound is gone out into all lands, and 
 their words into the ends of the world.' Go to the 
 Indians," he says, "on whom the rising sun first looks ; 
 to the Ocean, to those British Isles (so does he speak 
 of us) ; sail to the Euxine ; go to far southern climes ; 
 everywhere will you hear all professing the philos- 
 ophy of the Scriptures ; with different voice, but no 
 different faith ; the tongues discordant, but the minds 
 in unison." 
 
 But beautiful as the passage is, and comforting as 
 the sentiment it contains, yet it is much too general 
 and rhetorical in its style, to found any accurate view 
 upon. The passage quoted from St. Jerome^ is from 
 a letter from SS. Paula and Eustochia to St. Marcella, 
 Avishing her to come to visit the holy places in Pales- 
 tine. Their spiritual guide, St. Jerome, was sup- 
 posed to have composed it, and so it passed under 
 his name, but the Benedictine editors are of opinion 
 that it was not written by liim. " Christians," they 
 say, " from all the world visit those sacred places. 
 The Briton separated from our world, if he has made 
 any progress in religion, leaving the setting sun, seeks 
 a place known to him only by report and the mention 
 of it in Scripture." 
 
 There does not seem in these passages anything to 
 oppose the distinct statement of Bede, as to the preva- 
 lence of error. Their tone would rather lead us to 
 
 ' Ep. ad. Marc. torn. 4. p. 2. 441, Ed. Ben. There are 
 several other passages in Jerome to the same effect.
 
 30 ST. nlnlvn's rii'er years. 
 
 think that the British Church Avas not very higlily 
 esteemed by the rest of Christendom. And quite con- 
 sistent with this was their condition, when the Bishops in 
 vain endeavoured to resist the progress of Pelagianism. 
 The life of St. Ninian certainly represents the state of 
 the Church to have been such that he could find no 
 complete teaching of the truth, and that it was on 
 account of the errors which prevailed, that he returned 
 as a missionary among them. 
 
 As respects schools for theological teaching, there 
 does not seem to be evidence of any previous to the 
 visit of St. Germanus, except perhaps the monastery of 
 Benchor ; and it is doubtful whether this existed at 
 the time of which we are speaking. That there were 
 such schools, however, is not questioned. Indeed, 
 there were among the contemporaries of Ninian, some 
 whose character for learning was acknowledged through- 
 out the Church. Pelagius and Ca^lestius, sad as is the 
 remembrance attached to their names, were men of 
 distinguished talents and learning. The former, born 
 354, it has been said, was educated at Benchor, and 
 became superior of it in 404. ^ His abilities and ac- 
 complishments were recognized by the best and great- 
 est Doctors ; he was on terms of familiar intercourse 
 and correspondence with SS. Jerome, Augustine, and 
 Paulinus, and highly esteemed and loved by them. 
 The writings of Ciiilestius, a native of Scotland or Ire- 
 land, before he became heretical, were universally 
 admired for their orthodoxy, learning, and virtuous 
 tendency. Somewhat later, St. Patrick flourished, and 
 Fastidius and Faustus later still. 
 
 But even if there were schools of theological learn - 
 
 » Usher de Prim. B. E. p. 207.
 
 ST. ninian's riper years, 31 
 
 ing where such men were trained, of what use could 
 they be, if they did not hold that faith which it Avas 
 their duty to teach ? There may be existing in a 
 country an ample establishment of places of education 
 for every age and every rank, yet what are they worth 
 if the truth has departed ? It is the ^ody when the 
 spii-it has fled ; the salt without its savour ; the lamp 
 unsupplied with oil. It is worse. Not teaching the 
 truth must be training the mind in error. And it is 
 not wonderful, though Britain about this time did send 
 out men of distinguished talents, that those who did 
 not humbly seek instruction elsewhere were more or 
 less heretical. Pelagius and Ca3lestius were almost 
 contemporary with Ninian and Patrick. How remark- 
 able is the diiferent issue of the histories of these fellow- 
 countrymen. Ninian, (and as some say, Patrick too,) 
 with little name for learning, and in their lifetime 
 probably little known in this world, pursue the course 
 of humility and obedience, seek the City for no earthly 
 object, but for the inestimable pearl, the knowledge of 
 Christ — cultivating a saintly character, and prepared at 
 the bidding of their superiors to leave the privileges, and 
 happiness there enjoyed, for the arduous office of con- 
 verting their heathen and barbarous countrymen. Pe- 
 lagius and Caelestius, passing from, it may be, the more 
 civilized parts of the island, looked up to, even in Rome, 
 as distinguished men, enjoy the society and esteem of 
 the learned and the saintly — attain name and distinc- 
 tion in the Church — foUow their own ways, and leave 
 their memories branded with the awful note of heresy. 
 Of Pelagius's numerous works scarcely a fragment re- 
 mains. " I went by and lo ! he was gone ; I sought 
 him but his place could no where be found." " They 
 are like the chaflF which the wind scattereth away from
 
 32 ST. ninian's uiper veaks. 
 
 the face of the earth." But " the righteous live for 
 evermore, and his memory is blessed." 
 
 But to pursue the course of St. Ninian's history. 
 The time we ai^e speaking of is probably prior to the year 
 
 380, and so before the Council of Constantinople a.d. 
 
 381, had finally destroyed the Arian party. Then it was 
 that the earnest desire of learning the true faith took en- 
 tire possession of St. Ninian's mind. He sought instruc- 
 tion from the best teachers his own Church afforded, but 
 could not obtain it. He felt their teaching was im- 
 perfect. It did not harmonize with what he knew was 
 true, nor accord with those Scriptures which he had 
 ever studied. He had a teacher within — that inward 
 and divinely kindled Light which illumines the mind 
 of many an unlettered peasant, and gives him a real 
 perception and understanding of the truths of the 
 Creed, and of the sense of Holy Scripture. He had 
 learned the elementary truths of the Gospel, and a 
 religious life had impressed them on his mind as living 
 realities. Thus much light was thrown on the mean- 
 ing of those Holy Scriptures on the thought of which 
 he had lived from a child. For the knowledge of the 
 Rule of Faith, as St. Aelred, with the primitive fathers, 
 calls the system of Christian Doctrine, was an entering 
 into the very mind of the Spirit, which is the true key 
 to the understanding of His most holy Words. That 
 mind is expressed in various forms, pervading every 
 part of Psalm and Prophecy, History and Papistic ; and 
 we shall best understand them, not by critical investi- 
 gations into the meaning of words, but by learning 
 more of the mind of the Author ; just as one who knows 
 but in a very slight degree the views of a writer, will 
 apprehend his meaning with readiness and certainty, 
 while one who weighs the words and criticises their
 
 ST. ninian's riper years. 33 
 
 force with the utmost jealousy, will find them full of 
 ambiguity and uncertainty, and at last arrive at a 
 doubtful and probably erroneous conclusion. The 
 Scriptures had been the subject of his constant study 
 and meditation from early youth — of a practical, devout 
 study, that they might be the guide of his life and the 
 model he aimed to imitate, and now the hidden things 
 they contain were being revealed to him, and contin- 
 ually more light tlirown upon them, as they were made 
 more practical, and connected with the truths of the 
 Creed. 
 
 With this inwai'd perception of Divine Truth, St, 
 Ninian could perceive the inconsistencies of the teach- 
 ing of the British Ecclesiastics, and its discrepancy 
 from the Scriptures. In him were the words made 
 o-ood, " I have more understanding than my teachers, 
 for Thy testimonies are my study. I am wiser than 
 the aged, because I keep Thy commandments." 
 
 Disappointed of help where he most naturally and 
 dutifully looked for it, what was he to do ? It was not 
 perhaps to be expected that he should be led into a 
 perfect knowledge of the truth by the light within, 
 independently of external teaching. In the case indeed 
 of an accomplished and highly illuminated teacher, or 
 one precluded from the means of instruction, or as a gift 
 of special grace, one would not presume to limit its pos- 
 sible range. In such cases the development of truth 
 by holy and loving meditation, and devout study of 
 Holy Scripture, may surpass conception. But to vSt. 
 Ninian the means of further instruction were open, 
 though at a great and trying sacrifice, that of forsaking 
 his home and all that was dear to him on earth. 
 
 Before, however, this step was taken, whilst he 
 sought for further teaching, we may conceive his 
 o
 
 M ST. NINIAN S KIPER YEARS. 
 
 trials to have been veiy great. There was the tempta- 
 tion to indifference, to seek no more of that which he 
 already had in a larger measure than most around him, 
 and to turn the thirstings of his ardent mind to those ob- 
 jects, (such as they were,) which occupied the thoughts 
 and aims of most of the young nobles of liis time ; and 
 the checks and difficulties he met with would suggest 
 themselves as reasons for such a course. But he was 
 not disposed to feed on the husks of swine after having 
 tasted of that which was sweeter than honey and the 
 honeycomb, more to be desired than gold and all man- 
 ner of riches — the knowledge of Him who passetli 
 knowledge. '^^ > t ■'■^^ 
 
 On the other hand, there was the temptation to rest 
 in what he knew, in intellectual self-satisfaction, to feel 
 pride in superior attainments, to point out the errors of 
 others, and argue on the illogicalness of their conclu- 
 sions — to shew that they could not prove what they 
 maintained, and to make a display. But surely no 
 earnest mind could do this. It was the truth which he 
 desired to know ; to be thought to know it was matter 
 of indifference to him. To prove others wrong could 
 but be an occasion of sorrow, unless it aided himself and 
 them in attaining truth; 'WnirA oiil oilJ ■^aihuai budi c 
 
 A more subtle temptation remjiined ; to thi^w hito- 
 self on the resources of his own mind, to trust to 
 the deductions of his own intellect, either from the text 
 of Holy Scriptures or the doctrines lie had already 
 been taught. For this he Wab too humble, llie 
 immensity and awfulness of the subject, and the con- 
 sciousness of his own imperfections, both of ^vill and 
 understanding, might well make him draw baclt from 
 so perilous and uncertain a work. Reverence would 
 shrink from touching with a young aud uninformed
 
 ST. ninian's riper years. 35 
 
 mind subjects which it only regarded as objects of 
 veneration. Moses was bidden to put his shoes from 
 off his feet before he approached the Holy One. The 
 cherubim cover their heads against the dazzling bright- 
 ness of the earthly manifestations of Divine glory. It 
 is only where the mind has been trained into the know- 
 ledge of the faith, and is influenced by great sanc- 
 tity and humility, that it can safely use the reason in 
 matters of faith. Others must be content, and if they 
 have the elements of holiness, will be desirous, only to 
 be taught by those of higher attainments than them- ■ 
 selves. 
 
 Wliat then was he to do ? St. Aeh-ed thus describes 
 his state. " He intently applied his mind to the study 
 of Holy Scripture ; and Avhen he had, in their way, 
 learnt the Rule of Faith from all the most learned of 
 his own nation, being possessed of a discerning mind, 
 he perceived, according to the understanding he had 
 himself by Divine inspirations gained from Scripture, 
 that they fell far short of perfection. Hence his mind 
 was thrown into uncertainty ; and unable to rest in in- 
 complete knowledge, his heart swelled within him ; he 
 sighed ; his heart grew hot within him, and while he 
 was thus musing the fire kindled. What, he said, shall 
 I do ? I have sought in my own country for Him 
 whom my soul loveth, and have not found Him. I 
 will arise ! I will compass sea and land ! I will seek 
 that truth which my soul loveth !" 
 
 In this state of mind Rome naturally presented itself 
 as the place to which he should have recourse. She 
 who for centuries had been the queen of nations, was 
 now attaining a greater glory, as the chief Church of 
 
 Christendom, the centre of the Christian world the 
 
 home of faith and devotion— the point to which all that
 
 36 ST. XIXLVX'S RIPER YEARS. 
 
 was great and good drew as to a safe refuge. High as 
 was her bearing in the eye of the world, yet greater 
 still was the interest which attached to her in the eyes 
 of a Christian. Man saw her noble edifices, her wealth, 
 her power ; yet that outward kingdom and glory was 
 but a shell to guard an inner principle of life, and 
 Avas now breaking in pieces to allow of its develop- 
 ment. Here was a Church which the chief of the 
 Apostles had founded and taught, and for which they 
 had shed their blood; a Church which had careluUy 
 preserved the faith as it had received it, by the Holy 
 Ghost dvv^elling in it. To her, as a guide, the chief 
 writers of the western Church had directed tliose who 
 sought to know the truth ; and during the long Arian 
 struggle, she had been the main support of the fiaith ; 
 and tlie purity of her belief, and the completeness of 
 her teaching were known and acknowledged by all. 
 
 " To this Church," St. Irenreus had said long ago, 
 " on account of its higher original, all Churches must 
 have recourse." And TertuUian, " Go to the Apostolic 
 Churches to learn the faith. If thou art near to Italy, 
 thou hast Rome, where we also have an authority close 
 at hand. Blessed Church ! on which the Apostles 
 poured their doctrine with their blood. Let us see 
 what she hath learned, what she hath taught." This 
 was the Church, which the Council of Antioch shortly 
 before had called " the School of the Apostles and the 
 Metropolis of Religion ;" and Theodosius in an edict, 
 published just at this time, A. D. 380, respecting faith 
 in the ever blessed Trinity, commanded that all the 
 nations under his rule " should steadfastly adhere to 
 the religion which was taught by St. Peter to thf 
 Romans, which faithful tradition had preserved, which
 
 ST. ninian's riper years. 37 
 
 was now professed by Pope Damasus, and by Peter, 
 Bishop of Alexandria." 
 
 These are the sentiments St. Aeked attributes to 
 St. Ninian, in a soliloquy which embodies the views 
 that might naturally be supposed to influence him. 
 " I have in my own country sought Him whom my 
 soul loveth, and have not found Him. I will arise, 
 I will compass sea and land to seek the truth which 
 my soul longs for. But is there need of so much toil ? 
 Was it not said to Peter, Thou art Peter, and upon 
 this rock will I build my Church, and the gates of 
 Hell shall not prevail against it ? Li the faith of Peter 
 then there is nothing defective, obscure, imperfect ; 
 nothing against which evil doctrine or peiwerted sen- 
 timents, the gates as it were of Hell, could prevail. 
 And where is the Faith of Peter but in the See of 
 Peter ? Thither certainly I must go, that leaving my 
 country and my relations, and my father's house, I 
 may be thought worthy to behold with inward eye 
 the fair beauty of the Lord, and to be guarded by His 
 Temple." And of the temptation which would draw 
 him back. "The deceitful prosperity of life smiles 
 on me — the vanity of the world is attractive — the love 
 of my relations wiles me to ■ stay — difficulties and per- 
 sonal sutferings deter. But he who loveth father and 
 mother, saith the Lord, more than Me, is not worthy 
 of Me, and he that taketli not up his cross and fol- 
 loweth after Me, is not worthy of Me. I have learnt 
 too that they Avho despise Kings' palaces, attain to hea- 
 venly kingdoms." 
 
 Such were his feelings. And should it seem strange 
 to speak of a young Briton as making any great sacri- 
 fice in leaving a distinction almost nominal in a re- 
 mote country, regarded as scarcely belonging to tlie
 
 38 ST. ninian's riper tears. 
 
 Roman world, for the metropolis of the empire, the 
 seat of refinement and luxury, of taste, literature, and 
 intellect, of all which was calculated to engage the in- 
 terest and sympathy of a Christian — should it be 
 thought that the change was one to be gladly caught 
 at — let it be considered that it was not the leaving 
 Britain for Rome merely, which indicated the devotion 
 of St. Ninian. This might have been done from the 
 lowest motives, ambition, curiosity, pleasure, and might 
 not have implied the tearing asunder of any ties ; as 
 many have made pilgrimages from the mere love of 
 wandering. The circumstances and the end determine 
 the character of the action. The sacrifice of worldly 
 interest might have been small ; but it was a sacrifice 
 of all he had, and that without any earthly recompense, 
 and He who rewarded those who left their father, and 
 all that they had, though but an interest in a fisher- 
 man's poor stock, would have accepted him. 
 
 Relatively speaking however the sacrifice was con- 
 siderable. If the eldest son, he would hold the rank of 
 Tanist, as the destined successor to the reigning king ; 
 and his country was no longer, as we have seen, that 
 in which the captive Prince had wondered the Romans 
 could envy his poor cottage. Many of its Princes pos- 
 sessed considerable wealth ; in their days of indepen- 
 dence they had coined gold and silver, and in all proba- 
 bility still continued to possess hereditary revenues. 
 And Roman manners had introduced even into Britain 
 objects which that wealth might purchase. Their 
 elegant and costly works, their notoriously extravagant 
 luxuries, show that Ninian could have found ways of 
 expending his inheritance which the children of this 
 world would have envied ; baths, and costly marbles, 
 inlaid pavements, and all the elegancies of art. For
 
 ST. ninian's riper years. 39 
 
 objects of ambition he might have aimed, at least, to be 
 the chief among his countrymen ; or by engaging in 
 the service of Rome have I'isen, as other provincials 
 had done, to high distinction. Even the imperial 
 purple was not beyond the grasp of an ambitious 
 spirit. The British legions about this very time made 
 Maximus Emperor, and the great Constantine has been 
 said to be a native Briton. 
 
 Bnt these things were seen in their true colours by 
 Ninian. He had renounced them in his Baptism, and 
 his heart had never returned to them. The world, with 
 its charms of pleasure, its prospects of wealth or 
 ambition, had no hold on him. His real trial was from 
 a deeper attachment — aiFection to his friends, a sacri- 
 fice made more painful in proportion as Christian piety 
 increased his love to them. Almighty God seems 
 ever, as it were, to retain a hold upon us, so as to be able 
 to inflict sharp pain for our correction, or give us the 
 opportunity of overcoming it from love to Him ; and this 
 especially through our affections. Men hardened by am- 
 bition, covetousness, and indifference to religion, yet re- 
 tain deep and tender love for wife or child ; and the loss 
 of them, or the sorrows which befall them, are contin- 
 ually means of awakening them to a sense of religion. 
 So in those who for Christ's sake have weaned their affec- 
 tions from all other eartlily objects, their very progress 
 in goodness, wlule it gives them strength to forsake even 
 what they best love tor Him, and keeps them from set- 
 ting their affections on them, yet makes their love 
 more tender and deep, and the pain of separation in it- 
 self greater, entirely though it be compensated for by 
 the overflowings of Divine consolations. 
 
 Such seems to have been St. Ninian's chief struggle ; 
 but the remembrance of his Lord's calls, and the great-
 
 40 ST. NINIAJ^'S RIPER YEARS. 
 
 ness of his promises, prevailed, and he went out where 
 Christ seemed to call him. 
 
 It has been reported tliat his father had at first 
 wished him to keep in the way of life which his birth 
 and circumstances naturally pointed out, and that it 
 was with great unwillingness that he yielded to his 
 son's desire to give up the world for a life devoted to 
 religion. Tliis however must have been earlier, when 
 St. Xinian gave himself up in his own country to the 
 pursuit of religious truth. Still there is a peculiar 
 pang when a final step is taken, which breaks off en- 
 tirely hope which may against hope have been secret- 
 ly cherished ; still more when that step took from 
 their home him whose distinguishing sweetness and 
 affectionateness must have made him beloved, whilst he 
 was reverenced. But all these considerations sank be- 
 fore the great object he had in view, and he left his 
 home, and as his biographers say, "like Abraham, he 
 went out from his country and his father's house." 
 
 Two other reasons have been assigned for his visiting 
 Rome. The first is a conjecture of Alford's, that he went 
 to take advantage of the schools, the original of our 
 universities, which had been established on so large a 
 scale, and with so systematic a discipline by Yalentin- 
 ian. They had been instituted in 370, and with a 
 special view to the education of provincials. It is plain, 
 however, that this view is quite inconsistent with the 
 picture given us by St. Aelred. It was for no advan- 
 tages of secular learning that the humble and affec- 
 tionate Ninian left his parents and his home. It was 
 the need of religious teaching, of that knowledge which 
 is life eternal, which caused and justified his sacrifice. 
 Besides, the students were not allowed to continue after 
 tliey were twenty years of age, which would make
 
 ST. XINIAN'S journey to ROME. 41 
 
 Ninian so young on his going there, as to give an 
 entirely different character to his visit. He would in 
 that case appear to have been sent, as it were, to the 
 university by his parents. It is enough to say that this 
 is purely a conjecture, and not only without Ibundation, 
 but inconsistent with the earlier histories of the Saint. 
 Camerarius again represents his visit as occasioned by 
 the rules of the Culdees, to whom he supposed him to 
 belong, who required those who were to be consecrated 
 Bishops among them, to have previously visited the 
 Limina Apostolorum. But this is apparently an ana- 
 chronism, as the Culdees do not appear in history 
 till above a century after St. Ninian's time. 
 
 Leland too places the visit to Rome after he had 
 been engaged in missionary labours in Britain ; but he 
 gives no authorities, and mentions the subject so inci- 
 dentally, and without noticing the different account 
 given in the received Lives, that we should rather 
 suspect him of a mistake in memory as to the Saint's 
 history, than of so slightingly opposing the best au- 
 thorities for the history. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Sf. Xiiiians Journci) to Rome. 
 
 The date of this journey we cannot accurately deter- 
 mine. It was certainly before the year 385 ; for the 
 Pope by whom St. Ninian was consecrated and sent as 
 a missionary to Britain was not the one in whose Pon- 
 tificate he arrived in Rome. St. Siricius was his con- 
 secrator, and he was elected Pope on the death of 
 St. Damasus in 385. Prior then to this date, and 
 during the Popedom of St. Damasus, was the time of
 
 42 ST. NINIAn's JOUKNEY to ROME. 
 
 St. Ninian's aiTival ; and we should conjecture that it 
 was prior to the year 383, as there is not iu his Life 
 any reference to the convulsion occasioned by the re- 
 volt of" Maximus, which introduced great changes into 
 Britain and Gaul, by the emigration of a considera- 
 ble portion of the British nation to Brittany. Per- 
 haps 381 may be conjectured, when he was twenty-one 
 years of age or upwards. 
 
 By the assistance of the Itineraries Ave may trace 
 the route by which Ninian would travel from his 
 northern home, near Caidisle, to the great city. The 
 road began either on the south of the Solway, or in 
 Annandale, and ran through Carlisle by Old Penrith, 
 where a noble military way may still be traced, thence 
 by the vale of the Eden to Brough, and over the 
 dreary hills of Stainmoor. Here Ninian would have 
 the last glimpse of those mountains within sight of 
 which he had spent his youth, and the remembrance 
 of which, with all the associations of friends and kin- 
 di'ed, is so deeply engraven on the heart. He would 
 cross the moorlands and travel along a road which 
 runs by Bowes and Catterick, and which we still enjoy 
 as an inheritance from our Roman conquerors, and 
 so to York. 
 
 Tliis was, as we have said, the second city of Britain, 
 the residence of the governors, and the See of an Arch- 
 bishop, and here most probably the young prince 
 would receive commendatory letters to other Catholic 
 Bishops, and particularly to Rome. Hence he would 
 proceed by the great line of Watling street to London, 
 and Sandwich. This was the port from which they 
 sailed for Boulogne. Passing tlu-ough Rheims, then 
 an episcopal city, he would come to Lyons, that first 
 cradle of the Church of Gaul, consecrated by the
 
 ST. NINIAn's JOUENEY to ROME. 43 
 
 memory of her martyrs, and her sainted Bishop, St. 
 Irenteus. It was now a great city, but more interest- 
 ing to St. Ninian, as it was now probably presided 
 over by one who, during the period of Arian trials, 
 had been the firm maintainer of the Catholic faith 
 — St. Justus. He was the friend of St. Ambrose, and 
 Bishop from 370 to 381, when he resigned his office 
 and retired to Egypt, to embrace a monastic life, and 
 end liis days in devotion and peace. 
 
 The direct road from Lyons to Milan over the 
 Great St. Bernard, was steep, narrow, and impass- 
 able for carriages ; another from Vienne by the Little 
 St. Bernard, was more circuitous but easier ; they 
 united at Aosto. His Biographer especially mentions 
 that he crossed the Gallic Alps, to impress us, as it 
 would seem, with the arduousness of a journey, terrible 
 from its natural difficulties, and dangerous from the 
 robbers who infested it ; for not many years before St. 
 Martin had been attacked here, and saved from murder 
 only by a miracle. 
 
 He now entered Italy, and came among cities and 
 Churches associated with the names and lives of Saints 
 distinguished in the history of religion ; and these 
 Avould be the objects on which his thoughts would fix. 
 Nature indeed spread before him her most sublime and 
 then her loveliest scenery. The world presented riches 
 and splendour. He might encounter on the road the 
 magnificent equipages and retinue of the wealthy 
 Roman, coaches of solid silver, mules with trappings 
 embossed with gold, horsemen preceding to clear the 
 way, and a train of baggage and attendants, cooks, 
 slaves, eunuchs, marshalled like an army. But he 
 was proof against these seductive imaginations ; the nil 
 admirori is not so effectually pi'oduced by any philoso-
 
 44 ST. NIXIAn's journey to ROME. 
 
 pliy as by the calm recollection of the Christian, whose 
 guarded eye does not allow him to forget the shadowy 
 nature of what is seen, and the reality of those things 
 wliich are not seen ; and he would esteem above all the 
 beauties of nature or of art, the Church in each place 
 he came to, and the pious Christians Avhom Ik- miglit 
 meet Avith. 
 
 And there was one of these places wliich was con- 
 nected in an interesting way Avith his own future his- 
 tory — Vercelii, through which the road from Lyons 
 to Milan passed. Its late Bishop, St. Eusebius, had 
 inti'oduced here, for the first time in the western 
 Church, the union of the clerical and monastic life, 
 which was afterwards adopted by St. Ninian. St. Eu- 
 sebius had died ten years before, but the system 
 was still kept up ; and it may not be out of place 
 hei'e to give St. Ambrose's description of it, as it will 
 by anticipation describe the episcopal life of St. Ninian. 
 
 The Bishop and Clergy lived together in one house, 
 shut out from the world, and adopting the way of life 
 of the Egyptian monks, having all things in common, 
 and devoting their days and nights to continued prayer 
 and praise, labour and study. " Can any thing," says 
 the Saint, speaking of their society, " can any thing be 
 more admirable than their way of life, in which there 
 is nothing to fear, and every thing worthy of imitation ; 
 where the austerity of fasting is compensated by tran- 
 quillity and peace of mind, supported by example, 
 made sweet by habit, and cheered by virtuous occupa- 
 tions. A life not disturbed by temporal cares, nor dis- 
 tracted by the tumults of the world, nor interrupted 
 by idle visits, nor relaxed by intercourse with the 
 world." Thus, under the eye of the Bishop himself, 
 Clergy were trained up, of whom he personally knew
 
 ST. NINIAN's journey to ROME. 45 
 
 the blamelessness, piety, and zeal ; while their cha- 
 racters were so esteemed, that other Churches sought 
 their Bishops from him, and many distinguished Pre- 
 lates were sent out from his school. 
 
 In after days, St. Ninian, on the coast of Galloway, 
 might recall to his mind the time when he had seen 
 Vercelli, and the first model of a system which, with 
 some modifications, was soon generally embraced, both 
 by missionaries and in settled churches, and is the 
 original of the chapters of our cathedrals. 
 
 The road brought him from Lyons to Milan, Avhich 
 from the year 303 had been the chief residence of the 
 Emperors of the west, and soon assumed the splendour 
 of an imperial city. In the number and beauty of the 
 houses, the gay and polished manners of the people, 
 and the magnificence of the public buildings, it seemed 
 to rival, and not sufifer in comparison from the prox- 
 imity of, Rome. In this place St. Ambrose was Bishop, 
 and even to the eyes of the world that great man 
 would appear the most important object in Milan. 
 The popular voice had taken him from a high civil 
 position to be their Bishop, and he was such an one 
 that Theodosius recognized in him a realizing of all 
 a Bishop ought to be. His people were devoted to 
 him, and his influence could withstand and control 
 the highest earthly sovereigns. And yet so simple was 
 his life that Ninian might have seen or conversed with 
 him. He gave himself Avholly to the work of the min- 
 istry. Constant in prayer, by day and night, he slept 
 little and fasted daily. Yet he was accessible to all. St. 
 Augustine generally found him surrounded by crowds 
 of persons and full of business. His time which was not 
 thus occupied, and it was but little, was given to re- 
 freshment or reading, and he read where any one might
 
 46 ST. ninian's journey to rojie. 
 
 come to him ; no one was hindei'cd, nor was it usual 
 for them to be announced, so that Augustine would 
 come and stay in the room, and leave again, unwilling 
 to interrupt liim. He preached every Sunday, and 
 Ninian may have listened to that eloquence which 
 melted the stubborn heart of him who afterwards was 
 St. Augustine, and which we may read with so much 
 admiration. 
 
 But Rome was his object, and he hastened forwards. 
 The Via Flaminia brought him to the shore of the 
 Adriatic, to the fatal Ariminum, connected with 
 recollections most distressing to every Christian, and 
 to a Briton still more so, as the scene where the 
 Bishops of his Church had fallen into an allowance of 
 heresy. But better days were coming to the Church ; 
 for whilst the Eastern Bishops had met at Constanti- 
 nople, and republished the Nicene Faith ; in the year 
 381, perhaps the very one in wliich St. Ninian was 
 travelling through Italy, councils were held at Aquileia 
 and Milan, were St. Ambrose was most distinguished 
 for his zeal for the maintenance of the true Faith. 
 Keeping along the coast to the Metaurus, the road 
 there turned inland, and crossing the passes of the 
 Apennines, led on to Rome. 
 
 And what a scene must Rome have presented to St. 
 Ninian as he beheld it on his approach, and saw the 
 wide gilded roof of the Capitol, or the gorgeous splen- 
 dour of the Palatium rising above the innumerable 
 buildings which surrounded them. Or as he passed 
 through the Forums, or under the Temples or Basilicas 
 which overhung its streets, how vast must it have ap- 
 peared in the multitudes of its people, and the grandeur 
 of its edifices. Above a million, some say many mil- 
 lions of inhabitants, were enclosed within a circuit of
 
 ST. NINIAn's journey to ROME. 47 
 
 twenty miles. The luxurious villas and gardens whicli 
 were spread around it, hemmed in the portion occupied 
 by dwellings, so that the houses rose to a tremendous 
 and dangerous height, far exceeding the limit of 70 
 feet, which law had imposed ; yet these were broken 
 by wide places around on which stood the most magni- 
 ficent specimens of ancient architecture ; and porticos, 
 arches, columns, and statues, were seen on every side. 
 The palaces of the nobles, now numbered at nearly 
 2000, from their enormous establishments of slaves, 
 were little towns of splendid architecture, with marble 
 columns and gilded statues, each comprising within 
 itself " every thing which could be subservient to use 
 or luxury, forums, temples, fountains, baths, porticos, 
 with shady groves and artificial aviaries." An over- 
 grown population of poor and idle citizens occupied 
 at an enormous rent the different floors and rooms of 
 the crowded houses, intent only on the daily doles of 
 food and the public entertainments of the Circus. 
 
 The pomp of heathen worship still remained, though 
 its privileges and revenues were diminished. Half the 
 senate at least still adhered to the ancient superstitions, 
 and garlands, processions, and victims might be seen, 
 whilst the smoke and odour of sacrifices and incense 
 still rose on every side. The rich, unoccupied by 
 political or mercantile pursuits, spent their days in idle 
 and frivolous pleasures, and a continual round of dissi- 
 pation. There might be seen the rich senator, in ele- 
 gant and costly dress, making his way tlirough the 
 streets, attended by some fifty slaves ; or sailing in his 
 barge, screened by silken awnings and listening to lux- 
 urious music. Their wealth was enormous, and it was 
 seen in their display of gold and silver plate, the mag- 
 nificence of their establishments, the number of their
 
 48 ST. NINIAN'S journey to ROME. 
 
 slaves, and the lavish expenditure of their exhibitions 
 and public entertainments. Luxury and refinement 
 seemed to have reached their utmost limit, and the 
 great metropolis of the world to be sinking down, worn 
 out by its own effeminacy. 
 
 There were, indeed, schools of learning, supported 
 and regulated by the state, and a great university, 
 to which students from every part of the empire 
 resorted, to obtain the advantage of a Roman edu- 
 cation ; and the philosophical professor might be 
 known by his peculiar dress. The teachers were for 
 the most part men opposed to the Christian faith, 
 who, by a revived and modified Platonism, ex- 
 plained away the grosser features of Polytheism, and 
 put forwai-d views of philosophy and morals, which, 
 with the utmost zeal and talents, they opposed to the 
 doctrines of the Gospel. Here Ammianus publicly 
 read his admired history, the eloquent and virtuous 
 Symmachus pleaded almost with fanaticism for the 
 toleration of the religion of their fathers ; and tlie 
 philosophers (as Eunapius and Libanius) published 
 explanations of the popular religion, and attributed 
 miracles to the distinguished leaders of their schools, 
 which had not long before received a temporary 
 patronage under the apostate Julian. 
 
 Such were the varied and strange objects which, so 
 far as it was not Christian, Rome presented to the 
 view of the British stranger, who now made his way 
 along its streets. Nor indeed would the Christian 
 community seem exempt from the corruption of the 
 atmosphere in which it lived. Besides the Catholics, 
 we must remember, there were numerous bodies of 
 heretics, especially Manichees, assuming the name of 
 Christians, and sometimes concealing themselves among
 
 ST. NINIAN's journey to ROME. 49 
 
 them, who endeavoured, by their subtle disputations, 
 and professions of austerity, to gain over converts from 
 the true faith. These were most numerous at Rome, 
 and lived in a miserable way, dispersed through all the 
 quarters of the city, and though professing a severe 
 life, really given up to self-indulgence, and bringing 
 reproach upon their name by their immoralities and 
 crimes. Here might be seen parties of Sarabaites, 
 vagabond and pretended monks, who lived two or 
 three together, under no rule or government, exhibiting 
 pretended sanctity, as a cloak for indulgence, fasting 
 for display, and when a feast came, giving way to 
 excess. Superstition, too, doubtless existed among the 
 people, and vices inconsistent with the religion they 
 professed. For the good, it has been said, are as 
 grains among the chaff ; here one and there one from 
 the accident of their position, stand prominently out, 
 and are discerned almost buried in the surrounding 
 mass, Avliich gives its own complexion to the whole. 
 These things would strike the eye of the casual ob- 
 server, and it might, perhaps, too, surprise one who 
 had not considered that the Church was a net in- 
 closing bad and good, and that the irreligion and su- 
 perstition of the mass of men would abuse and dis- 
 credit the holiest system. 
 
 If St. Ninian had not thought of this, there would 
 doubtless be much among the Roman Christians to 
 shock and to distress him. That Church he had 
 looked to, as the model of excellence and the guide to 
 truth ; to be taught by her he had relinquished home 
 and friends, and now he saw, even in her bosom, and 
 under the very eye of the Saintly Bishop, gross and 
 evident sin. " I know," says St. Augustine, " that 
 there are many who adore sepulchres and pictures ;" 
 p
 
 50 ST. NINLVN's journey to ROfME. 
 
 and so by superficial or evil-disposed persons, among 
 heretical or pagan contemporaries, the Church was ac- 
 cused of introducing a new idolatry of martyrs and 
 relics, and substituting as objects of divine worship 
 those whose tombs were consecrated by the venera- 
 tion of the people. 1 "I know," proceeds the Saint, 
 " that there are many who di'ink to excess on occasion 
 of bui'ials, and make great feasts, under pretence of 
 religion."''^ Among their testimonies to their gene- 
 rally consistent and virtuous lives, the very heathens 
 we find charging Christians with immorality, with the 
 moi'e earnestness because of its contradicting the rules 
 they professed. Violence, party spirit, ambition, found 
 a place among them. The election of the present 
 Bishop — for at Rome the whole body of Christians had 
 a voice in the choice of their Bishop — had been at- 
 tended with violence and bloodshed. The clergy were 
 often secular in their habits, endeavouring to gain 
 favour with the rich, and using their influence to ob- 
 tain legacies ; so that the civil power interfered by 
 law to check the evil. The wealthy were infected by 
 the luxury of the age and yielded to the pleasures and 
 dissipation common to their class. It might fall to St. 
 Ninian's lot to witness the sad abuses which were 
 practised on the vigil of some martyr, corrupting the 
 holiest services to evil ; abuses such that the celebra- 
 tions themselves were suppressed by St. Ambrose, and 
 the abuses provided against, by the influence of St. Au- 
 gustine. 
 
 But indeed, how could it be otherwise, when the 
 
 ' As by Eunapius and Faustus the Manichee, quoted by Gib- 
 bon, c. 28, notes 60 and 88. 
 
 * St. Aug. de MoribusEccl. Christ. 1. c. 34,
 
 ST. NINIAn's journey to ROME. 51 
 
 world was flocking into the Church. " In speaking 
 against such men," is St. Augustine's answer, "you 
 do but condemn those whom the Church herself con- 
 demns, and daily labours to correct, as wicked chil- 
 dren. It is one thing that we are commanded to teach, 
 another we are commanded to correct, and forced to 
 tolerate till we can amend it." For the last seventy 
 years the emperors had been, with few exceptions, pro- 
 fessed Christians ; they had encouraged the same pro- 
 fession in others, and men influenced by the considera- 
 tion of worldly interest, and with no serious sense of 
 religion, would outwardly embrace it. And let us not 
 forget that by doing so, faulty as the motive might 
 be, they yet brought themselves and those dependent 
 on them, under a holy discipline, and to the enjoy- 
 ment of privileges, and inward influences, which might 
 prevail in their children's case if not in their own, and 
 lead them to eternal life. Still this prevalence of an 
 external profession could not but have the effect of 
 lowering the apparent standard of Christian holiness. 
 It needed a counteracting influence, that the Church 
 might still be the light of the world and the salt of the 
 earth ; and it found it in the visible separation from 
 the world, and eminent sanctity of those who followed 
 out their baptismal vows by the relinquishment of all 
 earthly ties, and the professed adoption of a religious 
 life. The Holy virgins and monks it was who now 
 kept alive the flame of piety, and were, so to say, 
 the soul of the Church. And their holiness testified 
 perpetually against the unworthy lives of others. 
 This is ever to be kept in mind when we read (as in 
 St. Jerome or St. Sulpicius) of the evil and worldly 
 lives of the clergy of their time. They had before 
 them laigh living standards of the devotion and sanctity
 
 52 ST. NINLVN's journey to ROME. 
 
 suited to the Christian calling, and saw more vividly 
 any departure from it. It was the disciple and bi- 
 ographer of St. Martin, and tlie monk of Palestine, 
 the admirers and advocates of perfect self-denial, and 
 the ascetic life, who chiefly speak of the evils pre- 
 valent among Clu'istians. That they discerned these 
 evils implied that the principle of right, the conscience 
 of the Church, was sensitive and whole. There are 
 ages where Christians so lose the true standard, that 
 they are unconscious of their loss. 
 
 This may guard us against misjudging the Church 
 which St. Ninian now visited, whilst in endeavouring 
 to pourtray its i-eal condition, we repeat Avhat contem- 
 poraries have said of the evils which existed in it. 
 
 Externally indeed the Church of Rome had now 
 attained to great splendour and magnificence. The 
 time had come when the wealth of the nations poured 
 in to her, and "she decked herself with jewels as a 
 bride doth." The very Christians who had endured 
 the last and most trying persecution of Dioclesian, 
 raised up moi-e splemlid Churches than he had de- 
 stroyed. Long before, during her earlier persecutions, 
 the sacred vessels were of gold and silver. Martyrs 
 suifered because they refused to give up the holy 
 trust, and we know the details of them from the very 
 inventories made by the spoilers.^ If, then, con- 
 fessorship be an argument for sanctity, and sanctity 
 for a perception of the truth, we have this authority 
 for decking with magnificent adornings the Christian 
 Churches, as the Jewish Temple was by Divine com- 
 mand. In Rome, the Basilicas liad been given to the 
 Church, noble oblong buildings, with rows of columns 
 
 ' Bingham, 8. 6. 21.
 
 ST. NIXIAJJ'S JOURNEY TO ROME. 53 
 
 running lengthwise, and forming, as it were, a nave 
 and aisles. Other Churches were erected over the 
 tombs of Martyrs, where the awful service of the 
 Christian Sacrifice was performed, according to the 
 majestic and simple Liturgy which the Church had 
 received from St. Peter. The taste and magnificence 
 of the present Pope had contributed much to adorning 
 the sacred edifices, and enhancing the grandeur of 
 tlie services. For the continuous praise of the ever 
 blessed Trinity he had provided for the chaunting 
 of the Psalter night and day, with the Doxology as we 
 now use it. He had built two Basilicas, and given 
 costly offerings of gold and silver vessels to others. 
 Ai'ound the altars, lamps of gold, and wax lights 
 in massive candlesticks, burnt by day and night, 
 dispelling the natural light. The perfumed cloud 
 of incense rose up in the solemn service of the 
 Mass. Gold and silver vessels, and precious stones 
 furnished and adorned the Churches, and garlands 
 and flowers hung around ; nay, the devotion of the 
 people made them hang up, on cords of gold, memo- 
 rials in precious metals of the blessings they had re- 
 ceived in answer to their prayers, or through the 
 intercession of the Martyr, over whose grave the 
 Church was raised. ^ 
 
 Such were the Churches and Services of Rome, and 
 so deeply was St. Ninian influenced by them, that 
 his first work, on returning as a Missionary into 
 Britain, was to build a Church after the Roman 
 fashion, and there with the Faith of the Roman 
 Church, to introduce her custom in the celebration of 
 Divine offices. 
 
 1 Bingham, 8. 8. 2.
 
 54 ST. NINIAN's JOUKNEY to ROME. 
 
 There was one object of surpassing interest, to 
 which first he made his way — the Churches where 
 the martyred remains of St, Peter and St. Paul were 
 laid. The body of St. Paul had been buried a little 
 distance from Rome, on the Ostian road, where his 
 Church now stands ; that of St. Peter, on the Vatican, 
 probably by the Jewish Christians who lived in that 
 quartei". Afterwards part of each was laid beside that 
 of the other, in vaults in their respective Churches, 
 that as they were lovely in their lives they might not 
 be divided in death. These were recognized as 
 their burial places at the end of the second century, 
 and at this time, St. Jerome says, " the Bishops of 
 Rome, offered the Holy Sacrifice to God over the 
 revered bones of departed human beings, and consid- 
 ered their tombs as Altars of Christ." The Vatican, 
 where the more splendid vault and Church were placed, 
 was known as the Confession of St. Peter and the 
 Limina Apostolorum. Hither sentiments of devotion 
 drew Christians, at this time, from all parts of the 
 world, emperors, consuls, and generals, says St. Chry- 
 sostom, devoutly visited the sepulchres of those who 
 in their lives had been lowly in the world, but were 
 now exalted. 
 
 To seem to be, were it only in imagination, 
 brought near to those chiefest of the Apostles, and 
 most blessed Martyrs, must have been esteemed by 
 St. Ninian a singular privilege. It is a natural senti- 
 ment which men of all ages are affected by. "We 
 move," said the philosopliic heathen, " in those places 
 where thei-e are, as it were, the very footmarks of those 
 we admire and love. For my own part Athens itself 
 does not so much delight me by exquisite and magnifi- 
 cent works of art, as by calling to mind those greatest
 
 ST. NINIAn's journey to ROME. 55 
 
 of men ; wliere each was wont to live, to sit, and to 
 discourse ; and their burial places I look on with the 
 intensest interest." How much more to a Christian to 
 trace in Rome the places which had been consecrated 
 by the footsteps, the blood, the very remains, of the 
 Apostles. To recall the image of St. Paul, the aged 
 prisoner, his deep knowledge of Christian Truth, his 
 zeal, his constraining eloquence, his patience, his cha- 
 rity ; — or of St. Peter, full of love for his Lord, of hu- 
 mility, of readiness to die and to prefer a death of pain 
 for His sake. It was the belief that their spirit and 
 doctrine were preserved here which brought St. Ninian 
 from his distant home. Rome had killed them — Rome 
 for which they had laboured and interceded ; and the 
 blood of Martyrs, like that of their Lord, cries for mercy 
 on their persecutors, and brings blessings on the Church 
 for which they had shed their blood. So they became 
 the life of Rome. Persons taking a mere external 
 view saw this. Rome went to decay, and "like Thebes, 
 Babylon, or Carthage," says the historian of her fall, 
 " its name might have been erased from the earth, if 
 the city had not been animated by a vital principle 
 which again restored her to honour and dominion. 
 Two Jewish teachers," (so he speaks) "a tentmaker 
 and a fisherman, had been executed in the circus of 
 Nero, and five hundred years after their relics were 
 adored as the Palladium of Christian Rome :" and 
 a glory and a kingdom were given to it before which 
 the ancient empire sank into inferiority. 
 
 To these slirines St. Ninian came, with a heart full 
 of devout sentiments ; with gratitude that he should 
 have been brought to this great object of his desire ; 
 that he, a Briton, from almost another world, might 
 approach the very remains of the Apostles ; and with
 
 56 ST. NINIAn'S life at ROME, 
 
 earnest prayers for the furtherance of his designs. 
 " He shed tears," as the simple narrative proceeds, 
 " before the holy relics of the Apostles, as pledges of 
 his devotion, and with many prayers commended his 
 desii'e to their patronage." 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 St. JVinian's Life at Home. 
 
 After having thus performed his devotions at the 
 tombs of the Apostles, St. Ninian sought tlie Pope, 
 and laid before him the object of his journey. It had 
 long been usual for Christians, in travelling from one 
 part of the Church to another, to take with them com- 
 mendatory letters from the Bishop of their own Church, 
 which should be an evidence of their being in the 
 Catholic Communion, and a recommendation to the 
 Churches wliich they might visit. Such we suppose 
 St. Ninian to have brought and to have presented to 
 St. Damasus, who had now for nearly twenty years 
 occupied the holy See, having been elected at sixty 
 years of age, in 3fi6. By this aged saint he was most 
 kindly received, and the object of his leaving his home 
 and seeking the Church of Rome, heartily entered 
 into and approved. St. Damasus, himself, was a 
 man of taste and learning. Some of his sacred poems 
 and official letters have come down to us. He was also 
 a great encourager of learned men, and prompted 
 them to undertake works for the service of religion ; 
 one especially, the Translation and Commentaries on 
 the Scriptures by St. Jerome, was the fruit of his
 
 ST. NINIAN's life at ROME. 57 
 
 suggestions, for which alone he deserves our gratitude. 
 This saint was probably with him about the time St. 
 Ninian came : he resided at Rome for two years, at 
 the wish of the Pope ; and assisted liim in these last 
 years of his life in writing those important letters, on 
 many nice and important points of doctrine and ecclesi- 
 astical rules, which the See of Rome, consulted and 
 appealed to from every part of Christendom, had 
 continually to send out. And it may throw light on 
 the real character of St. Damasus, who is said to 
 have wrought miracles in life and after death, to con- 
 sider him as supporting under strong unpopularity the 
 austere and simple mannered Jerome, and selecting 
 him as his confidential adviser ; and as entering, with 
 the kindness and interest of a father, (for he embraced 
 him, it is said, as his own son,) into the views of the 
 devout Ninian, who, from a simple desire after the 
 knowledge of Christian Truth, had given up all the 
 world had to oifer him. For, outwardly, St. Damasus 
 lived in a splendour which emperors might envy, and 
 had a mind which delighted in great and magnificent 
 works. "Whilst Christian Bishops in general lived 
 with simplicity, external humility, and often in po- 
 verty, the Bishops of Rome were surrounded by pomp 
 and grandeur. But under this external splendour how 
 often in every age has there been concealed a true 
 poverty of spirit and a self-denying life. St. Jerome, 
 who knew well the character of the Pope, and whose 
 sincerity and severe standard of Christian holiness 
 renders his testimony most valuable, designates him as 
 " of holy memory." 
 
 St. Ninian was received by him with the utmost kind- 
 ness, Avith, as has been said, the affection of a father. 
 He laid open the object for which he had come to Rome ;
 
 58 ST. NIXIAN's life at ROME. 
 
 and how highly does it speak for the deeply devout 
 character of the Pope, now nearly eighty years of age, 
 that he should enter into and approve a course which 
 had about it so much which in other matters we should 
 call romantic. How rarely do we find the aged capable 
 of entering into the feelings of the young, in cases 
 especially, where worldly interests are concerned, and 
 the usual course of action is departed from. The mere 
 natural disposition of old men leads them to look on the 
 self-forgetfulness of the young as a kind of folly, which 
 experience and sobriety of spirit will wean them from. 
 Such is the temper to which intercourse with the 
 world, and the downward and hardening tendencies of 
 our evil nature, incline us, even towards what is right, 
 and good, and noble, in the temperament of the young. 
 But not such is the aged Christian. He has learnt by 
 experience the true value of that Pearl of great price, 
 and the worthlessness of the woi'ld's best treasures. 
 In him love has been warmed and deej^ened ; and self- 
 sacrifice become a practical and habitual principle. 
 So that, whilst he has the discriminating eye which 
 sees the true path of duty, and distinguishes between a 
 course suggested by mere emotion or self-will, and 
 that to wliich the guidance of the Holy Spirit leads 
 the youthful scholar in the saintly life, he yet is not 
 wanting in the fullest sympathy with all that is no- 
 ble and disinterested in his spirit. The Christian mind 
 is one in all, and produces a mutual sym})athy in 
 those in whom it exists. Diversities of race and 
 climate, of station, age, emplo}'ment, which swallow 
 up the whole character in others, are but an outside 
 clothing to Christians, and fade away before the 
 unity of that in which the moral being really consists.
 
 ST. NINIAN's life at ROME. 59 
 
 And age and youth love to dwell together in sympa- 
 thy and peace. 
 
 N^inian was placed by St. Damasus under the care of 
 teachers, who instructed him systematically in the doc- 
 trines of the Faith. He was, as Bede expresses it, 
 regular'iter doctus. We do not, indeed, know what 
 provision was made for the teaching of Christian doc- 
 trine to individuals. It would seem as if, as yet, it 
 had not assumed any very systematic shape. From 
 the first, the teachers (Doctors) formed one class of 
 the Christian ministry. They whose gifts, extraor- 
 dinary or ordinary, qualified them more especially for 
 the office of instructing others in the Faith, would be 
 employed in preparing converts and catechumens for 
 bajjtism ; and it seems most probable that they would 
 themselves advance in the study of Holy Scripture, 
 and the Christian writers, and in the further training 
 up of others. And this was one use of the JNIinor 
 Orders of the clergy, in which, according to the rule 
 of the apostle, they served a sort of probation for the 
 diaconate; and under the eye of the bishop, and the 
 teaching of the Doctors, prepared themselves for the 
 higher offices. At Alexandria the Church taught all 
 learning, human and divine. In other Churches, sec- 
 ular and preparatory knowledge of the arts and 
 sciences, was learnt from the established heathen insti- 
 tutions ; and Christian knowledge from their own Clergy. 
 
 Under the care of his present teachers St. Ninian 
 had every reason to rejoice in the step he had taken. 
 " The youth, full of the spirit of God, perceived that he 
 had not run or laboured in vain, as he now understood 
 that from their unskilful teachers, he and his country- 
 men had believed many things opposed to sound doc- 
 trine." He met with that satisfaction which the mind
 
 60 ST. ninian's life at home. 
 
 feels in the consistency of the truths put before it ; and 
 still more the peace resulting from the confidence 
 wliich such harmony inspires, that it is indeed the truth 
 itself respecting the Supreme Object of his desire, love, 
 and reverence ; and not a shadow Avhich it grasps in- 
 stead. And the Holy Scriptures, now explained in 
 their true sense, harmonized with the doctrines incul- 
 cated. 
 
 The advantages he enjoyed, in this respect, were 
 very great. The Roman church was indeed the school 
 of the true faith, and in its atmosphere heretical teach- 
 ing was at once discovered. The controvercies of the 
 day had caused the truth on the most essential Doc- 
 trines to be elicited and defined ; and for the interpre- 
 tation of Scripture, the learning, and deep and clear 
 understanding of the Sacred writers, possessed by St. 
 Jerome, if not directly engaged in teaching St. Ninian, 
 must yet, without doubt, have had their influence on 
 those to whom St. Damasus committed him for instruc- 
 tion. It was the time, too, when the spiritual under- 
 standing of Scripture was being brought out so much 
 by St. Ambrose. And all the teacliing he then ob- 
 tained, whether from the lips of his instructers or the 
 writings of the great teachers of the Church, was 
 eagerly learnt and carefully stored up by St. Ninian 
 for his present comfort, and to be brought out in future 
 years for the instruction of others. In St. Aelred's 
 words. " Applying himself Avith entire eagerness to 
 the AVord of God, he drew from the views of different 
 teachers, as the laden bee from various flowers, the 
 rich honey with which he filled the cells of wisdom, and 
 stored them in the hive of his heart, to be kept there, 
 to be meditated on, and afterwards brought out for the
 
 ST. NIMAN's life at ROME. 61 
 
 refreshment and support of his inner man, and the con- 
 solation of many others." 
 
 It was indeed a worthy recompense, that he, who 
 for the love of the truth had thought lightly of home, 
 country, wealth, and pleasures, should, so to say, be led 
 into the innermost shrine of truth, and admitted to 
 the very treasures of wisdom and knowledge ; should 
 receive for carnal, spiritual ; for earthly, heavenly ; for 
 temporal, eternal goods. He was happy. For he had 
 now found a home ; for what is a home but a place 
 where we meet with abiding sympathy — where we feel 
 we can repose on those who love us, and whom we love. 
 He had left a home which was dear to him ; one 
 which he might well and holily love ; but he had 
 found another, where he had what his own home could 
 not give, the knowledge of his Saviour. He had a new 
 father in the holy Damasus, and guides and directors in 
 his wise teachers, and doubtless many brethren, for not 
 in vain would he pray, " Let such as fear Thee, and 
 have known Thy testimonies, be turned unto me. And 
 Rome was full of objects for a Christian to admire and 
 love. 
 
 It so happens that, cliiefly from St. Jerome's let- 
 ters, we know much of the spiritual history of the 
 Roman Church, and of what occurred there about this 
 time, and as St. Ninian must have been influenced by 
 what was going on, and our estimate of what he was 
 must be to a greater degree formed by knoAving the 
 characters held in esteem at that day, some longer 
 reference to them may be excused. 
 
 For the first two or three years of his stay St. 
 Jerome was residing there, beloved and esteemed by 
 the good for the holiness of his life, his humility, and 
 learning. Intimately associated as he was with St.
 
 62 ST. NINIAK's life at ROME. 
 
 Damasus, particularly in his theological studies, it is 
 not unnatural to suppose that the young enquirer after 
 truth had opportunities of drinking in the lessons of 
 wisdom from his lips. For the Saint suffered, it is said, 
 from sore eyes, and so was led to spend more time in 
 oral teaching and conversation. One of his chief em- 
 ployments was to answer the enquiries of those who 
 consulted him on the interpretation of Holy Scripture, 
 and he was ever ready to afford the benefits of his in- 
 struction to those who sought it. There can be little 
 doubt that St. Ninian would earnestly desire to hear 
 him, or that opportunities would be given him. 
 
 Not long after his arrival another event occurred 
 which must have been most interesting to him, and 
 have made him feel as in the very metropolis of the 
 Church. In the year 382, a council was held in Rome, 
 at which Bishops were assembled, whose names have 
 ever been honoured, and whom St. Ninian through 
 life might remember. St. Ascholius, Bishop of Thes- 
 salonica, was here, the intimate friend of St. Atha- 
 nasius, one who had laboured in the conversion of 
 the Goths, a work like that to which the latter part 
 of St. Ninian's own life was to be devoted. St. P^pi- 
 phanius, too, the aged Bishop of Salamis, and Pau- 
 linus, of Antioch, had come with St. Jerome, and 
 spent the winter of 382-3 in Rome, lodging in the house 
 of the holy w^dow St. Paula. Epiphanius, now above 
 seventy years of age, had lived through the troubled 
 times of Arianism. He was the scholar and the dear 
 friend of the sainted hermit, Hilarion, and his own life 
 had for many years been spent in religious solitude, 
 whence he had derived a severe and unbending charac- 
 ter, and was now higlily lionoured in the Church. St. 
 Ambrose was here, and lodged in the house of his
 
 ST. NINIAJST S LIFE AT ROME. 63 
 
 sister, St. Marcellina, to Avhom he was indebted for the 
 blessings of a religious education, and for a bright ex- 
 ample of sincere piety. She had thirty years before 
 put on the religious habit, and devoted herself to a life 
 of singular holiness in retirement, silence, and prayer, 
 — the secret cause, it may be, in some degree of that 
 glory which shone forth in her brother. 
 
 It was a time when many Roman ladies of high rank 
 and wealth retired from the world, and devoted them- 
 selves in their own homes, and with their near relations, 
 to the exercises of religion and works of charity. Each 
 house was a little monastery, where prayer and praise, 
 and fasting and watching, dwelt with love and abun- 
 dant almsgiving, and works of mercy for the souls and 
 bodies of others — widowed mothers, with their daugh- 
 ters, giving up the enjoyment of wealth and station, 
 and withdrawing to be nearer God. Such was the natu- 
 ral way in which, before the systematic introduction of 
 monastic rules, pious Christians adopted a mode of life 
 which enabled them to serve God without distraction, 
 in prayer and the practice of charity. 
 
 Such was St. Marcella, whom St. Jerome calls the 
 glory of the Roman ladies. She had, after losing her 
 husband, early endeavoured to imitate the ascetics of 
 the East, of whom she had heard from St. Athanasius, 
 She refused to marry again, and employed herself in 
 works of devotion and charity. Her example was 
 followed by many noble maidens, who placed them- 
 selves under her care, and many religious societies 
 were formed in consequence. 
 
 One of the most distinguished of her spiritual chil- 
 dren was St. Paula, whom she had comforted on the 
 death of her husband, and induced to forsake the 
 world. St. Paula was descended from one of the
 
 '64 ST, NINlAN's LIFE AT KOJIE. 
 
 noblest Roman families, and had given up great riches 
 and a high place in society, to seek consolation in God. 
 She had now adopted a life of retirement and poverty 
 in the possession of wealth, enquiring out the poor and 
 relieving them with her own hand. " She could make," 
 she said, " no better provision for her children than by 
 dra^ving on them by her alms, the blessings of heaven." 
 Her time Avas cliiefly spent in religious reading and 
 prayer. She avoided the distractions of society, seek- 
 ing only the edifying conversation of religious people. 
 At her house, as was said, St. Epiphanius and Paulinus 
 were lodged, and St. Jerome was lier spiritual guide 
 during his stay in Rome. There were many others, some 
 of whom, in the society of their own families, formed 
 religious retreats ; others united together, under the 
 guidance of a holy and experienced matron. It is 
 most interesting to see the way in which these asso- 
 ciations sprung up. The spontaneous growth, as it 
 were, of a deep sense of the truths of religion, and of 
 love to God and man. The example of the solitaries of 
 Egypt had but to be set before them, and they whose 
 hearts were prepared followed it. A few were in- 
 fluenced at first, and from them it spread to greater 
 numbers. They were possessed with the desire of 
 leading a heavenly life on earth, and embraced it 
 under such forms as naturally suggested themselves. 
 We call their houses monasteries, but they are so differ- 
 ent from what we usually associate with the name that 
 it is apt to mislead us. They were simple and natural 
 associations of religious persons, living in ordinary 
 dwellings, and devoting themselves to a strict life of 
 silence, abstinence, and prayer, to labour and works of 
 love ; and tliey might rise up spontaneously in any
 
 ST. NINIAN'S life at ROME. 65 
 
 Church where there was the spirit which at first gave 
 them birth. 
 
 The monasteries of Rome, as being religious commu- 
 nities formed in the very heart of the city, are highly 
 commended by St. Augustine. ' The religious lived 
 together, under the care of a virtuous and learned 
 priest, maintaining themselves by their own labour, 
 ordinarily having but one meal each day, and that 
 towards night ; some fasting for longer periods, even 
 for three or more days, but no one being forced to un- 
 dergo austerities he could not bear.' It was most 
 natural for St. Ninian to join some such body ; for he 
 was separated from his country, without any ties in the 
 world, or any home but what the Church oifered, and 
 so to unite himself to a body of like minded brethren, 
 in a society of religious men, living together under 
 some rule, was the obvious course by which to seek for 
 support, sympathy, and improvement. Here he was 
 free from the wretchedness and the sights of evil which 
 a life in the city would bring. He might live in 
 silent study, or laborious occupation, enjoying the 
 blessing of undistracted attention to Divine things, 
 without the chill of solitude, the presence of his 
 brethren assisting him to realize that of those unseen 
 Beings who are ever around us. The examples of 
 holy men, seen in their daily round of employments, 
 their humility, recollection, patience, industry, and 
 self-denial, how great a privilege to one who was en- 
 deavouring himself to grow in grace, and to learn to 
 copy what was good and profitable in others. And 
 that he adopted this course, which was what the most 
 religious people of his time would do, is confirmed by 
 the circumstance, that St. Sii'icius, who chose him to be
 
 66 ST. NLNIAn'S life at ROME. 
 
 a Bishop, particularly favoured the practice of selecting 
 the Clergy from such monastic bodies. 
 
 Thus St. Ninian lived for the next fifteen years, 
 fifteen years of what is called the best part of a man's 
 life, gradually advancing in that holiness which was 
 afterwards manifested in his works on earth, and his 
 availing power with heaven; growing in gentleness, 
 self-devotion, and recollection, and meanwhile making 
 progress in the depth and accm-acy of his views of 
 Divine truth, and in the understanding of Holy Scrip- 
 ture. It was, according to men's present views, a long 
 time to spend in comparative inactivity, where the 
 missionary life was that for which he was destined. 
 It was, as they say, shutting up in a cloister, power, 
 and energy, and goodness, which might have been more 
 usefully engaged in doing good to others. But very 
 different from the hurried eagerness of men for imme- 
 diate visible results, is the calm majestic march of 
 the Divine dispensations, and the course of those of His 
 servants in whom they are imitated. He waited four 
 thousand years before He undertook His work. He 
 would have his servants well matured in knowledge 
 and love before they take in hand the offices they are 
 designed for, and is willing that there should be a long 
 and seemingly unprofitable toil, in preparing deep and 
 strong foundations for the structure He would raise. 
 One well prepared and sanctified character exercises 
 far more influence for good, than many ordinary ones. 
 Such an one is a true standard of what we should aim 
 to be, and as such attracts the hearts of those who 
 are prepared to receive the truth. He is fit to guide, 
 and by his deep practical wisdom, and weight of 
 character, has a constraining power over even unwill- 
 ing minds. St. Ninian might have engaged early in
 
 ST. NINIAN'S life at ROME. 67 
 
 missionary labours, and have been as others are. He 
 waited, growing more and more in holiness ; and he 
 went forth to work miracles, and to convert the 
 nations. 
 
 Nor should it surprise us, that so long a time should 
 be spent in the study of Divine truth. Nearly as long 
 a time given exclusively to that highest object of the 
 human mind, was not of old thought too much for pre- 
 paring one who was to teach others. It is our low 
 standard of theological attainments, which makes a 
 few months seem enough to prepare for expounding 
 the mysteries of the Gospel ; and it is our diversion 
 into matters only accidentally connected with Theology 
 proper, which leads us to conceive the knowledge of 
 the divine unnecessary, if not prejudicial to his practical 
 usefulness in influencing the hearts of men. Criticism 
 and Antiquities, Church History and Evidences, viewed 
 externally, and by themselves, are thought, and rightly 
 so, to be of little use to one who has the care of souls. 
 But such is not the case with Theology, properly so 
 called, that is the knowledge of what we are to believe, 
 and what we are to do ; the more exact knowledge of 
 Him, Whom truly to know is everlasting life ; the true 
 vision of Whom keeps the soul and its affections in 
 their right position, whilst errors and false views distort 
 and deprave them ; this is real Theology. It is Dog- 
 matic Theology which contemplates, defines, and gives 
 exactness to our views of that truth by which we are 
 sanctified : Controversial Theology, which enables us 
 to guard the truth from corruption, and to watch 
 against the first inroads of error. Surely, to a holy 
 mind such contemplations are alike the highest em- 
 ployment of the understanding, and tend most to his 
 own sanctification, and his power of teaching others.
 
 68 ST. NINIAn's life at ROME. 
 
 St. Thomas, the most profound of schoolmen, was the 
 most devout of Saints, and the most powerful preacher. 
 His prayers are among the choicest treasures of the 
 Church. His sermons awakened and converted the 
 most ignorant and hardened sinners. 
 
 And as regards Moral Theology, with its handmaids, 
 Casuistical and Ascetic, contemplating what we ought 
 to be, and to do, in principle and detail, and how we 
 may attain to a saintly temper ; what time and thought 
 can be too much for attaining to exactness of know- 
 ledo-e here, by one who is really to be a guide to 
 others ? How many nice points are to be determined ! 
 How many difficult questions in the treatment of the 
 souls of men in their varied spiritual conditions ! "What 
 grave consideration of duties and principles ! It be- 
 tokens indeed that men have fallen into a low religious 
 condition, when they cannot even estimate the value of 
 deep and long continued study on such subjects. If it 
 be kept in mind that Theology, rightly so called, is 
 the knowledge of God, and how we may please Him, 
 it will be evident, that as the one great requisite for 
 the study of it is a holy life, so it is the first business of 
 the Clergy to attain proficiency in it, and that no ex- 
 tent of real attainment can be too mucli — they ought 
 to draw all their care and study this way. This will 
 be the guide of their course of study, and will arrange 
 in due subordination the various other branches of 
 knowledge, and enable them to derive from each what 
 it can minister to their highest end. It will secure 
 the knowledge of those trutlis which are essential, will 
 determine the extent and the end for which we should 
 pursue the rest. No subject of human knowledge will 
 then be without its use and due position. 
 
 Of the course of study St. Ninian would go through,
 
 ST. NINIAN'S life at ROME. 69 
 
 we may form probably a very fair notion from a Trea- 
 tise of St. Augustine, written not long after, designed 
 to direct the studies of those who were to be teachers 
 of others. 
 
 The main object to which he directed the student 
 was the right understanding and explanation of the 
 Holy Scriptures. This seems to be viewed as the 
 chief business of the Christian teacher, and it is to 
 this end that all other studies are made subordinate. 
 But first, he was to know those principles to which 
 all interpretations must be conformed — ^the principles 
 of Christian Faith, Hope, and Charity. Of Faith, in 
 the full knowledge and understanding of the Creed ; 
 of Hope, and of the sum of evangelical morality in the 
 love of God above all things, and of our brethren in 
 Him, and for His sake ; and any interpretation which 
 is inconsistent with these principles, whether as sanc- 
 tioning immorality, or erroneous doctrine, must be 
 wrong. Next, presupposing that the student has, by 
 personal religion, entered on the steps of wisdom, be- 
 ginning with the fear of the Lord, he is to learn the 
 rules and principles of literal and spiritual interpreta- 
 tion, the latter being the chief study of the expositor. 
 In connexion with this, he is to acquire a knowledge 
 of Scripture criticism, of the right text, and trans- 
 lation ; of history, natural science, logic, and all other 
 subjects which may be useful to him as subsidiary 
 learning. Lastly, he is to study how to express to 
 others what he himself has learnt, by acquiring the 
 art of Christian eloquence. The first and second of 
 these subjects we may conceive would form the prin- 
 cipal part of St. Ninian's studies, the doctrines of the 
 faith and Christian love, and the spiritual interpreta- 
 tion of Scripture, for both of which he would find so
 
 70 ST. NINIAN's life at ROME, 
 
 great assistance in the works of contemporary writers, 
 or of those who had gone before ; as well as by the 
 oral teaching of the doctors, of the Roman Church. 
 
 So much of apology, if it be needed, for St. 
 Ninian's living for fifteen years, in what the world 
 would call a comparatively narrow sphere at Rome, 
 but really, in a life of labour, thought, and constant 
 endeavour after improvement. 
 
 Every thing here combined for his advancement 
 in fitness for his great destiny. Rome was the centre 
 of the Christian world. Errors and disputes were 
 heard of, examined, and determined there ; each im- 
 provement in the rules of holy living, each practical 
 ad^ anceraent in Church discipline and conduct, was 
 bi'ought into this great resort and emporium of the 
 Christian world, while the steady orthodoxy of the 
 Church enabled it to look with discrimination on the 
 opinions and practices which rose up around it. 
 
 The details of St. Ninian's life here are quite un- 
 known, but general history relates many events, which 
 must have exercised an important influence upon him. 
 
 Within three or foui- years after his arrival, St. 
 Ninian sustained a heavy loss in the death of his kind 
 patron, St. Damasus, who died the tenth of December, 
 in the year 384 ; being then nearly eighty years of 
 age. He was succeeded by St. Siricius, who, twelve 
 years after, was to consecrate and send out St. Ninian. 
 For some time he was unacquainted with him, as was 
 natural in so large a Church, and when St. Ninian 
 did not occupy a prominent i)lace. St. Ninian, there- 
 fore, deprived of the friendship and countenance of St. 
 Damasus, was left to go on in the ordinary course. 
 
 About this time he was, most probably, admitted to 
 the minor orders as a Reader. For we have the
 
 ST. NINIAN's life at ROME. 71 
 
 rules which St. Siricius sent to the Church of Spain, 
 immediately on his election, February, 385, in which 
 he determines the regular gradation of offices. One 
 who from infancy was devoted to the service of the 
 Church, was to be baptized before he was four- 
 teen, and placed in the rank of Keaders. If his life 
 was approved till he was thirty, he was made an 
 Acolyte and Sub-deacon, and if judged worthy, a 
 Deacon, after having previously made a promise of 
 continence. Then, after five years' service, he might be 
 admitted to the Priesthood, and, after ten more, to the 
 Episcopate. Such was the long probation and service 
 for the sacred ministry in those days. And though, 
 very probably, in St. Ninian's case, as in others, pe- 
 culiar circumstances might be a ground for departing 
 from it in some points, we may suppose it observed on 
 the whole : and that he went through the regular 
 course of clerical offices in Rome. 
 
 Meanwhile important events were occurring around 
 him ; events in which the Avhole Church has since been 
 interested. The conversion of St. Augustine and his 
 baptism at Milan, occurred at Easter, 387 ; and the 
 latter part of that year, after the death of his mother, 
 and whole of the following one, he spent at Rome. 
 It is not unnatural to suppose that he and St. Ninian 
 might meet ; the more humble talents of the Briton, 
 being in the eyes of St. Augustine far more than 
 compensated by that spotless purity of heart which 
 enjoyed the blessedness of seeing God. The one bap- 
 tized in infancy had by habitual obedience, kept his 
 robes unstained. The other, washed from a load of 
 actual sins, was now at the eleventh hour labouring 
 more than any, and by his zeal and earnestness making 
 way beyond them.
 
 72 ST. NINIAn's life at ROME. 
 
 About this time, too, the Emperor Theodosius 
 visited Italy, and great exertions were in vain used 
 to prevail on him to favour the depressed cause of 
 paganism ; it was his resolution which led to the en- 
 tire fall of the ancient superstition. His visit to Rome 
 in 389, gave the last blow to idolatry. He entered the 
 city Avith Valentinian, and then it was that the most dis- 
 tinguished families embraced Chi-istianity, the Anicii, 
 Probi, Pauli, Gracchi. The people ran in crowds to 
 the Vatican, to venerate the tombs of the Apostles, or 
 to the Lateran to be baptized ; but few adhered to 
 the ancient superstitions. The temples were filled 
 with cobwebs and soon fell to ruin ; and the idols 
 were left alone under their roofs with the owls and 
 the bats. 
 
 The time was now approaching when he was to be 
 called to that work for which the providence of God 
 had long been training him. Year after year had 
 passed, and, to himself, it might seem as if he was 
 doing but little service, and was an unprofitable ser- 
 vant : but a pi-eparation was going on in the prac- 
 tice of humble obedience, and in His own good time 
 God called on him to take his great work in hand. 
 The duties of the offices he had been placed in, af- 
 forded an opportunity for his good qualities to be seen 
 and generally recognized. Purity, wisdom, and cir- 
 cumspectness, are the points specially mentioned ; and 
 those of them which may be considered as intellectual 
 gifts, are just of the kind which would be formed and 
 developed by religious principles ; the absence of hurry 
 and excitement, calm considerateness, a fair estimate of 
 others, are the natural fruits of that confidence in God 
 which trusts that all will be controlled for good, which 
 sets their true value on the things of the world and the
 
 ST. ninian's life at kome. 73 
 
 events of time, and so is without anxiety ; of charity, 
 which despises no one, but sympathizes with their 
 difficulties, puts itself in the place of others, and enters 
 into their views ; and of honesty and simplicity of aim, 
 which has no bye ends to entangle, or duplicity to in- 
 volve it. It is from these qualities that wisdom in 
 counsel springs. And to be gradually entrusted with 
 offices of responsibility, in subordination to higher 
 authority ; the learning practically to rule and to be 
 ruled, in the successive steps of the lower clerical 
 offices, was the very means to form the mind of the 
 future saint to this prudence in judging and circum- 
 spection in acting. And his excellencies by degrees 
 became generally matter of remark, and brought him 
 under the notice and, ultimately, into esteem and fa- 
 miliar association with St. Siricius. 
 
 " AVhile he was spoken of by all as chaste in body, 
 wise in understanding, provident in counsel, circum- 
 spect in every word and deed, he rose to the favour and 
 friendship of the Pope himself." 
 
 The advantages to be derived from tliis position 
 were, we need not say, very great, in fitting him for 
 the work in Avhich he was to engage ; and the know- 
 ledge of it gives us peculiar means of ascertaining the 
 views which St. Ninian entertained on many im- 
 portant subjects, and wliich he brought into our own 
 country. For we know those of St. Siricius, and con- 
 sidering that after this intimate acquaintance with him 
 the Pope fixed on him as the fittest person to correct 
 the errors which prevailed among the British Chris- 
 tians, we cannot doubt that Ninian's views coincided 
 with his own ; the more so as his professed intention 
 was to teach in Britain the doctrines of the Roman 
 Church.
 
 74 ST. NINIAN's life at ROME. 
 
 The decretals of St. Siricius sent to the Church 
 of Spain in 385, have ah-eady been referred to ; 
 they recognize, it need scarcely be said, a monas- 
 tic system, as an established custom, approved and 
 encouraged by the Church. A strict penitential dis- 
 cipline and the celibacy of the Clergy are presup- 
 posed as right, regulated and enforced. A formal 
 expression of the same views was elicited by the heresy 
 of Jovinian, who, amongst other errors, maintained 
 " that virgins have no more merit than widows or 
 married women, and, that there is no difference be- 
 tween abstaining from meats, and using them witli 
 thanksgiving." With these easy doctrines it is no 
 wonder he had many followers at Rome ; persons who 
 had long lived in continence and mortification, married 
 and returned to a soft and unrestrained life. It did 
 not, however, number any Bishop among those who 
 embraced it, and in the year 390 an assembly of the 
 Roman Clergy was held, and the doctrines declared 
 to be contrary to the Christian truth ; and by the 
 unanimous advice of the Priests and Deacons who were 
 present, and we can scarcely doubt St. Ninian was 
 among them, Jovinian and his followers were excom- 
 municated.
 
 ST. NINIAN S RETURN TO BRITAIN. 70 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Si. Ninian's return to Britain. 
 
 And now we may pass to the time when the Saint was 
 called to the high duties of a Bishop and a Missionary. 
 The activity and vigilance of St. Siricius prompted him 
 to act upon those feelings of sympathizing interest 
 which give to every Church which is a healthy mem- 
 ber of the great Catholic body, a deep concern is the 
 welfare of every other part. If one member suffer, 
 all the members suffer with it. Still more should he 
 feel it who occupied the chief See of Christendom ; 
 on whom, in an especial manner, it seemed incumbent 
 to watch and provide for all, to support the weak, to 
 correct the erring, and to convert the unbelieving ; 
 and Siricius seems particularly to have felt this in- 
 terest in our remote and despised country. It was 
 compassion for half taught and misguided Christians, 
 for heathens and barbarians, for whom the Son of God 
 had shed His precious blood — for immortal beings, 
 who, unrescued, might perish for ever, but by the 
 power of the Gospel, would be exalted to everlasting 
 bliss, and swell the ranks of the Angelic choirs. It was 
 compassion, such as two centuries afterwards moved 
 his successor, the saintly Gregory, to yearn over the 
 wi'etchedness of our Saxon ancestors. These feelings 
 in their case would go beyond the ordinary compassion 
 which Christians generally would have ; they would 
 feel with the blessed Apostle that they had the care of 
 all the Churches, and that the weak and the scanda- 
 lized were the special objects of their sympathy.
 
 70 ST. NINIAN's return to BRITAIN. 
 
 And in tlie case of St. Siricius tliere was happily one 
 at hand peculiarly suited for the work before him. 
 St. Ninian had waited long for this call to the office 
 for which Divine Providence had all along designed, 
 and been preparing him. Perhaps he would have no 
 thought of undertaking so great a work, or if ever a 
 desire had crossed his mind to impart to his country- 
 men the unspeakable blessings he had himself obtained, 
 it might be repressed as not to be thought of, till some 
 guiding of Providence, or obedience to authority should 
 determine it to be his duty, and sanction his under- 
 taking it. For it is not to be imagined that Ninian 
 had forgotten Britain. How should he ? Means of 
 communication were regular and speedy ; events of 
 moment were frequently occurring ; his countrymen, 
 who, as we have heard, made religious visits to the 
 Holy Land, would often draw to the city, to offer their 
 devotions at the tombs of the Apostles ; others would 
 resort among the provincials for the advantages of 
 the schools ; others again, like himself, for religious 
 improvement. Of one such we know, St. Piran, the 
 Cornish Saint, whose Church in the Sand was re- 
 cently brought to light. He was a native of Ireland, 
 and born about 352. When about thirty years of 
 age, and so nearly at the same time as St. Ninian, 
 having received some imperfect information about the 
 Christian Faith, he travelled to Kome for more com- 
 plete instruction. He is supposed by the L'isli writers 
 to have been consecrated at Kome, and returned home, 
 accompanied by four Clerics, who were all afterwards 
 ]iishops. AVith them St. Ninian would hold converse, 
 and hear the language, which, harsh as it may seem 
 to us, would sound sweet in his ears, as the language 
 of his home. By these means his information and in-
 
 ST. NINIAN's return to BRITAIN. 77 
 
 terest in Britain would be^ kept alive. And when the 
 holy Father, whose authority and wish would be a 
 command, called him to this woi'k, we may imagine 
 that with his deep humility, and shrinking from an 
 office, to which he would seem quite unequal, there 
 would be some warm feeling kindled, in the hope that 
 he might be a blessing to those he loved so well. 
 
 In St. Aelred's words, " The Roman Pontiff had 
 heard that there were in the western part of Britain 
 some who had not yet embraced the faith of our 
 Saviour, 1 some also who had heard the word of the 
 Gospel, but from heretical or ignorant teachers ; and 
 by the impulse of the Divine Spirit, he, with his own 
 hands consecrated this man of God to the office of a 
 Bishop, and sent him with the Apostolic Benediction 
 to this people." 
 
 Tliis event most probably occurred in the spring of 
 the year 397. The date is determined by a circum- 
 stance which is on other accounts interesting, and in- 
 timately connected with the history and future cha- 
 racter of St. Ninian. It is, that on his way to Britain, 
 
 1 It is most probable that attention was drawn to the con- 
 dition of the British of this district, by the publication of St. 
 .lerome's work against Jovinian, which occurred in the year 
 393 or 39i. It was written at the request of some Christians 
 at Rome, and excited great interest there. In the second book 
 he mentions, that he had himself, when a youth in Gaul, seen 
 some of the Attacotti, a British tribe, who ate human flesh ; 
 and adds still more revolting details as to the habits of their 
 people. This tribe occupied the country between Loch Lo- 
 mond and Loch Fine. Such a statement could not fail to ex- 
 cite enquiry, and lead the Pope to ascertain the real state of 
 the unconverted people, who, being of the same race, were 
 within the limits of the empire. The mission of St. Ninian 
 was the natural result.
 
 78 ST. NINIAJS''S RETURN TO BRITAIN. 
 
 he visited St. Martin of Tours, whose name had re- 
 cently been made known through the whole Church, 
 by Sulpicius's life of him. Now St. Martin, ac- 
 cording to the best authorities, died in November, 397. 
 The life in question was a narrative, written by Sul- 
 picius, for his friend St. Paulinus of Nola, without any 
 view to its becoming public. It was however com- 
 municated by Paulinus to others, and so spread with 
 unprecedented rapidity. This occurred within a year 
 before the death of the Saint, for it was after the 
 death of St. Clare in the previous November. And 
 the sensation it produced in Rome, and throughout 
 the Christian Avorld, was incredible. The booksellers 
 having at command only the slow process of the human 
 hand, could not have it copied so fast as to meet the 
 demand, and could sell it at almost any price ; it was 
 considered the most gainful work they had ever had. 
 No book was so much read, or so eagerly sought after ; 
 it was in every one's hands, and every where the sub- 
 ject of conversation. For it related of a living Bishop 
 so near them as in France, sanctity almost unequalled ; 
 and miraculous powers, such as were not then pos- 
 sessed by any one ; and these recorded in graceful 
 language, with the Latinity of the purest ages, and 
 the unaffected simplicity of a friend writing to a 
 friend of what he had himself seen and known ; and 
 Avith the deep and affectionate reverence of a disciple, 
 for one who had guided him by example and instruc- 
 tion into the Avays of holiness and peace. 
 
 From this Avork, St. Ninian, as St. Aelred relates, 
 ardently desired to see and converse with the holy 
 man Avhose ways Avere depicted there, and accordingly, 
 on his way to Britain, diverged to Tours to visit its 
 Bishop.
 
 ST. NLN'IAN'S return to BRITAIN. 79 
 
 "We too have the beautiful picture which Sulpicius 
 has drawn, and for St. Ninian's sake, that we may know - 
 the sort of person whom he looked on as a model ; and 
 for our own, that we may in this way see the Saint 
 ourselves, we will go along with him to the Hermit 
 Bishop, whom our northern Churches venerate so highly. 
 
 St. Martin had long lived as a recluse, and when 
 the people of Tours would have him, in spite of his poor 
 clothes and mean appearance, to be their Bishop, he 
 kept up his holy soHtude as much as he could, in a 
 cell adjoining his Church. This however proved more 
 liable to interruption than he wished, so he went into 
 a lonely spot a mile or two from the town, where a 
 sweep of the river left a level grassy plain, which was 
 shut out from the country on its landward side by a 
 line of precipitous rocks, and accessible only by difficult 
 paths. Here he fixed his abode, and to him gathered 
 others who desired to be under his guidance, and 
 forsaking the world, to imitate his humble and morti- 
 fied life. They were about sixty in number ; some 
 lived in cells built by themselves, many in caves in 
 the rocks ; and that in solitude, except when they met 
 for prayers, or at their meals, and labouring, many by 
 copying books, for their own support. Above all, the 
 Saint liimself drew the hearts of holy men to him by 
 his humility, meekness, and deep knowledge of re- 
 ligious truth. He was quite an illiterate man, yet 
 readily solved the difiiculties of Scripture. But his 
 real life was hid with Christ, and he was in continual 
 communion with Him, unceasingly praying, either by 
 direct supplication, or the inward lifting up of his 
 soul to God. His humility was remai'kable ; he judged 
 no one, he condemned no one ; he was never irri- 
 tated, never depressed by sorrow, or excited by mirth,
 
 80 ST. NINIAn's RETUKN to BRITAIN. 
 
 but ever bearing in his looks a kind of heavenly joy- 
 fulness. Christ only was on his lips, and in his heart 
 compassion, piety, and peace. Besides all this, there 
 was an awfulness thrown around him by the visible 
 tokens of the Divine presence, in the miracles he had 
 Avrouglit ; miracles which have a degree of evidence 
 rarely to be met with. 
 
 To visit this saint, then, so marked by traits of per- 
 sonal holiness, and the awful manifestations of Divine 
 authority accompanying his deeds ; was the object of 
 St. Ninian on his way to Britain. " He diverged to 
 Tours, says St. Aelred, filled with the Holy Ghost, 
 and touched by an eager desire of seeing him." 
 
 Meanwhile St. Martin, had been prepared for his 
 coming. " By the grace of prophetic illumination, the 
 virtues of the new Bishop were not unknown to him. 
 He was taught that he was sanctified by the Holy 
 Ghost, and would be the instrument of the salvation 
 of many ; and, in consequence, with what joy, devotion, 
 and affection, did he receive him." Their time was 
 spent in holy converse and aspirations of divine love ; 
 Ninian, doubtless, being eager to learn from so great a 
 saint, and profiting by his readiness to solve the difficul- 
 ties of Scripture, and to speak of Christ, and the rules 
 of holy living. He also gained another advantage. His 
 wish was to introduce religion into his country in its 
 completeness, to present it before his people, not only 
 in the statement of doctrines and rules of practice, but 
 as visibly embodied in the Church, and manifested in 
 her sacred services ; it was his intention to imitate, 
 " as the faith, so the customs of the Roman Church 
 in building Churches and arranging the services ;" 
 and he requested St. Martin to furnish him with 
 masons for the work. " In the tabernacle of the Lord
 
 ST. NINIAn's EETDRN to BRITAIN. 81 
 
 two columns are joined together, and two cherubim 
 stretching out their wings touch each other ; now 
 borne up on the wings of virtue they withdraw to 
 be with God ; now standing and letting them fall 
 they condescend to their neighboui-s. So these saints 
 returned from heavenly objects to the things of this 
 world." At last they parted. " They had feasted on 
 their mutual conversations as on heavenly banquets, 
 and separated with embraces, kisses, and tears shed 
 in common. St. Mai'tin remained in his See. Mnian 
 hastened to the work for which he had been sent forth 
 by the Holy Ghost." 
 
 Such is the sympathy of holy men ; such their love, 
 seeming not to need the usual preparations of human 
 friendsliip ; but as they each have advanced towards 
 the one model, the image of Christ, enabling them to 
 understand each other at once. 
 
 On his way through France and Belgium, as Came- 
 rarius reports, St. Ninian was anxious to labour for the 
 conversion of the people, and great numbers were 
 the fruit of his preaching. The authority however 
 is very recent, and though he may be regarded, like 
 other later writers, as preserving and perpetuating a 
 tradition of a much earlier date, the evidence is so 
 slight, that we must leave the matter simply to re- 
 commend itself by its internal probability. 
 
 And now, after an absence of many years, St. Ninian 
 is again in sight of the shores of Britain, and gazes on 
 its white cliifs as he nears his native land. But greatly 
 is he changed. He had gone forth, young, uninformed, 
 seeking to be taught the truth. He returns in ma- 
 ture age, with sohd judgment, deep knowledge, con- 
 firmed faith, commissioned to instruct others, and to 
 impart to them those true views of doctrine, and those 
 R
 
 82 ST. NINIAN's return to BRITAIN. 
 
 many lessons of holy living which he had been storing 
 up. But with how great a responsibility did he come, 
 and with how little earthly help. In Rome he had 
 been surrounded by those who sympathized with him, 
 and were engaged in the sacred pursuits he had been 
 devoted to ; counsel, consolation, and aid were ever at 
 hand. Now was he to stand alone, with a half bar- 
 barous people around him, whom he had to labour to 
 convert, or to correct, scarcely knowing how they 
 would receive him, or how he should find access to 
 their minds. 
 
 On the part of his countrymen however the greatest 
 interest was felt in him. "We know how strongly the 
 inhabitants of remote districts are interested in those 
 who have left the seclusion in which they live, to make 
 their way in the world. There is among such people 
 a strong feeling of community, which makes each one 
 a relation as it were to all the rest ; and if one goes out 
 from his native village to make his way in a larger 
 sphere, deep interest is felt in his success, and a desire 
 to hear of him. The old remember him as a child, 
 and his father and father's father. The young were 
 the companions of his boyish days. K he becomes 
 distinguished and honoured, all seem to have a share 
 in it. And Ninian had been a youth whose goodness 
 and engaging manners would especially gain their 
 affections. He was a Briton, the son too of one of their 
 own princes, to whom it was natural they should cling 
 with peculiar attachment as associated with the remem- 
 brance of what their tribes had been ; for amid the im- 
 provements of Roman civilization, many ardent spirits 
 would look back on the ■s\41d glories of their un- 
 civilized days, and cherish the recollection of the re- 
 nown and independence of their race. We may imagine
 
 ST. ninian's return to britatnt. 83 
 
 the interest with which they would hear of the esteem 
 in which their young countiyxaan was held, the posi- 
 tion which he occupied even in the chief city of the 
 world ; and the joy with which they would receive the 
 news, that he was to be restored to them as their 
 Bishop. He was the son of their king, but he had 
 humbled himself by relinquishing secular dignity, and 
 now was exalted by a far higher spiritual office. The 
 children of this world, the more they valued its gifts 
 of wealth and power, the more they would conceive 
 that he had made a sacrifice ; and they who had the 
 opportunity of seeing any thing of the peace and joy 
 he had in Christ, would see that he had not been 
 wrong in making it. Here was a living instance of giving 
 up the world for Christ. Wbat it was to be a Prince 
 they saw, and they would think much of it. The 
 Bishop might have had these goods of wealth and 
 honour, but he preferred to be a servant of Christ, and 
 of the people of Christ, to struggle with poverty, to 
 submit to hardships, to overcome iU-will, imkindness, 
 and obstinacy, by meek endurance. The sacrifice they 
 could appreciate ; and when they heard him speak of 
 leaving all to follow Christ, and of taking up the cross, 
 his words would come home to them, for what he said 
 was real ; it had an interpretation in his own doings. 
 
 This wiU in a measure account for the great success 
 which attended the first opening of his work amongst 
 them. It is described as an outbreak of enthusiasm, 
 which ran through the people, and enabled him at once 
 to do the work of years. 
 
 If he preached at all as did the great models of his 
 day, we cannot wonder at it. They preached as men 
 who realized what is unseen, for the great truths of 
 eternity were the groundwork of all they said ; and they
 
 84 ST. NINIAn's return to BRITAIN. 
 
 came forth from deep and earnest meditation on these 
 truths, to speak of them to others, with earnestness 
 and aiFection, their own minds being filled with the 
 ideas and affections which corresponded to them. As 
 one who had really seen some land of bliss, or awful 
 suffering, or impending danger, they spoke of them 
 in a natural and real way, and by their very sincerity, 
 and the vivid impression of their own conviction of all 
 they said, they carried others along with them. They 
 could trust to the spontaneous flow of their minds, for 
 they had been schooled by severe lives and serious 
 thought, to deep awe and reverence, and been trained 
 in the full and exact knowledge of Christian truth ; 
 and as Bishops almost exclusively were preachers, 
 they had long time for thought, experience, and so- 
 briety, before they undertook so high an office. They 
 could speak freely, for they spoke of what they really 
 knew by personal experience, and long acquaintance 
 with the ways of holy living ; and this without erro- 
 neous and vague statements, or the risk of irreverence, 
 familiarity, or excitement. 
 
 It was the age of Ambrose, Chrysostom, and Augus- 
 tine ; and Ninian came into Britain, as it were, from 
 their school, with all the fulness of view and varied 
 thoughts which an ac(iuaintance with Clu'istians and 
 Christian Theology, in its highest form, would give. 
 And this was expressed to the Britons in their own 
 language ; that language which, unlike most of the 
 other subjects of the empire, they still retained and 
 cherished, and which would be more likely to be pre- 
 served and usually spoken in remote and mountainous 
 districts, as Cumbria and Galloway. And we know how 
 it gladdens the hearts of the Celts of these days, in 
 Wales and Ireland, to hear their own language, and
 
 ST. NDsTAN m GALLOAVAY. 85 
 
 how they thiiik no harm can come in it ; and can im- 
 agine what the Britons would feel at hearing it from 
 St. Ninian. 
 
 It may be they were of the same imaginative and 
 susceptible temper which we iind in those remains of 
 their race, for the effect of the Saint's preaching was 
 immediate and very great. " Crowds of people col- 
 lected together and came to meet him ; there was un- 
 bounded delight among them all, and wonderful devo- 
 tion. Every where did the praises of Christ resound, 
 for they all held him as a prophet. At once, the 
 active labourer, entering his master's field, began to 
 pull up what was ill-planted ; what was ill brought 
 together, to disperse ; to pull down what was built 
 amiss." This was his first beginning. " Afterwards, 
 having cleared the minds of the faithful from all their 
 errors, he began to lay in them the foundation of the 
 holy faith ; to build the gold of wisdom, the silver of 
 knowledge, and the stones of good works. These all 
 he taught by word, exhibited by example, and con- 
 firmed by numerous mii-acles." 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 St. Ninian in Galloway. 
 
 The province which was assigned to St. Ninian seems 
 to have been the western portion of our northern 
 counties, and the Scottish Lowlands, south of the 
 Wall of Antoninus. In the direction of the heathen, 
 it was, of com-se, unlimited ; the field was open for him 
 to convert all he could. In Scotland there were, pro-
 
 86 ST. NINIAN IN GALLOWAY. 
 
 bably, very few Christians ; in the English portion 
 they were but partially converted and very ignorant. 
 What arrangement was made between the new Bishop 
 and the Bishop of York, or of any unknown See, in 
 whose diocese this country was lying before, we cannot 
 tell. The British Bishops might gladly receive amongst 
 them a missionaiy Bishop, as they afterwards did St. 
 Germanus, to assist in eradicating evil and promoting 
 the good of their people; or there may have been 
 some definite district assigned to him ; and of this it 
 may be that a trace remained in the limits of St. Ken- 
 tigern's diocese of Glasgow, which seems to have taken 
 the place of St. Ninian's, and extended to the Cross on 
 Stainmoor. 
 
 This district was occupied by different tribes of 
 Britons, having the same language and character, ex- 
 cept that those in England were more influenced by 
 Roman civilization. Those to the north consisted of 
 five tribes, whose country had been formed into a new 
 province, by Theodosius, A, d. 367, under the name of 
 Valentia. They lay between the two walls, and were 
 in an intermediate state of civilization, between the in- 
 habitants of the ancient provinces, who had for cen- 
 turies been under Roman influence, and the wild un- 
 subdued inhabitants of the Highlands. Their country 
 was but partially occupied by the Romans, Avho used it 
 chiefly for military occupation and defence against the 
 Caledonians ; and though the inhabitants were Roman 
 citizens, those who lived in the more remote portions 
 of the district probably differed little from the barbarous 
 state in which Cjesar had found our whole island. 
 
 It was among the English portion of his people that 
 St. Ninian first laboured. His history implies that, as 
 was natural, he first went among his own people and
 
 ST. NINIAN IN GALLOWAY. 87 
 
 the friends of his early years, to impart to them the in- 
 estimable benefits he was commissioned to diffuse ; and 
 in accordance with this, Leland distinctly speaks of his 
 first mission as being to the coast of Cumberland, be- 
 tween St. Bees Head and Carlisle. 
 
 The circumstances of the country were not, how- 
 ever, such as were in any way suited for his long con- 
 tinuance or permanent establishment there. Cumber- 
 land lying just within the southern wall and being filled 
 by military establishments,^ was now the scene of war- 
 like preparation, and the fearful anticipations, and mis- 
 erable realities of a bloody and exterminating warfare. 
 It was a time of bitter distress to the Provincial Britons ; 
 and sad, indeed, was the sight presented to St. Ninian. 
 The peace and tranquillity he had left in his native land 
 was at an end. It was just the time at which the wild 
 hordes of Picts, who had been restrained whilst the 
 vigorous hand of Theodosius held the reins of empire, 
 were again, a year or two after his death, coming 
 like a flood over the fair fields and rich and civilized 
 abodes of the Provincials. In the following year, 398, 
 it was necessary to send two additional legions into 
 Britain to save the province from utter ruin ; and it 
 was now but thirteen years before it was finally aban- 
 doned by the Romans. 
 
 St. Gildas has depicted in strong colours the savage 
 invaders, and the wretchedness of the helpless Pro- 
 vincials. It needs, however, no exaggeration to re- 
 present the greatness of their suflerings. They had 
 long been shielded by the power of the empire. Four 
 legions evidence alike the danger from the barba- 
 
 1 There were stations at Moresby, Ellenborough, Burgh by 
 the Sands, besides Carlisle and Penrith, and those at Stanwix, 
 Bowness, and along the line of the wall.
 
 88 ST. NINIAN IN GALLOWAY. 
 
 rians and the security of the inhabitants. They had, 
 from the first, been taught to forget their warlike 
 liabits in the luxuries of ease, and to delight in a 
 slavery which presented itself in the form of com- 
 fort and refinement. The works of long continued 
 peace — the improvements of civilization — the beauty of 
 their cities — their costly and elegant houses, now fell 
 before the destroyers, whose cupidity they had excited. 
 Hardy and warlike Picts poured from the fastnesses of 
 the Highlands ; poor, uncivilized, unclothed, what the 
 Britons themselves had been 300 years before. Their 
 ill-will was increased by the very circumstance that 
 their countrymen had identified themselves with the 
 invaders, whose yoke they had themselves with diffi- 
 culty avoided. Rapine, bloodshed, and cruelty followed 
 in their course, and the Provincials, unable to cope 
 with them, were driven from their peaceful homes, and 
 witnessed the destruction of their cherished possessions, 
 and the death of their dearest friends. Such were the 
 miseries which met St. Ninian on returning to the 
 home of his childhood, and led to his retiring to a more 
 peaceful district to establish his Church. It is not 
 improbable that he was accompanied by some of his 
 family, who might seek a refuge on the retired shore of 
 Galloway, from the rapine and harassing inroads to 
 which their old homes were exposed. We find, at 
 least, that lus brother was his companion in after years, 
 and, as one ancient Life reports, his mother and rela- 
 tions were settled near him. His father may have died 
 before he saw, on earth, the face of his son, or witnessed 
 the blessings which he brought to his countrymen. 
 He was removed from the joy of seeing the fruits of 
 Ninian's preaching ; from the distress of beholding the 
 calamities of his country.
 
 ST. NINIAN IN GALLOAVAY. 89 
 
 The plan which St. Ninian proposed to adopt for 
 carrying on the work of a missionary Bishop, required 
 a place where he might erect a Church, where he 
 might himself permanently live, and form a religious 
 society. For this it was most important to select 
 a position which would be retired, and secure alike 
 from the interruptions of a rude soldiery or the out- 
 rage of bai'barian tribes. And the place which he 
 chose was singularly adapted for his purpose. 
 
 The country between the walls was the very ground 
 on which the battles of the contending armies would 
 continually be fought ; like the suburbs of a besieged 
 town, which neither party sp^tred, but made the arena 
 of thek mutual combats. To the south-west, however, 
 the extensive promontory of Galloway stretched be- 
 yond the scene of war, and being guarded by the sea 
 on either side, had on the whole remained almost un- 
 disturbed by the changes which had gone on around it. 
 It was removed from the ordinary course of the 
 invading Highlanders, and had not itself any objects to 
 attract their rapacity. It had scarcely been affected 
 even by the Roman power. Agricola, in the year S3, 
 had contemplated an expedition to Ireland, and with 
 this view, had overrun the country ; roads had been 
 made, and encampments formed, but, afterwards, as 
 he seems not to have had any object in pursuing the 
 natives into their fastnesses, its remote situation made 
 it little frequented by the Romans. It appears to have 
 continued without giving much occasion for military 
 establishments, for few Roman remains are found in it. 
 What is now a bare and uninteresting district, 
 where the slow progress of plantations endeavours to 
 compensate for the want of natural wood, was then 
 covered by thick forests, and occupied by Britons,
 
 90 ST. NINIAN m GALLOWAY. 
 
 living in all their uncivilized simplicity. The tribe 
 was called the Novantes ; and Ptolemy mentions their 
 two towns as Rerigoniimi and Leucopibia. The lat- 
 ter was the one which St, Ninian fixed on as the 
 site for his Church. It was conforming, so far as 
 he could, to the ancient rule, to fix the seat of a 
 Bishop in a city, that the shepherd may be where his 
 flock principally are foxind ; and in this place the 
 greatest number of Christians would be gathered. Of 
 its identity with Whithern there can be no doubt, and 
 the very probable and generally received conjecture is, 
 that the Leucopibia of our present copies of Ptolemy 
 should be Leucoikidia — Whitehouses ; so identifying 
 its three names, Leucoikidia, Candida Casa, and 
 Wliithern, which is derived from the Saxon fern, 
 house. Baxter suggests that it is so called from the 
 practice of the Celts (he says Picts, but there were 
 no Picts in Galloway till long after this time) to 
 wliite-wash their houses. It seems most probable that 
 the name was prior to St. Ninian's arrival, and not 
 derived, as commonly said, from the Church he built ; 
 for whatever be made of the latter part of the word, 
 Leuco speaks for itself, and Casa like aern, seems ra- 
 ther to indicate an ordinary dwelling than a Church. 
 There had been a castra stativa close adjoining the 
 town which is the only Roman position traceable in 
 GaUoway ; and a road wliich Agricola had formed 
 along the coast, had been continued to Leucopibia. 
 But in their present pressing circumstances, the en- 
 campment doubtless would be abandoned. The town 
 itself lies but two or three miles from the extremity 
 of the promontory, which branches off from the main 
 one of Galloway, and running far into the sea, forms 
 almost the most southern point of Scotland. It is thus
 
 ST. NIKIAN m GALLOWAY. 91 
 
 without access by land except on the north ; and being 
 naturally difficult of access, and out of the direct line 
 towards Ireland, is now one of the most retired places 
 in Scotland. Few had any inducement to visit it from 
 the north ; and its southern and western sides are 
 guarded by lofty and precipitous rocks, and only here 
 and there aiFord access for vessels. 
 
 Here, then, St. Ninian might securely fix his See, 
 removed from the troubles and dangers which occupied 
 the rest of Britain ; and hence go forth to traverse the 
 wild woodlands for the purpose of evangelizing the 
 people. At the same time, the town was probably, as 
 we may judge from the encampment and the road, one 
 of the most important which the natives had. While, 
 the promontory, called Burrow Head, which rises near 
 it, is seen from and commands a view of the exten- 
 sive diocese in which his lot was cast. 
 
 One looks with interest at the position of the Min- 
 sters of York or Lincoln, which are conspicuous 
 through the whole surrounding districts — ever present 
 remembrances of Divine Truth, and mai'ks of him who 
 sits there the spiritual father of the flock. Such was 
 the position of St. Ninian's See. As you stand on the 
 fine headland, with sea on every side, you almost look 
 down on the mountains of the Isle of Man, which rise 
 out of the sea, before you. To the right stretch the 
 successive promontories of Galloway almost to Port 
 Patrick ; the hiUs of "Wigtonshire, Kirkcudbrightshire, 
 and Dumfriesshire, rise in successive and lofty ridges, 
 from the shores of the Solway, to the north ; while, 
 due east, you may trace the coast of Cumberland, to 
 St. Bees Head, or even to Blackcomb, backed by its 
 fair blue hiUs, so picturesque in outline ; and as the 
 light and shade alternate on the view, you may make
 
 92 ST. NINLA.N IN GALLOWAY. 
 
 out each bay and headland, and even the white houses 
 by the shore. Surely this was a place where the Saint 
 might stand and survey the field in which he had to 
 work. He had given evidence enough that he was no idle 
 dreamer or slave of weak atFection. Still we may well 
 suppose that when he looked down from this central 
 point, and had before him headlands and mountain 
 tops which marked out the wide district committed to 
 him, he would regard with especial tenderness, the dis- 
 tinctly marked shore where he had been baptized and 
 spent his youthful years ; — those hills which he had 
 looked up to from his home. They would recall the 
 remembrance of those who were gone, and awake more 
 fervent prayers for his country, now in the scene of 
 distraction and warfare. 
 
 We have said that the manners of the people had 
 been but little affected by the influence of the Romans. 
 It is probable that their way of life was very much 
 what that of the Britons had been before they were 
 refined by Roman colonization, or as those of their 
 neighbours the Moeatoe, who at the beginning of the 
 third century inhabited barren mountains and marshy 
 plains, had no manured or cultivated lands, but fed 
 on the milk and flesh of their flocks, or what they 
 got by hunting, or some wild fruits ; fish they never 
 ate, though they had great plenty of them, and when 
 in the woods they fed on roots and herbs. 
 
 There still remain in Galloway, circles, and Crom- 
 lechs, and Cistvaens, traces of what St. Ninian might 
 see lingering as a broken, but still living system. The 
 Druid religion was proscribed by the Romans. It was 
 a strong, too strong a bond to be allowed to remain 
 among the Britons ; but the superstition was still 
 deeply rooted in the minds of the people, and a reve-
 
 ST. NINIAN IN GALLOWAY. 93 
 
 rence long after hung around the enclosures which 
 had been consecrated by Druid rites. At present 
 therefore they must have been in a wretched religious 
 condition ; the public exercise and ministers of their 
 own religion, were proscribed, and the truth had made 
 little progress amongst them. There were indeed 
 Christians, but in an ignorant and ill-informed state ; 
 and to revive religion amongst these persons, and to 
 correct their errors, was one great part of his work. 
 
 St. Ninian's plan was not merely to disperse Clergy 
 in separate districts through the country, but to con- 
 centrate his strength in one point, and there to have a 
 Church in some degree worthy of the design for which 
 it was intended. The Churches of the Britons were 
 generally of wood. In the cities no doubt, when the 
 Romans had introduced their arts, and wealth abounded, 
 the Churches, like the other pubhc buildings, would 
 be of stone ; but in remote and poorer places where 
 wood was plentiful, it was more natural to make 
 them of that material. It was ready to their hands ; 
 stone they did not need, and could not afford, and might 
 not have the art of working ; as St. Ninian had con- 
 templated in taking his masons from Tours. Bede 
 speaks of the Church as built of stone in a way un- 
 usual among the Britons. His words probably apply 
 to the form as well as the material of the building, 
 as he afterwards contrasts the Churches of the Picts 
 with the Roman fashion. These Pictish Churches, 
 and those of the Britons of Bede's days, and of the 
 Irish, were of wood ; such they now are in Norway, 
 where neither skill nor labour are spared in the beauty 
 of the workmanship with which they are adorned. 
 
 St. Ninian however desired to use materials for liis 
 Church, which, by their strength and permanence,
 
 94 ST. NINIAN IN GALLOWAY. 
 
 might image forth the perpetuity of that Kingdom 
 to which it belonged ; and in whicli the services mi^ht 
 be performed with becoming dignity. He had Rome 
 in his mind ; and as he had there doubtless planned 
 what he would raise on the wooded shores of Britain 
 he might often now in thought return to the ma- 
 jesty and splendour of the Ritual and Churches of the 
 Apostolic See ; so that whatever simplicity and poverty 
 there might of necessity be elsewhere, the Cathedral at 
 least would aiford a model of what was aimed at, and 
 which might be copied in their measure by the other 
 Churches. Such doubtless was the practice, that the 
 Mother Chm'ch of the diocese should be the place in 
 which the due order of Divine Service might be kept as 
 a guide to the rest. 
 
 Natural piety would move St. Ninian to this work, 
 as indeed it had all along been near his heart. But it 
 must also have been very important in its effects on 
 the people, as a perpetual witness to the truths he 
 taught. That we should give of our best to God, and 
 that what is spent on places specially dedicated to His 
 service is in some more immediate way given to Him is 
 a natural sentiment. This sentiment is implanted in 
 the human heart, in common with those others which 
 seem to have produced every where, among people who 
 had any sense of religion, an external form and expres- 
 sion of it. Places appropriated for sacred services 
 where God was believed to be especially present ; an 
 order of men set apart to serve Him, offerings of our 
 best and costliest possessions, and grace and beauty in 
 the ornaments of His House, and the conduct of its 
 services, — these are the spontaneous dictates of the 
 heart, and caiTy with them the evidence of their 
 being a part of natural religion, as well as what we
 
 ST. IONIAN IN GALLOWAY. 95 
 
 commonly call such. Surely it is with this view that 
 we should look on the fail- forms of ancient art, their 
 temples, their graceful processions, their choric poetry, 
 as the offering of natural piety to the Supreme 
 Being. Corrupted and polluted it is true they were, 
 but so were the fundamental doctrines of essential 
 religion ; and as we are used there to sever the over- 
 laying errors from the elementary truths, and think 
 it no prejudice to the Divine original of the true por- 
 tions, that corruption should have attached to them, 
 so let us regai'd the ceremonies of the heathen, and 
 the taste and wealth they lavished on them, as the 
 yearnings of the human soul after Him, to Whom 
 it desires to do all homage. 
 
 And the consideration was very important in refer- 
 ence to the conversion of the heathen, as well as to 
 the maintenance of religion among Christians ; for 
 instead of falling in with their true and right notions 
 as to what a religious system ought to be, we may 
 by a neglect of external Religion directly clash with 
 what they conceive we ought to do, which they wiU 
 the more deeply believe, the more they are prepared 
 by natural piety for embracing the Gospel. Instead of ' 
 Chiorches, by their very forms and ornaments, and ser- 
 vices, being silent and ever present preachers of the 
 truth, embodying practical devotion, as being its fruits, 
 they may give the he to our professions, and hinder 
 the reception of rehgion. We have power, we have 
 generally wealth. Ninian had not much of either, 
 yet he made no delay, but made it his first work to 
 build the house of God on a scale which excited the 
 admiration of the people, and suited the high pur- 
 poses for which it was set apart. 
 
 It was during the time the Church was bxiilding, that
 
 96 ST. NINIAN IN GALLOWAY. 
 
 is, in November 307, that St. Ninian was divinely 
 warned of the death of St. Martin, and so deep was 
 the veneration he entertained for that holy man, that 
 he dedicated the Church under his name ; a name it 
 afterwards retained, though when the Saint by whom 
 it was built, and whose remains were laid there be- 
 came more known, it was commonly called St. Ninian's, 
 and is spoken of as dedicated to him. 
 
 In Rome they built the Churches over the tombs of 
 the Martyi's, and so dedicated them to their memory, 
 and in other places it was usual to deposit some of the 
 remains of a martyr under the altar of the Church, 
 which was to be consecrated, a practice observed by 
 the great Saints of the age. At AYhithern however 
 there was no martyi', and St. Ninian had not brought 
 any relics, so it seemed as it were providential that 
 St. Martin, one of the greatest Saints of the age, 
 though not a martyr, should yet be honoured thus, 
 and he to whom St. Ninian owed so much be re- 
 garded as the patron of his Church, and the model to 
 be perpetually kept in view by his people. 
 
 I pass by the story which the present tradition of 
 the country reports, that St. Ninian first settled in 
 the Isle of Whithern, three or four miles from the 
 present Church and town, and afterwards removed to . 
 that which was his ultimate position. It seems in- 
 compatible with the history, which speaks but of one 
 place, and that the one where he at first engaged in 
 building his Church ; for it was in progress at the time 
 St. ]\Iartin died, that is within a year after his arrival 
 in Britain. There is an old dismantled Chapel, as it 
 were a land-mark, on the top of one of the hills in the 
 Isle, which the people connect with St. Ninian, and 
 consider the oldest Church in the kingdom, as if it
 
 ST. NINIAN IN GALLOWAY. 97 
 
 were his Church. It is however much more recent 
 than even the ruined Church of Whithern ; it is a 
 plain oblong Chapel, with very thick walls, and one 
 narrow pointed window in each of the sides, with 
 niches, and the other recesses usual about the east 
 end : a lone deserted place without roof, which from 
 its thick walls and simple form, suggests the notion 
 of great antiquity ; but certainly is not connected with 
 St. Ninian. 
 
 At Whithern then he gave a visibility and local 
 habitation to the Church. The service of God would 
 here be daily celebrated with the simple dignity which 
 befits the image of heavenly things, and the unseen 
 presence of Saints and Angels. The rites which the 
 Roman Church had derived from her founders, or in- 
 troduced in after times, as the spontaneous expression 
 of the spiritual mind, the language, if we may say it, 
 the very bearing, and graceful movements of the Spouse 
 of Christ, would there be embodied, and form after the 
 like -model the minds of those who came to worship, 
 or abode continually in her courts. With the building 
 there was a society of religious persons formed, living 
 with their Bishop, consisting of Clergy to maintain the 
 unceasing services of the Church, to prepare for the 
 higher offices, or to teach the people, and of laymen, 
 who sought here to lead a devout life under the shadow, 
 and within the very walls of the sanctuary. 
 
 That St. Ninian should form such a society was an- 
 tecedently probable. The monastic life had been intro- 
 duced and sanctioned in the western Church by the 
 most revered men ; and the association of Bishops 
 with their Clergy or other religious people, had been 
 recently adopted by those whose judgment St. Ninian 
 would be most guided by. St. Siricius, it lias been 
 s
 
 98 ST. NINIAN IN GALLOWAY. 
 
 said, preferred to choose Clergy from monks ; what then 
 was more natural tlian that the Bishop shoukl himself 
 form, and rule such a society ? He had himself to 
 proljably lived in one at Rome, and would love its re- 
 ligious calm for the sake of his own improvement. 
 
 For the account of this indeed and the remaining 
 events of St. Ninian's life, and the institutions and 
 system which he adopted, we are chiefly indebted to 
 the accounts of his miracles, which form the rest of St. 
 Aelred's life. But this, for obvious reasons, will not 
 appear a valid reason for questioning their truth, con- 
 sidered as common facts. A long time, certainly, had 
 elapsed between St. Ninian and St. Aelred ; and though 
 we must put at a much higher date the composition of 
 the life, from which St. Aeked derived Ids history, still 
 some considerable time may have intervened, during 
 which we must trust to the traditions of his Church. 
 It may then be said we have little evidence for 
 these facts ; we have, however, all which the circum- 
 stances of the case admitted. Aiid we have this in 
 particular that they were believed by men, who had 
 much more means of judging than we possess. They 
 were believed, I mean on the whole, for it is very 
 possible that Alcuin, St. Aelred, and the Scottish 
 Church generally, received them as they were handed 
 down, not attempting to distinguish — to receive part 
 or to reject part, where they had little or no 
 grounds for making such distinction. To us however 
 they convey much real information as to the way of 
 life of the Saint. I do not mean by mentioning cir- 
 cumstances which miglit have been inserted by the 
 narrator ; but by the facts wldch form the very ground- 
 work of the story, so that if the miracle was believed, 
 which it must have been in very early times, it must
 
 ST. NINIAN IN GALLOWAY, 99 
 
 have been the case that these facts were also generally 
 believed. And a general and early belief in common 
 facts would be admitted as evidence by many who 
 would hesitate to receive it for uncommon ones, par- 
 ticularly if these common facts were what might other- 
 wise be expected. Nay, we may go further ; they who 
 consider that St, Ninian was a friend of St. Martin's, 
 engaged in the work of converting a barbarous people, ' 
 and who are familiar with the authentic history of the 
 saints of that age, will look on miracles as things 
 be expected, as what under the circumstances were 
 natural ; and so they will, in the same way, give an 
 assent to the miraculous narration, as what may very 
 possibly, at least, be true ; though from the nature of 
 the evidence they would not positively affirm it in each 
 particular case ; and in the same spirit they may praise 
 God for His glories thus manifested, as they may for 
 those of His natural works, though they are in doubt 
 or error as to the physical facts. Hymns are not the 
 less religious because they are philosophically untrue ; 
 nor is the piety unacceptable which saw traces of the 
 deluge in the shells upon the mountain top, though 
 recent investigations have taught us to doubt of their 
 connexion. 
 
 To return, then, to our history ; it appears that one 
 of St. Ninian's earliest works was the formation of a 
 religious community, where he and his Clergy might 
 live together, having all things in conunon. It is of 
 course most probable, that he adopted the plan from 
 those of St. Eusebius of Vercelli, St. Augustine, and 
 especially St. Martin, and that his society, as theirs 
 did, would consist of laymen as well as clergy. 
 
 The evident advantages of such an institution led to 
 its general adoption in the missions of the following
 
 100 ST. NINIAN IN GALLOWAY. 
 
 age. It was a home where sympathy, support, and 
 counsel, might be had from men like minded, and en- 
 gaged in labouring the same great ends. Hither men 
 were gathered, who desired to serve God more entirely 
 than they could do in the world, to lead a heavenly 
 life, in contemplation, prayer, and praise. It became 
 a very school of sanctity, where men earnestly desiring 
 virtue associated round one of known sanctity, to be 
 guided by him in their way to heaven, to copy the 
 traits of holiness in him and in their brethren. Thus 
 was a body formed which gave light to others, so that 
 men were drawn out of the contaminating and lower- 
 inf^ influence of the world, and brought together under 
 a strict rule and with a professed aim after holiness. 
 
 And this must have been of singular importance at a 
 time when Christianity was now becoming the religion 
 of the many, and whole nations were being converted. 
 It presented a difficult problem to the heathen pliiloso- 
 pher, how the mass of society could be renewed, when 
 the few in whom the principle of goodiiess was im- 
 planted were scattered, unseen, and lost among the 
 numbers who surrounded them, and by whose way of 
 life, as they possessed no higher visible standard, they 
 were lowered and corrupted. The Gospel undertakes 
 to effect it by gathering out these scattered instances of 
 goodness, and uniting them in one visible society, by 
 the tie of a professed standard of practice ; to be a city 
 set on a hill, a light put upon a candlestick ; providing, 
 moreover, for training up, and forming the characters 
 of others, by instruction in the truth, and a life regu- 
 lated by holy discipline. Such was the Church itself, 
 in its first ages, when the few Christians were closely 
 bound together, and broadly distinguished from the un- 
 believers who surrounded them. At the time, however.
 
 ST. NINIAN m GAiLOWAT. 101 
 
 when this was no longer possible, when the world 
 came into the Church, and all were members of that 
 society, it pleased God gradually to introduce into the 
 Church itself minor combinations of its holiest mem- 
 bers, who, without the danger of individual profession, 
 and bound by obligations which humbled them in the 
 thought of their shortcomings, might continue as me- 
 morials of what had existed in a former age, and 
 schools and models of practical religion. We have 
 schools for all other arts, for all those acquirements 
 which need rules and practice, and, above all, imitation, 
 seeing how others do what we wish to learn. In 
 secular matters we recognize the advantage of an ex- 
 perienced teacher and corrector, of being united with 
 others engaged in the same pm-suits, and of the improve- 
 ment derived from observing how they attain to excel- 
 lence, or how they fail in the minute details of their 
 daily work ; surely it is only reasonable to have some 
 similar institutions for learning the most important and 
 the most difficult of all acquirements, that of a holy 
 life, and the practice of the varied graces of the Chris- 
 tian character. How many a practical diificulty might 
 thus be solved ! How many a soul which had en- 
 tangled its course, and rendered its perceptions of 
 duty obscure and uncertain, might here be relieved ! 
 The cliief part of Christians have duties in the Avorld, 
 and they have, amongst the Saints, patterns and guides 
 for leading a devout life in the discharge of those 
 duties : but some are ever called to a life where they 
 may serve God more directly, and these are especial 
 means of keeping up the general tone of religion, 
 and supply helps and encouragements, as well as a true 
 standard, for those who are in the world. 
 
 Such may the Saints of Wliithern have been, pre-
 
 102 ST. NINIAN IN GAXLOWAY. 
 
 seating by their purity, meekness, heavenly minded- 
 ness, and peace, a specimen of what the fruit of Gospel 
 righteousness is ; a contrast to the pride, and world- 
 liness, and violence, which reigned among the heathen ; 
 and a special means of attracting to the Church, all in 
 whom the elements of purity and goodness had life 
 and activity. Devotion was the end of their asso- 
 ciation and their rules — to imitate on earth an angelic 
 life ; to this all was subordinate ; for this they rose 
 betimes, they fasted, they watched, they kept a con- 
 stant guard on their senses and their thoughts. Thus 
 to please God they cultivated all Christian graces, 
 humility, obedience, and love ; they were silent to 
 converse with God, turning their eyes from the ob- 
 jects of earth, that the mind might see those of 
 heaven, and seeking in this life to be cheerful, re- 
 signed, and happy. The system of the monks would 
 necessarily have its modifications when adopted by 
 clergy, whose office called them to be accessible to 
 their people, to go out on journeys and to preach and 
 to administer the Sacraments to a scattered people. 
 But even then they carried with them in silence, 
 recollection, and prayei", and the devout sa^ang of their 
 Psalter, the spirit and the practices of their holy home, 
 and by their gentleness and humility would win over 
 the poor and simple people among whom they la- 
 boured. 
 
 They probably supported themselves by tlieir own 
 labour, and sucli voluntary offerings as might be made 
 to the Church. The former belonged to their life as 
 monks, the latter as clergy. Their chief food was 
 vegetables ; leeks are especially mentioned ; these were 
 the produce of a garden of their own, which was under 
 the care of one of the bretliren, whose business it was
 
 ST. NEVIAN IN GALLOWAY. 103 
 
 thence to provide the supply necessary for their daily 
 repasts. It was a simple life deriving support from 
 the grateful earth ; a condition which maintained in 
 them a continual dependence on Him who feeds the 
 young ravens, and enabled them to sympathize with 
 the poor ; as being themselves without provision from 
 day to day, and having really made themselves poor for 
 the sake of Christ. Nor should it sui'prise us that at 
 times they were almost in want of the necessaries of 
 life ; since, for some time, St. Ninian had to struggle 
 against much opposition, and his labours seemed to 
 produce scarcely any fruit. :i,! VMi, j .; 
 
 It was in such a time of need ithat the traditions 
 of Galloway re^jresent the Saint as receiving a sup- 
 ply of food by miracle. And before we allow our 
 selves to judge lightly of the simple tale, let us recall 
 the numerous instances in Holy Writ in which mira- 
 cles were wrought for supplying bodily wants ; per- 
 haps there is no class of which the cases are so 
 many. The Bishop and his brethren went one day 
 into the Refectory, but their usual meal of leeks and 
 other herbs did not appear. The brother who should 
 have provided them was called. He had only the 
 disappointing tale to tell, that they had no provisions 
 left, all the leeks had been put into the ground for 
 seed, and none remained for them to eat. Perhaps 
 it had been a bad season and their garden ci'ops had 
 failed. The Saint bid him go to the garden and bring 
 what he found. He was astonished at the command, 
 knowing there was nothing there, but habitual obe- 
 dience and the thought that the Bishop could not 
 command any thing without good reason prevailed. 
 He went, and behold, the process of nature was antici- 
 pated, and the herbs were found not grown up only
 
 104 ST, KINIAN IN GALLOWAY. 
 
 but in seed. There is a very useful lesson at least 
 taught here, to obey though it seems useless ; diffi- 
 culties vanish from the path of the determined. 
 
 And by this simple way of life, and the exercise of 
 useful arts, as the Egyptian monks made mats or 
 baskets, and the cultivation of their garden, and after- 
 wards by keeping flocks and hei'ds, they would suggest 
 many a useful lesson to the uncivilized people around 
 them, and introduce among them improvements which 
 were otherwise unknown. This has ever been a part 
 of the work of missionaries in bai'barous nations, tend- 
 ing to the real improvement of the people, winning a 
 way to their good will, and teaching them to look up, 
 in things spiritual, to those who were so willing and 
 able to help them in earthly concerns. 
 
 But there was one other object to which St. Ninian 
 made his monastery especially subservient. His own 
 religious history, the wants he had felt, and the privi- 
 leges he had enjoyed, and the very design for which he 
 had returned to Britain, would lead him to regard 
 sound theological training as of the utmost importance 
 for liis clergy. He had himself sought in vain for those 
 who could teach him the truth ; he had seen the evils 
 which resulted from the want of a steady holding to 
 the right faith, in the unsettledness and spiritual dead- 
 ness which prevailed. He had come to remedy those 
 evils. "Wliere could it be better eifected than in his 
 college ? This was healing the fountain, it was pro- 
 viding that those who, each in his own sphere, was to 
 teach others, should himself be in doctrine as well as 
 life a model for them to imitate. The advantages he 
 had enjoyed at Rome he came to impart to Britain ; 
 and the monastery at Whithern was the place where
 
 ST. KINIAN IN GALLOWAY. 105 
 
 the system of theological teaching he has known there 
 would be adopted for his own clergy. 
 
 He would himself first, as they were able to bear it, 
 lead them into a full and exact knowledge of the truths 
 of religion, by such a course of oral and catechetical 
 instruction, as would transfuse into their minds the 
 great ideas with which his own was impressed. He 
 would accustom them by rule and instance to an accu- 
 rate literal exposition of Scripture, and still more to 
 that wonderful system of mystical interpretation, which 
 the spiritual mind spontaneously suggests, and, when 
 duly instructed in it, carries through the whole of 
 Scripture. And in both he would aid them by the 
 study of the works of the earlier fathers, and of the 
 living lights of the Church, the great masters of dog- 
 matical and interpretative Theology, St, Augustine and 
 St. Jerome. Nay, it will appear that he perpetuated 
 his teaching by composing works, probably for their 
 benefit. In consequence Whithern became a school 
 from which the teachers of the northern Church were 
 sent out. 
 
 Another very important part of his institution was 
 a school for the young, rising up, as in some of our 
 Sees, under the shadow of the Cathedral, as in olden 
 times it formed an essential part of the Capitular esta- 
 blishment. It was most important to rescue, as far as 
 might be, the children of heathen or evil-minded 
 parents from the contaminating influence of their 
 homes, and both with them and others to keep the 
 young mind from losing the innocency of its regenera- 
 tion, and to train it in habits of virtue, and the know- 
 ledge of the truth. It was indeed sowing seeds, which 
 might for a long time seem buried, but would at last 
 grow up to noble trees. And from among the breth-
 
 100 ST. XINIAN IN GALLOWAY. 
 
 ren, as in after times, there would be found those who 
 teach the little ones, and themselves be both refreshed 
 and improved by it. Refreshed by the sweetness and 
 simplicity of their innocent minds, naturally thinking no 
 evil, without anxiety, ambition, or guile ; which is to 
 the harassed mind what a garden of flowers is to the 
 weary, where they may repose amid fair objects, and 
 where all is peace. Improved, because their own 
 ideas Avould be cleared, and made more real by having 
 to impart their knowledge to the unsophisticated minds 
 of children. Nor -was the Bishop without his own 
 share in the work. He taught the children himself, 
 not unmindful of the precept to feed the lambs, just as 
 Gerson, the great Chancellor of Paris, is said through 
 life to have maintained the practice of weekly cate- 
 chising little children. It was a mark of the sweetness 
 of St. Ninian's character that he was loved and reve- 
 renced by his little ones ; and this circumstance was 
 so prominent among his works that the characteristic 
 which one historian gives him is, that he was a dis- 
 tinguished trainer of cliildren. 
 
 Connected -svith this, there was a story for which 
 people could, in St. Aelred's time, point to what were 
 held to be living evidences, which brings out the 
 Bishop as the father of these little ones. But it is 
 best to adopt or paraphrase the words of St. Ael- 
 red. " Many, both of the more noble and the mid- 
 dle rank, placed their children under the care of the 
 Saint, to be taught the knowledge of religion. These 
 he instructed with learning, and formed to habits of 
 virtue, restraining by wholesome discipline the faults 
 to which their age is liable, and implanting virtues 
 by which they might live in sobriety, justice, and piety." 
 It happened on a time that one of the boys offended,
 
 ST. NINIAN IN GALLOWAY. 107 
 
 and preparations were made to punish him. The boy, 
 in alarm, ran away ; but knowing the power and good- 
 ness of the Saint, and thinking he should find a solace 
 in his flight if he did but take with him anything be- 
 longing to the good Bishop, he took off the staff on 
 which St. Ninian used to support himself. In his 
 eagerness to escape he looked out for a boat which 
 might carry him away. The boats of the country St. 
 Aelred then describes. They were of wicker work, 
 large enough to hold three men ; over this wicker 
 work a hide Avas stretched, and the boat would float 
 and be impervious to the waves. They are the same 
 boats which Pliny and Csesar describe, and in which 
 the Britons would cross the sea to France or Ireland, 
 or even go voyages of many days. They are called 
 currachs or coracles ; they were long in use in the 
 Western Isles, and still are among the fishermen on the 
 Wye. 
 
 There happened just then to be many large ones 
 making ready on the shore. The Avicker work was 
 finished, but the hides not put on. He very incau- 
 tiously got in, and the light boat at first kept on the 
 top of the waves, the water not at once making its 
 way through ; soon however it did so, and there 
 seemed no prospect but that it must fill and go down. 
 He loiew not whether to run the risk of leaping out or 
 staying and sinking. In the moment of his distress, 
 however, he thought of the holiness and power of St. 
 Ninian ; contrite for his fault, as though weeping at 
 his feet, he confesses his guilt, entreats pardon, and by 
 the most holy merit of the Saint begs the aid of 
 Heaven. Trusting, with childlike simplicity, that the 
 staff was not without its virtue, as belonging to the 
 Saint, he fixed it in one of the openings. The water
 
 108 ST. NINIAN IN GALLOWAY. 
 
 retreated, and, as if in fear, presumed not to pour in." 
 " These," says the saintly Aelred, " these are the works 
 of Christ, "VVlio did say to His disciples, he that be- 
 lieveth in Me the works that I do, shall he do also, 
 and greater things than these shall he do." 
 
 A o-entle wind arose and forced on the little boat, the 
 staff supplied the place of sail, and rudder, and anchor 
 to stay his course. The people crowding on the shore 
 saw the little ship, like some bird swimming along the 
 waves, without either oar or sail. The boy comes to 
 shore, and to spread moi-e widely the fame of the holy 
 Bishop, he in strong faith, fixed the staff in the ground, 
 and prayed that as a testimony to the miracle, it might 
 take root, send forth branches, flowers, and fruit. Pre- 
 sently the dry wood shot out roots, was clothed with 
 fresh bark, produced leaves and branches, and grew 
 into a considerable tree. Nay, to add miracle to mi- 
 racle, at the root of a tree a spring of the clearest 
 water burst forth, and poured out a glassy stream, 
 which wound its way with gentle murmurs, grateful 
 to the eye, and, from the merits of the Saint, useful 
 and health-giving to the sick. 
 
 With what interest would this tale be told to the 
 pilgrim strangers, and the tree and fountain shewn as 
 the evidences of its truth in those days of simple faith ! 
 And with hearts lifted up to God, and trusting in the 
 aid of St. Ninian's prayers, many a poor sick man 
 would drink of the clear stream. 
 
 Men of this day may smile at their simplicity ; but 
 better surely is the mind which receives as no in- 
 credible thing, the unusual interposition of Him who 
 worketh all things according to the counsel of His own 
 will ; better the spirit which \dews the properties of a 
 salubrious spring as the gift of God, granted to a faith-
 
 ST. NINIAN IN GALLOWAY. 109 
 
 ful and holy servant, than that which would habitually 
 exclude the thought of the Great Doer of all, by resting 
 on the Laws of Nature as something independent of 
 Him, not, as they ai"e, the way in which He usually 
 works ; or thanklessly, and as a matter of course re- 
 ceive the benefit of some mineral waters. 
 
 However, we were speaking of St. Ninian's school, 
 and we have seen the aged Bishop, for the event is 
 related near the close of his life, leaning on his staff", 
 and ordering the boys to be punished ; and we see 
 too what kind of scholars he had, and how deep was their 
 veneration for him, even when they were doing wrong ; 
 how simple their faith in the presence and power of 
 the Almighty. 
 
 Another narrative brings more before us the per- 
 sonal habits and religious life of St. Ninian, and this 
 we should much wish to know. We have followed him 
 through his holy childhood, and his pure and humble 
 youth, have seen in opening manhood his deep and 
 reverend love of Divine knowledge — his relinquishing 
 the world — his progress in piety and perception of 
 the Truth. And one characteristic which had been 
 formed and strengthened by his obedient love of Him, 
 who is unseen, was now brought out, the fixedness 
 of his thoughts amid the distractions of the world, 
 and his attention to Divine things. This indeed is the 
 state in which reason shows us we ought to be ; for it 
 is to have our thoughts dwelling on what is true, per- 
 manent, and most concerning, instead of what is tran- 
 sient and unreal. And to him its effects were most 
 blessed, enabling him to sustain a calm and tranquil 
 mind amid the hurry and trials of his toilsome work ; 
 leading an angel's life, diligent and laborious, and doing 
 all things perfectly, as the angels unceasingly minister
 
 110 ST. MNL\X IN GALLOWAY. 
 
 for US ; but without excitement and huny, even as they, 
 by retaining the contemplation of the Divine glory, and 
 a simple union with the Divine Avill, are undisturbed. 
 It had doubtless ever been his practice from the time 
 that as a child he turned his thoughts and loving 
 affections towards his Heavenly Father, and afterwards 
 dwelt in pious meditation on the truths he laboured so 
 earnestly to learn. And he sustained it by keeping a 
 constant guard against wandering, dissipated thoughts ; 
 by occupying his mind in holy things, that the house 
 which had been swept and garnished, might yet never 
 be found empty ; by not seeking to know anything 
 which did not concern him. He was assisted by a 
 practice which we often read of in the lives of Saints, 
 that of reading or saying the Psalms, or earnest medi- 
 tation, at times when circumstances would most tend 
 to dissipate the thoughts ; which probably every one 
 feels to be the case in those seemingly unoccupied 
 times, when one has to walk or travel alone. Then it 
 is for most people, perhaps, impossible to keep the 
 thoughts fixed without some external help, the very 
 moving and changes that occur distract and unsettle 
 them. To guard against this and another evil, that of 
 idle and vain conversation, St. Ninian, on his journeys, 
 always carried his Psalter and some book for religious 
 reading ; and, besides saying the Psalms, when he 
 stopped to rest, or to refresh his horse, (for he used to 
 ride on his long travels through the rough woods and 
 hills of his diocese,) he would take out his book and 
 read with careful attention. 
 
 And to secure himself from any unnecessary oc- 
 casions of distraction, he seems to have observed the 
 rules which our good Bishop "Wilson gave himself, and 
 so has most forcibly given us. " Never be curious to
 
 ST. NtNIAN IN GALLOAVAY. Ill 
 
 know what i^ passing in the world, any further than 
 duty obliges you ; it will only distract the mind when 
 it should be better employed." " The best way to pre- 
 vent Avandering in prayer is not to let the mind wander 
 too much at other times, but to have God always in 
 om' minds in the whole course of our lives." 
 
 We may here quote the beautiful language of St. 
 Aelred. It was intended as a lesson for lay people, 
 living at home, as well as for professedly religious men. 
 It was to be read in the long winter evenings in the 
 hall, as weU as in the refectory. It has been read in 
 many a house and many a monastery, in the olden 
 times of merry England ; it may have awakened then 
 a sense of the importance of guarded thoughts, and the 
 danger of curiosity. It may do so for some one now. 
 
 " When I think," says the good Abbot, " of the very 
 religious habits of this most holy man, I am filled 
 with shame at the slothfulness of this om* miserable 
 generation. Which of us, I ask, even at home among 
 the members of his own family, does not in social in- 
 tercourse and conversation, introduce more frequently 
 jocose than serious subjects, idle rather than useful, car- 
 nal than spiritual ones. Those lips which Divine grace 
 has consecrated to praise the Lord, or to celebrate the 
 holy mysteries, are daily polluted by detraction and 
 worldly talk, and whilst they feel a distaste for the 
 Psalms, the Gospels, and the Prophets, they run the 
 live-long day through the vain and sh:uneful works 
 of men. ' And when they travel, is not the mind like 
 the body, in continual wandering, the tongue in idle- 
 ness to any good ? Reports of the characters of un- 
 godly men are continually brought forward ; the gravity 
 suited to a religious man is destroyed by laughing and 
 stories ; the affairs of Kings, the duties of Bishops,
 
 112 ST. NINIAN IN GALLOWAY. 
 
 the ministrations of the C'lergy, the contentions of the 
 powerful, above all, the life and character of every one 
 is the subject of discussion. We judge every thing ex- 
 cept our own judgment ; and what is more to be 
 grieved at, we bite and devour one another, so that 
 we are consumed one of another. Not so the blessed 
 Ninian ; crowds hindered not his tranquillity, nor did 
 travelling interfere with his meditations, nor his de- 
 votions become lukewarm through lassitude. Wher- 
 ever he was journeying he raised his mind to heavenly 
 objects in prayer or contemplation, and when he turned 
 aside on his journey, to rest himself or his horse, he 
 delighted to take out a little book, wlaich he always 
 carried for the purpose, and read, or said Psalms, for 
 he felt what the Prophet David says, " How sweet 
 are Thy words unto my tliroat, yea, sweeter than 
 honey unto my mouth." 
 
 Nay it was said so highly favoured was liis prac- 
 tice, that by special grace the very rain was turned 
 aside from falling on him, forming as it were a vault 
 above and around him. And once it happened, to 
 give the substance of St. Aelred's narrative, that he 
 and his brother, called Plebeia, a man of equal holi- 
 ness, were on a journey, and as was their wont, so- 
 laced themselves with the Songs of David. When 
 they had travelled some distance they turned from 
 the public road to rest themselves awhile, opened 
 their Psalters, and were refreshing their souls vnth 
 religious reading. Presently, the bright clear sky 
 was clouded over, and the rain fell heavily ; the thin 
 air, however, like an arched vault, formed over the 
 servants of God, and continued as an impenetrable 
 wall against the falling waters. Whilst, however, they 
 were saying their Psahns, St. Ninian turned his eyes
 
 ST. NINIAN IN GALLOWAY. 113 
 
 from the book, an unlawful thought, nay, an unre- 
 strained desire, affected his mind. The supernatural 
 protection was withdrawn, and the rain fell on him. 
 No useless lesson this — that the unseen guardianship 
 which is over us in prayer, which screens us from evil, 
 that the grace which is then around us, is for the time 
 withdrawn, if wilful distractions are admitted. His 
 brother observed the change, and understood the 
 cause ; he gently reminded him of his fault, and the 
 Saint, coming to himself, blushed at having been 
 carried away by foolish thoughts, and in the same 
 instant he thi-ew off the imagination, and the rain Avas 
 stayed. 
 
 It is to be hoped the reader will rather seize the lesson 
 this ancient tale affords, than smile at its simplicity. 
 Who can say how many a wandering thought has been 
 checked by thinking of it, when the brethren of "SYlii- 
 thern, day by day, and year after year, said their 
 Psalter in St. Ninian's Church — checked by recalling 
 the lesson which it teaches ; of evil kept off from 
 the soul by earnest attention, and falling unrestrained 
 upon it when we wilfully wander. 
 
 The next miracles are connected with the trials of 
 St. Ninian. His portion, as that of all the saints, was 
 to follow in his Master's steps, to labour for the un- 
 thankful, to win souls by suffering, to endure reproach, 
 to bless those that cursed liim. There are intimations 
 incidentally occurring in the latter part of his life, 
 which shew that he was often in danger from power- 
 ful men, and exposed even to the loss of life. 
 
 The chief opposer of his labours was a king of those 
 parts, called Tuduval ; the prince, perhaps, of the 
 whole tribe of the Novantes. He was, for a Galwegian 
 chieftain, wealthy, powerful, and influential, but withal
 
 114 ST. NINIAN IN GALLOWAY. 
 
 proud, grasping, and the slave of passion and unbridled 
 license and ambition. It may easily be conceived that 
 he felt the opposition which existed between his own 
 spirit and St. Ninian's, and instinctively resisted him. 
 He felt that he belonged to a kingdom which must fall 
 before that, of which the Bishop was a minister, and 
 strove the more earnestly because his time was short. 
 The admonitions of the holy preacher were disregarded, 
 his lessons of righteousness, temperance, and judgment 
 were derided ; his teacliing, nay his holy life, were 
 assailed and detracted from ; all the influence the 
 prince possessed was exercised to withstand him, and 
 his doctrine was met with open and direct opposition. 
 For a time the enemy summoned so much strength, 
 and exercised so wide and baneful an influence, that 
 it seems as if the conversion of the people was be- 
 coming hopeless. It was as a land on which the gentle 
 dew and rain from heaven fell in vain ; it brought 
 forth no fruit, but only thorns and thistles, and seemed 
 nigh to be given up as accursed and reprobate. 
 
 But the prayers and patient suflerings of the Holy 
 Brotherhood at Whithern, went up for a memorial ; 
 they wielded the weapons of the Saints, meekness, 
 righteousness, and truth ; and their intercessions for 
 their persecutors and defamers prevailed. AVhen their 
 cause seemed hopeless, the Divine arm was lifted up to 
 help them. He who took the lead in resisting them, 
 the resolute persecutor and opposer of the truth, felt a 
 hand laid on him to stay his course. Tuduval was 
 seized by a violent illness, which ended in the loss of 
 sight. Laid on a bed of suffering, and precluded 
 from the sight of the outward world, reflection brought 
 him to himself. His conscience recalled the marked 
 events of his soul's history, and his opposition to St.
 
 ST. NINIAN IN GALLOWAY. 115 
 
 Ninian would be the most prominent. The possi- 
 bility of all proving true which he had often scoffed 
 at ; the consciousness of his wrong doings, even ac- 
 cording to his own ideas of wrong ; the undefined 
 dread of future retribution, all Avould combine to 
 awaken consideration. Then the purity of the Chris- 
 tians' lives — ^their present peace — their future hopes — 
 would suggest the thought how much better it were 
 to be as one of them ; nay, that there was something 
 in them more than human ; the miracles scoffed at 
 before would recur to his memory, and the truth of 
 the Saint's claims take possession of his mind. So it 
 was ; a light spread through the soul, Avhilst the out- 
 ward organs were in darkness. Repentance and con- 
 fession of his wrong doings followed, and without delay 
 he called for his friends, took their advice, and sent them 
 with expressions of contrition and humiliation to St. 
 Ninian. He besought him not to treat him as he knew 
 he deserved, but to imitate the mercifulness of liis Lord, 
 to retm'n good for evil, love for hatred. 
 
 We may imagine the deep joy which the holy Bishop 
 felt at the return of one who seemed lost for ever. In 
 his mind there was no place for glorying over a fallen 
 enemy, no notion of personal triumph, no revengeful 
 delay of reconciliation, but a going out to meet him 
 whom he saw afar off. He offered up first a prayer to 
 God, a prayer of thankfulness for this work of His grace, 
 a prayer that his enemy might be freed from his suffer- 
 ings, and at once set out with the utmost humility and 
 devotion. At first he gently reproved him for his sin, 
 then with heaUng hand touched his head, and impressed 
 upon his eyes the sign of our salvation. At once the 
 pain was gone and tlie blindness departed. Tuduval 
 became a sincere convert, humility and purity took the
 
 116 ST. NINIAN IN GALLOWAY. 
 
 place of his former vices, and he devoted himself to St. 
 Ninian's guidance, treating him with the deepest reve- 
 rence, as recognizing that God was indeed with him and 
 ffuided him in all his ways. The effect of tliis miracle 
 of Divine grace in the conversion, even more than in the 
 cure of the strehuous persecutor must hav6 been very 
 o-reat. The power and influence which had been used 
 to oppose, would now be devoted to aid the cause of 
 relifj-ion, and so exercised, would indeed produce their 
 true and proper results. To this time, probably, we 
 may assign the general conversion of the people. 
 
 It Avas, perhaps, during the period of the previous 
 persecution that the event occurred which St. Aeh-ed 
 next narrates. It was inii)ortant as removing a scandal 
 which might have stood greatly in the way of the 
 progress of religion. It seems that clergy were fixed, 
 whether before St. Ninian's arrival, or by him, in 
 separate districts, whi(di St. Aelred, in the language 
 which would be most intelligible to his readers, de- 
 signates as parishes. An unhappy girl who had been 
 seduced by a powerful master, at his instigation, ac- 
 cused the clergyman of being the father of her child. 
 The effect was astounding. The good were distressed : 
 the weak offended ; the wicked rejoiced ; and the low- 
 minded ridiculed ; the whole sacred order was blas- 
 phemed by the ungodly. St. Ninian, however, was in- 
 wardly assured of the innocence of the priest ; and in 
 full trust took the most public means of manifesting it. 
 He proceeded to the Church, summoned the clergy and 
 whole body of the people, preached and then con- 
 firmed. The mother appeared with her child and 
 openly denounced the priest ; the utmost excitement 
 prevailed ; shame and derision were the portion of the 
 good ; when St. Ninian called on the child just born
 
 ST. NINIAN IN GALLOWAY. 117 
 
 to declare his father ; a voice was given to the infant 
 and the truth declared. 
 
 One other miracle is recorded, which, like the one 
 of the school boy, was associated with a permanent 
 record in the name of the place, and a mark in a stone 
 which, in St. Aelred's days, was shown in Galloway. 
 But now we know nothing of the stone, and Pinker- 
 ton says, there is no place which he knows of the 
 name. The miracle itself is, in some points, like one 
 narrated by the Ecclesiastical historian, Sozomen, of 
 St. Spiridion, a shepherd Bishop in Cyprus, who con- 
 tinued his simple employment in the care of flocks, 
 after he was chosen to be a shepherd of souls. Of 
 course there is no reason why the miracle should not 
 have been performed by both saints. And if there be 
 reason to think that the Almighty did exercise mira- 
 culous powers through His Saints, and that around 
 them and in them there was a spiritual agency at 
 work, let us be cautious how we judge these tales, let 
 us tread carefully on what may be hallowed ground. 
 
 The story is this. St. Ninian and his brethren had 
 many flocks and herds, which they kept for their own 
 use ; for milk and cheese would be monks' fare ; and 
 for hospitality to strangers and the use of the poor ; 
 making provision to fulfil the precept which Bishops 
 and their chapters and all monasteries were used to 
 keep in mind, to exercise hospitality without grudging. 
 These cattle were kept in pasture grounds, at some 
 distance from the monastery, and St. Ninian went to 
 bless the herds and their keepers. The Bishop had 
 them all brought together, lifted up his hands, and 
 committed himself and aU that was his to the guard- 
 ianship of God. He then went round them, and 
 with his staff marked the ground within the limits
 
 118 ST. NINIAN IN GALLOWAY. 
 
 of which they were to stay, something like what was 
 afterwards done as a superstitious spell. He then 
 retired to the house of an honourable matron where he 
 and his brethren were to lodge. After refreshing them- 
 selves with food, and their souls with the word of 
 God, they retired to rest. Meanwhile robbers arrive, 
 and seeing the herds unenclosed and ungxiarded, ex- 
 pect an easy prey. The cattle remain quiet, no sound 
 is heard, no dog even is heard to bark ; they enter 
 within the limits, but do it to their cost. The bull of 
 the herd attacks and severely gores the ringleader of 
 the thieves, and himself, digging his hoof violently into 
 the ground, impresses the mark of it on the rock, as if 
 in wax. The mark remained, and the place was 
 called in Saxon, Farres Last, that is, the Bull's foot- 
 mark, Tauri Vestigium, as the Latin life explains it. 
 Meanwhile after his regular morning prayers, St. Nin- 
 ian arrives, finds the poor robber with his entrails torn 
 out, and now lifeless, and the others running about as 
 if insane, within the limit he had marked around the 
 cattle. He was deeply moved with pity, and entreated 
 that the robber might be restored to life ; nor did he 
 cease from prayers and tears till the same Power which 
 had caused his death restored him again to life. The 
 other robbers who seemed possessed on seeing St. 
 Ninian, fell at his feet in fear and trembling, and beg- 
 ged forgiveness. He kindly reproved them, pointed 
 out the punishment which awaited the robber, and at 
 last, after giving them his blessing, allowed them to 
 depart. The result was the sincere conversion of the 
 man whose life had been restored. 
 
 Perhaps the strangeness of this narrative ought not 
 to be any hinderance to our believing it. As the most 
 wonderful instance of his prayers being heard, even to
 
 CONVERSION OF THE PICTS. 119 
 
 bringing the dead to life, its circumstances are especially 
 dwelt on in the religious services for his day. And we 
 are sure the people of Galloway would have been 
 disappointed, if they had not found this story in the 
 Life of their own Sainted Bishop ; for like the tree 
 and the spring, Farres Last must have made an early 
 and deep impression on their minds ; and often doubtless 
 was the stoiy told to the stranger who passed that 
 way, and to their own little ones, and they would go to 
 see the deep impression of the bull's foot ; and the 
 sermon which St. Ninian had preached would be afresh 
 inculcated, and the fact appealed to as the most vivid 
 evidence of the wrongness and the possible unexpected 
 evil which might at any time await the cattle stealer. 
 
 We may now pass on to St. Ninian's conversion of 
 the Southern Picts, of whom he is designated the 
 Apostle. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 Conversioti of the Picts. 
 
 The labours of St. Ninian extended over a wide dis- 
 trict ; and were exercised among great troubles and 
 dangers, from the unsettled state of the country, and 
 the continual hostilities which prevailed. The tract 
 of country, which, so far as we know, had no Pastor 
 but himself, stretched from sea to sea, and, besides the 
 (now) English portion of it, from the wall of Antoninus 
 to that of Severus. The Western part, however, was 
 his special care. The rest was a scene of war and 
 rapine during the chief part of his Episcopate ; and
 
 120 CONVERSION OF THE PICTS. 
 
 after fruitless endeavours to repel the inroads of the 
 mountaineers, the Koman forces were at length with- 
 drawn A. D, 410, and the Provincials left to defend them- 
 selves as best they could. 
 
 The tribes of St. Ninian's diocese had retained 
 their original divisions of clans, and though they were 
 rendered less fit to cope with the unsubdued and im- 
 civilized portions of the same great Celtic race, whom 
 we know as Picts, they yet combined, and maintained 
 themselves as a distinct people .in possession of their 
 territory. The Picts might rob, but do not seem to 
 have displaced them. The separate princes united in 
 the election of a common leader, and though harassed 
 by internal broils and breaches of their federal com- 
 pact, the Western tribes, with the exception of Gallo- 
 way, continued for six centuries as an independent 
 body, forming the British kingdom of Strathclydd. 
 During all the wars which rent this unhappy district, 
 Britons, Picts, and Scots, it is said, united in reve- 
 rencing St. Ninian. He Avas allowed to travel, without 
 molestation, tlu'ough countries which were the seat of 
 war. His calm presence seemed to bi'eathe of peace 
 and love, and to inspire awe even in the wildest bar- 
 barians. It has been so in these latter times. The Isle 
 of Man was to be spared by the French, for the sake 
 of Bishop Wilson, and in the wars of the Low Coun- 
 tries at the beginning of the last century, the Arch- 
 bishop of Cambray was treated with reverence by all 
 the contending parties, and made his Episcopal journeys 
 unmolested in the midst of hostilities. 
 
 Who can say that it was not owing to the influence 
 of the holy truths, and the practical goodness incul- 
 cated by St. Minian, that the tribes of his diocese did
 
 CONVERSION OF THE PICTS. 121 
 
 SO unite and retain a social life after the convulsions 
 which resulted from the departure of the Romans ? 
 
 And now, after many years of patient toil and as- 
 siduous teaching, having brought the people, imme- 
 diately committed to him, to some unity of faith and 
 goodness of life ; his ardent desire for the salvation 
 of men prompted him to undertake the conversion of 
 a tribe, who did not as yet know the name of Christ, 
 and were bitterly hostile to his own countrymen. 
 These were the Southern Picts, a division of the nu- 
 merous tribes, who, secured by the mountains of the 
 Highlands, had never submitted to the yoke of the 
 Romans, and now in the decline of their power re- 
 venged themselves on them, and on the tribes of their 
 own island, who had yielded and been civilized by 
 them. 
 
 It seems that Caledonians and Picts are but dif- 
 ferent names for the same people, given originally to 
 one tribe or other, according to the circumstances of 
 their localities or ways of life, and then borne by 
 all in common. As inhabitants of the forests of the 
 Lowlands they had early had the name of Woodmen, 
 Caledones, given them. Another portion again who 
 occupied the plain country between the Grampians 
 and the sea, to the north of the Frith of Forth, were 
 called Peithi, a name which signifies inhabitants of the 
 open country, and by the Romans, Picti, (as the Welsh 
 peithen is from the Latin pecten, and etfaith is from 
 effectus,) and from them the whole race received the 
 name. It was the coincidence between their own Celtic 
 name, and their painted bodies, which gave a point to 
 the well known line of Claudian, " non false jUomine 
 Picti," which would have had little force, if they were 
 only called so, because of their being painted. These
 
 122 CON-STERSION OF THE PICTS. 
 
 inhabitants of the plain country are the Southern 
 Picts. Those who remained in the fastnesses were 
 called Northern Picts, and the distinction of these two 
 poi'tions of the race would become more marked, from 
 the different habits of life, which would gradually 
 result from their different localities. The distinction 
 was recognized in the middle of the fourth century, 
 when they were respectively called by the Romans, 
 Deucaledones, and Vecturiones ; of which the former, 
 it is said, means separate or far Caledonians, those, that 
 is, farther removed from the Roman districts ; and 
 Vecturiones is another Celtic form of Picts, P and V 
 being interchanged, and the rest of the word, Peith- 
 wyr, or Peithwjron, differing from simple Picts, as 
 Englishmen does from English. 
 
 These Vectui-iones — they to whom the name of Pict 
 first belonged, are the tribe of which St. Ninian was 
 the Apostle. They had first established themselves 
 on the Eastern coast, as has been said, north of the 
 Frith of Forth and of the Roman wall ; and many 
 authors confine them to this district. Others say that 
 after the withdrawal of the Roman forces they passed 
 the wall, poured in upon the Eastern coast of Valentia, 
 and took up a position wldch they permanently occu- 
 pied, south of the Forth, in the Lothians, and even 
 reaching to Northumberland ; they had previously 
 acquired more settled habits than the mountaineers, 
 and so were fitted to establish themselves permanently 
 in the counti'ies they subdued. They existed as a sepa- 
 rate people in the time of Bede, who accurately dis- 
 tinguishes them from those who lived within the 
 mountain district. It was, he says, when St. Columba 
 went to convert the Northern Picts, that he found
 
 CONVERSION OF THE PICTS. 123 
 
 the Southern ones had been converted previously, and, 
 as they stated, by St. Ninian. 
 
 It seems most probable that it was after their occu- 
 pation of the country south of the Forth, (supposing 
 they did occupy it,) that he went amongst them. It 
 was that occupation which gave them a more distinct 
 and permanent nationality ; nor is it to be supposed, 
 that they should have become Clmstians, and after- 
 wards have attacked with so much cruelty the people 
 to whom they were indebted for the knowledge of the 
 Gospel ; we will not think so ill of them, barbarians 
 as they were. And the dates would lead to the same 
 conclusion. The Romans retired in 410. Ninian had 
 then been thirteen years in Galloway. He lived for 
 twenty-two years longer. The first thirteen years 
 would not be more than enough for the work he had 
 to effect among his own people. The last twenty-two 
 allow space for the Picts to have come down and occu- 
 pied the Eastern portion of Valentia, and to have been 
 visited and converted by St. Ninian. 
 
 They had overrun and seized on a part, the farthest 
 from his Church, of that wide field which had been 
 committed to his care. He was not then gomg beyond 
 his measure in endeavouring to win them over. It is 
 an early and a beautiful instance of the power of the 
 Church to reduce under her saving sway, and by the 
 ai-mour of truth, meekness, and righteousness, those 
 whom carnal weapons had in vain opposed — to lead 
 captive the conqueror. 
 
 "It deeply grieved the Holy Bishop," St. Aelred 
 proceeds, " that Satan, when he had now been driven 
 from the rest of the world, had found a place in the 
 hearts of the Picts, in a corner of the island, near the 
 ocean. He girt himself accordingly as an energetic
 
 124 CONVERSION OF THE PICTS. 
 
 athlete to put down his tyranny, taking to himself the 
 shield of faith, the helmet of hope, the breast-plate of 
 love, and the sword of tlie Spirit, which is the word of 
 God." As associates in his labours, as comforters, and 
 advisers, after the example of St. Paul, he took with 
 him a body of holy brothers, those of his Clergy and 
 religious society, who were most suited for the work. 
 Happily they had not to overcome the hinderance of a 
 different language, for though the dialects of the various 
 portions of the Celtic race were distinguished, there 
 still remained a sufficient similarity to allow of their 
 being mutually understood, even after a much longer 
 and greater separation than had yet taken place ; as 
 it is said the people of Brittany and the Welch now 
 understand each other. They had however great diffi- 
 culties to struggle against, in the antipathy which the 
 free Celts entertained for those who had been under 
 the Roman sway — an antipathy stronger than is felt 
 towards people of quite a different race ; and again, 
 from the circumstance that they were themselves the 
 aggressors, who had seized on the territories of the 
 Southern tribes. Still there was something calculated 
 to melt their savage hearts in the presence of one 
 among them so diflferent from any they had known 
 before, preaching the doctrines of purity, humility, 
 and forgiveness ; whose graces, notwithstanding, would 
 be recognized and loved by all in whom there was 
 a principle of good. He was one of tlie people they 
 had attacked, cruelly treated, and displaced, and he 
 was amongst them, not with the tone of complaint 
 upbraiding, or revenge, but meek and gentle, pos- 
 sessing a sweetness of temper, and a calm and cheer- 
 ful mind, which he pointed out to them the means of 
 attaininfr.
 
 CONVERSION OF THE PICTS. 125 
 
 Their religion was the same as that of the other 
 tribes of the island had formerly been, though one would 
 suppose, in a more rude state of superstition than the 
 richer portion of the people, among whom the Druids 
 were so superior a caste. St. Ninian called them to 
 forsake their idolatry and superstition, and to turn to 
 that Almighty in Whom, though unknown, they yet 
 believed ; to Him, Who gave them rain from heaven, 
 filling their hearts with food and gladness. He called 
 them from the conscious misery of their present state — 
 from the bondage of vices which galled their very soul, 
 to an obedience and submission, which at once brought 
 relief. He told them of permanent existence, and a 
 future responsibility, of which a voice within testified 
 the truth ; and he professed himself the minister of a 
 gracious dispensation, which would secure those who 
 embraced it in a future dreadful day. This preaching 
 would carry conviction with it to those prepared souls 
 which are found amongst the uncivilized barbarians, 
 as well as among simple rustics or refined philosophers. 
 Wherever man is, there are hearts and consciences 
 which will correspond to the simple doctrines of re- 
 ligion, and be conscious on hearing it of the truth that 
 one thing is needful. But his words, it is said, were not 
 unaccompanied by convincing signs that he was indeed 
 what he professed, a messenger from that great unseen 
 Being in whom they believed. He performed mira- 
 cles among them. " The blind see," St. Aelred says, 
 " the lame Avalk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, 
 the dead are raised up, the possessed are set free from 
 the demons that afilict them." Thus does he apply 
 the description of our Saviour's works to those of His 
 servant. " He that believeth on me the works that I
 
 126 CONVERSION OF THE I'ICTS. 
 
 do, shall lie do also, and greater things than these shall 
 he do, because I go to the Father," 
 
 Perhaps had the evidence for these miracles been 
 asked, the conversion of the people would have been 
 appealed to as a sufficient proof — the effect most dis- 
 tinctly establishing the cause. And had the converts 
 been asked the grounds on which they believed, an 
 appeal to the miracles would probably have been their 
 answer. Indeed, those who profess themselves ready 
 to admit the probability of miracles, where there is an 
 apparently adequate cause for them, must allow it in 
 the case of the Gospel being preached to a barbarous 
 people ; since the tangible and obvious evidence of 
 a miracle is best calculated to affect them strongly, 
 and to gain an attention for the preacher, which it 
 would require a long life amongst them, and a long 
 manifestation of the living miracle of a saintly cha- 
 racter to obtain. 
 
 St. Ninian, it is said, first converted the king of the 
 tribe, Avhose influence was exerted to further the 
 general acceptance of the Gospel among his people. 
 Such was at this period the usual course of con- 
 version. In the earlier ages, individuals were gained 
 over here and there, unknown to the world, and 
 generally of humble rank, and from them the holy in- 
 fluence spread to relations and neighbours, and those 
 who had the opportunity of seeing what the Gospel 
 had wrought in them ; and so the leaven was diffused 
 through the whole mass, and at last affected the 
 rulers of the world. Afterwards the course was gen- 
 erally the reverse. Kings were converted, and brought 
 their subjects over to the profession of Christianity. 
 The early ages gained men by their own individual 
 persuasion, and the work was slow. In the latter
 
 CONVERSION OF THE PICTS. 127 
 
 period it was more rapid ; and if the converts were 
 now more influenced by earthly motives, tlieir pos- 
 terity at any rate reaped abundant blessings from being 
 brought into the fold of Christ. Perhaps this change 
 is indicated, when after the lame and blind had not 
 filled the feast, it is said that the last messengers 
 were to compel men to come in. 
 
 It is but reasonable to suppose that St. Ninian's 
 preaching was extended to those of the Southern Picts, 
 who still continued in their earlier settlement north of 
 the Frith of Forth. Indeed as has been said, many 
 writers confine the settlement of this race to the 
 northern districts, and do not suppose them to have 
 had any permanent settlement south of the Roman 
 "Wall. The question however, is not of any importance 
 in its bearing on a history of St. Ninian. Some again 
 have confounded the southern Picts with the Bri- 
 tish inhabitants of Valentia. Others, with the race 
 called Picts, who came from Ireland, and occupied 
 Galloway in the ninth century, and who alone bore 
 the name in the later period, when the proper Picts 
 were lost among the other nations who occupied Scot- 
 land. St. Ninian was ever known as the Apostle of 
 the Southern Picts, and as his proper mission was to 
 the inhabitants of Galloway and Valentia generally, 
 it was not unnatural to imagine these tribes to be 
 those who are meant by the Southern Picts. They 
 were however clearly a distinct tribe ; and it is a con- 
 firmation of the truth of St. Aelred's history that he 
 does so distinguish them, as Bede had also done, and as 
 the CoUect for St. Ninian's day, in the Aberdeen Bre- 
 viary, " Deus, qui populos Pictorum et Britonum per 
 doctrinam Sancti Niniani Episcopi et Confessoris do- 
 cuisti."
 
 128 CONVERSION OF THE PICTS. 
 
 It was not however enough to gain the people to a 
 profession of the Gospel ; St. Ninian also provided 
 for the permanent maintenance of the Church, by the 
 consecration of Bisliops, and regular establishment of 
 Clergy. His biographer says, " he ordained Priests, 
 consecrated Bishops, arranged the ecclesiastical Orders, 
 and divided the whole country into parishes." The 
 last is noticed as an anachronism, as the system of 
 parochial division did not generally arise till a much 
 later period. It may however very probably mean 
 nothing more than the division of the country, so that 
 the Priests might each have his own definite sphere 
 of labour ; which Avas very necessary in so wide and 
 thinly peopled a district. In the consecration of Bish- 
 ops we do not know whether St. Ninian acted alone, 
 as was allowed in eases of necessity ; and would be 
 the more so here, as he was not apparently included 
 in any province, of which the other Bishops might 
 assist in the consecration ; or whether some of the 
 British Bishops joined in the sacred rite. They might 
 still be remaining in their Sees, but were far removed 
 from this country, and the hostilities and dangers which 
 prevailed might hinder them from coming. 
 
 We are equally in ignorance as to the succession 
 of the Bishopricks ; of which we know no more than of 
 those of the ancient Britons. It was very possible 
 that they might have been numerous, as those of Ire- 
 land were. Of the portion North of the Forth, Aber- 
 nethy was the Bishoprick, and so continued till later 
 times, the Bishop, or as he was sometimes styled, 
 Archbishop of that See, being called the Bishop of 
 the Picts. In all probability St. Ninian would leave 
 some of his own clergy, as the Priests and Bishops 
 of his new converts. They could not themselves so
 
 CONVERSION OF THE PICTS. 129 
 
 soon have persons who could be entrusted with the 
 sacred office of preserving the deposit of the truth, 
 and St. Ninian, from his own experience, would be 
 conscious of the value of a long and careful prepara- 
 tion for the sacred ministry. Nor is there any reason 
 why we should not suppose that he revisited the Picts, 
 and from time to time supplied what was wanting for 
 the completeness of their ecclesiastical system. St. 
 Aelred, indeed, speaks as if all had been done in 
 one visit, but he might naturally adopt such a sum- 
 mary mode of narration when he was without any 
 distinct information of the particulars of the visits. 
 He passes on at the conclusion to the tranquillity 
 which characterized the latter days of the Saint. 
 " When he had confirmed the sons whom he had be- 
 gotten in Christ in faith and good works, and arranged 
 all which seemed necessary for the honour of God 
 and the salvation of souls, the Saint bade farewell to 
 his brethren, and returned to his own Church, where 
 he spent the rest of his life, perfect in holiness, and 
 glorious by his miracles, in great peace and tranquil- 
 lity of mind." 
 
 By the Picts his name was remembered, and the 
 Church he formed among them preserved. It was 
 above a century after when St. Columba came amongst 
 them, and they then professed Christianity, and men- 
 tioned St. Ninian as the Bishop by whom they had 
 been converted.
 
 130 ST. ninian's latter da vs. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 St. J^/^inian's latter Days. 
 
 AxD now that we have followed the Saint through the 
 broken incidents of a holy and laborious life, there are 
 few remaining points on which to dwell, but such as 
 they are, they will be interesting to recount. 
 
 And first, of the personal habits of St. Ninian. Holy 
 and spotless as he had been through life, it would seem 
 as if he might have been free from penitential auster- 
 ities, and have spared the hardnesses which others 
 must use with themselves. But such views proceed 
 on erroneous notions, since they contradict the practice 
 of the most eminent saints. The most pure and holy 
 have ever been tlie most severe in their mortifications. 
 Holy men, such as he was, become, as it would seem, 
 not only indifferent to worldly comforts, but lovers of 
 suffering endured for Christ's sake, and that princi- 
 pally from the love of Him. It seems to them, so 
 to say, unnatural to live at ease, when He endured 
 so much on their account. And they may suffer in a 
 way which corresponds to His sufferings, by suffer- 
 ing for their people, by accompanying their earnest 
 intercessions with those acts of mortification which 
 are natural in deep sorrow. There is ever before 
 them the sight of some, lost to their true interests, 
 passing day by day from a life of folly and tbrgetful- 
 ness into an unchanging state ; and yearning for their 
 recovery and salvation, yet unable to effect it, when 
 their words seem to them as idle tales, to weep, to fast, 
 to pray, to endeavour to prevail with God for them is
 
 ST. nenian's latter days. 131 
 
 their natural resource. Then again, in a deep humble 
 sense of not having corresponded to the influence 
 of Divine Grace ; the consciousness that though they 
 have not wilfully and obstinately continued in sin, 
 yet they have not improved duly the spiritual privi- 
 leges afforded to them ; the knowledge of imperfection 
 and tendencies to sin — all these are so clearly seen, and 
 acutely felt by those who really love God, tliat the 
 sorrows and afflictions of saints are ever penitential. 
 Let us not then be surprised, if, when we draw near 
 St. Ninian, and learn his secret ways, we do not find 
 contrivances for comfort, or the enjoyment of life. 
 
 They show on the coast of Galloway, on the face of 
 a lofty and precipitous line of rocks, against which one 
 of the stormiest of our seas incessantly beats, a damp 
 chilly cave, lying one third of the way, it may be, 
 from the bottom of the cliff, and accessible only by 
 climbing and springing from rock to rock. It is a 
 deep recess, running back some twenty feet, and grad- 
 ually narrowing from the mouth, where it may be 
 twelve feet high, and as many wide. There is nothing 
 to screen it from the winds and spray which beat 
 against the rock, no bottom of earth to rest upon, 
 but only bare uneven stone. Here, the tradition of 
 the country says, St. Ninian used to come for peni- 
 tential and devotional retirement ; and it is not im- 
 probable. For a religious person in those days, to 
 retire to a cave, nay, to live in one all his life, was no 
 strange thing ; it was but to follow in the steps of 
 the confessors of the earlier dispensation, who lived 
 in dens and caves of the earth. It was the ordinary 
 practice of good people thus to deprive themselves of 
 every earthly comfort, and to realize the time when 
 they should be completely stripped of all which this
 
 132 ST. ninian's latter days. 
 
 world can afford, in the cold and silent tomb. To 
 practise as it were beforehand, what every one at some 
 time must actually undergo, silence, and loneliness, 
 and reflection ; without any thing of this world to 
 occupy the thoughts, or to afford outward comfort. 
 St. Ciaran, the Apostle of the Scoto Irish, had a 
 cave in Kintire ; and near St. Andi'evv's, the place of 
 of St. Rule's retirement, there are many caves which 
 were the retreats of religious men ; and he whom St. 
 Ninian specially reverenced, the Saint of Tours, as we 
 we have seen, lived with his associates in caves. It 
 has been thought that they w^ere places of conceal- 
 ment, to w^hich a holy man might retreat from the 
 persecution his preaching would excite ; and there 
 was need St. Ninian should have such a protection, 
 for he w^as not unfrequently in danger fi'om the attacks 
 of the obstinate and the unbelieving. One would 
 rathei', however, view them as places for religious 
 retirement, and imagine the holy Ninian going aside 
 to rest awhile, from the many who Avere coming and 
 going, to withdraw at seasons from the hurry and 
 distraction of his office, to consider his own state, to 
 examine his spiritual progress, to mourn over what 
 was evil, to deprecate the Divine displeasure, and to 
 intercede for his people ; and surely it seems more 
 fitting to do so in a lone and cheerless spot, out of 
 the reach of men, in hunger and thirst, in cold and 
 nakedness, with the wild winds howling around, and 
 the sea and the waves roaring, and sea-birds screaming, 
 than surrounded%by comforts, and the appliances of 
 luxiu-y. And if it is rather probable antecedently, 
 that St. Ninian should have a place of retreat, and 
 the practice of the times would lead him to choose a
 
 ST. NINIAN's latter DATS. 133 
 
 cave ; we should most naturally believe it to be tliat, 
 which popular tradition has pointed out. 
 
 Another instance of his mortified life, not it is pre- 
 sumed uncommon in the histories of saints, is the 
 practice, as it has been reported, of abstaining from all 
 food during the awful season of our blessed Redeemer's 
 sufferings, in sympathy, penitence, and love. It is 
 said he tasted nothing from the evening of Maundy 
 Thursday, till he had partaken of the Holy Sacrament 
 on Easter Day. 
 
 There is an old Life of St. Ninian in Ireland, re- 
 ferred to by Archbishop Usher, which reports fur- 
 ther acts of self-denial, and withdrawal from all that 
 winds itself around the heart, even the deai'est ties 
 of blood. It says that the mother and relations of the 
 Saint were used to visit him, and that to separate him- 
 self from all intercourse with them, he went over to 
 Ii-eland, accompanied by some of his disciples, and 
 there, on a piece of ground given him by the king, 
 founded the monastery of Cluayn Coner, Avhere he 
 spent the rest of his life and died. The account of 
 his retreat is one of those stories which may illus- 
 trate character, and show what it was thought he 
 would do ; but as a matter of fact, it has no authority, 
 and as regards his death, is contrary to the best tes- 
 timony, which represents him as having died, and 
 been buried in his own Church, at Whithern. 
 
 We have one more point in which to view St. Nin- 
 ian, and then we will take leave of him — that is, as an 
 author ; in which character he appears in the ancient 
 collections of our national writers, by Leland, Bale 
 and Pits. It is by no means improbable, indeed most 
 likely, that he should commit to writing what would 
 be for the good of his clergy and scholars. He had
 
 134 ST. ninian's latter days. 
 
 stored up at Rome the lessons of the great teachers 
 of the Church ; he had doubtless studied the writings 
 of others, and himself tlirough life meditated on the 
 Holy Scriptures. He was now but perpetuating for the 
 benefit of others, the spontaneous outpourings of his 
 mind, or the solutions of those difficulties which were 
 proposed to him. Such is the character of the writings 
 which are attributed to him — Commentaries on the 
 Holy Scriptures, and in particular, Meditations on 
 the Psalms. These were the Meditations which had 
 been the solace of his travels on the wilds of Gallo- 
 way, the fruits of a deeply contemplative spirit exer- 
 cised on those sacred words, wluch, by their continual 
 repetition, and adaptation to the varying circumstances 
 of the Christian life, are associated with our holiest 
 thouo-hts. The other work of which the title is handed 
 down, was one composed, doubtless, as a Theological 
 Manual for the Clergy and Students of Whithern. ' 
 It was a collection of Sentences from the Fathers, of 
 passages expressing their sentiments on points of doc- 
 trine and morals ; most probably arranged under heads, 
 and so forming a body of divinity, and giving the 
 most important portions — the very essence of their 
 writings. The value of such a work to St. Ninian's 
 clergy can scarcely be over-rated. They could not 
 afford a large library, and might have read much with- 
 out obtaining the advantages which such a selection 
 would afford. It might, we may imagine, have been 
 St. Ninian's work at Rome, where he had leisure and 
 
 ' " Ex iis autem quae post se reliquit, aliqua saltern nomine 
 tcnus tenemus teste sixto senensi, 
 
 Meditationum in Psalmos Davidis librum unum ; 
 De Sanctorum Sententiis librum unum." 
 
 Pitseus de lllustribus Britanniae Scriptoribus, p. 87.
 
 ST. nenian's latter days. 135 
 
 free access to libraries, and where such a common- 
 place book would have proved a useful aid in his own 
 studies, to enter the passages which he would most 
 wish to preserve. For though the most voluminous 
 of the Fathers, as we have them, were only sending 
 out their works during his stay at Rome, there were 
 many remains of older ones which we have lost. And 
 he Avas now only making that which had been intended 
 for his own reference and perusal, a benefit to others ; 
 and very great was the use of such a selection, in 
 instilling and preserving sound doctrine in the minds 
 of those who were to teach others. 
 
 Such was St. Ninian, the young and noble Briton, 
 who, for the love of Christ, and the true knowledge of 
 Him, went forth from his country and his father's 
 house. Such Avas he ; a laborious apostle, enduring 
 toil, difficulty, and reproach, in bringing men to 
 Christ ; a mortified ascetic, and meditative student ; a 
 kind teacher of babes, a humble, gentle, and circum- 
 spect govei'nor of a religious society. And great was 
 the fruit of his labours, in the recovery and salvation 
 of souls, great in the glory of which he himself was 
 made a partaker. 
 
 His life had been continued till the year 432, that is 
 above seventy years. During the last five-and-thirty, 
 nearly half of the whole, he had laboured in the wild, 
 barbarous, and unsettled country to which he had 
 been appointed as a Missionary Bishop. Worldly 
 honours, comforts, possessions, he had cast behind him. 
 He lived for God, and to do His will. His peaceful days 
 of study and meditation in the sacred city, he might 
 look back upon as sweet and holy days, full of spiritual 
 privileges, and the source of many a blessing ; but it
 
 136 ST. ninian's latter days. 
 
 would be as one surrounded by the rich fruits of 
 iiutumn, would look back on spring ; as very fair, and 
 in its time seeming more pleasant, but chiefly valuable 
 as instrumental towards the true good which he is 
 now enjoying, though it may be, among many labours. 
 But such labours, it has been beautifully said, are 
 sweet — sweet as those of the husbandman, who re- 
 joices in the heavier load of corn by the increased 
 value of his possessions — sweet as to the gatherer of 
 frankincense, by the delights elicited in his toils. 
 
 Advanced in years, suiTounded by his spiritual chil- 
 dren and friends, beholding the effect of his labours, 
 the time is come for him to depart. — To adopt the 
 words of St. Aelred, " To the blessed Saint himself 
 that day was a day of joy and gladness ; to the people 
 over whom he presided, one of tribulation and distress. 
 He rejoiced, for heaven was opening to him. His 
 people grieved at being deprived of such a Father. 
 He rejoiced, for a crown of immortality was preparing 
 for him. They were in sorrow, because their salvation 
 seemed in danger. Nay, even the fulness of his joy 
 was impaired by his love for them ; to leave them was 
 a heavy trial, but to be longer separated from Christ, 
 ajipeared beyond endurance. 
 
 " But while his soul was thus delaying, Christ con- 
 soles him, ' Rise up,' He said, ' my beloved, my dove 
 (in the English Version,^ 'my love, my fair one'), make 
 haste, and come away.' ' Rise up, my beloved, rise up, 
 my Dove.' Rise up in thought, make haste by desire, 
 come by affection. Suitable, indeed, were these words 
 to this most blessed Saint, as one to whom, as the friend 
 of the Bridegroom, that heavenly Bridegroom had com- 
 
 « Cant. ii. 10.
 
 ST. NINIAn's latter DATS. 137 
 
 mitted his Bride, to whom He had revealed His secrets, 
 and opened His treasures. Deservedly is that soul 
 called beloved, in whom all is made up of love, and 
 there is nothing of fear. 'My beloved,' He says, 
 ' my dove.' My dove — a dove truly taught to mourn, 
 that knew nothing of the gall of bitterness, but wept 
 with those that wept, was weak with the weak, and 
 burned for those that were offended. ' Rise up, my 
 love, my fair one, and come away.' 
 
 " ' For lo ! the winter is past, the rain is over and 
 gone.' Then, O blessed Saint, the winter was indeed 
 past to thee, Avhen, with happy eye, thou didst gain 
 the sight of thy heavenly country — that country which 
 the Sun of righteousness illumines by the brightness 
 of His light, which love warms, and a wonderful 
 equality, like the attempering of the spring-time, regu- 
 lates by an ineffable unity. Then the unseasonable 
 winter which fills all on earth with discomfort, Avhich 
 hardens the frozen hearts of men by vices that fall 
 upon them, where neither truth shines, nor love burns 
 to the full — this was past and gone, and thy holy soul, 
 completely triumphant, escaped from the showers of 
 temptations, and the hail-storms of i^ersecutions, into 
 the beauty of perpetual verdure. 
 
 " ' The flowers,' he says, ' have appeared in our 
 land. For around thee, O blessed Ninian, breathed the 
 odours of the flowers of Paradise, when on thee, as on 
 one most familiar to them, the multitudes of those that 
 are clothed in crimson and white, smiled with placid 
 countenance, and bid thee to their company — they 
 whom chastity has clothed with white, and love with 
 blushing crimson. For though no occasion Avas af- 
 forded thee to give the sign of bodily martyi'dom, 
 still that without which martyrdom is nothing, denied
 
 138 ST, ninian's latter days. 
 
 » 
 not the merit of martyrdom. For so often as he 
 
 offered himself to the swords of the perverse, so often 
 as in the cause of righteousness he opposed himself to 
 the arms of tyrants, he was prepared to fall in the 
 cause of truth, and to die for righteousness. De- 
 servedly then is he admitted among the flowers of the 
 roses, and tlie lilies of the valley — himself clothed in 
 crimson and white, going up from Lebanon to be 
 crowned among the hosts of heaven. 
 
 " ' For the time of the vintage is come.' For soon, 
 as a full ripe cluster, he must be cut from the stem of 
 the body, from the vineyard of the Church on earth, 
 to be pressed by love, and laid up in the storehouses of 
 heaven. 
 
 " Thus the blessed Ninian, perfect in life, mature in 
 years happily departed from the world, and attended 
 by angelic spirits, was borne to heaven ; and there 
 associated with the company of the Apostles, mingling 
 with the ranks of Martyrs, and united to the bands of 
 holy Confessors, adorned with the Virgins' flowers, he 
 ceases not to succour those on earth who hope in him, 
 call on him, and praise him. 
 
 " He was buried in the Church of St. Martin, which 
 he had himself built from the foundation, and placed 
 in a stone coffin near the altar, tlie Clergy and people 
 standing by, and lifting up their heavenly hymns with 
 heart and voice, with sighs and tears. And at this 
 place the power which had shone forth in his life, 
 ceases not in death to manifest itself around liis body, 
 so that all the faithful recognize him as living in hea- 
 ven, because it is evident that he produces effects on 
 earth. At his most sacred tomb, the sick are cured, 
 the lepers are cleansed, the evil ones ai-e affrighted, 
 the blind receive their sight. And by all these things
 
 ST. ninian's latter days. 139 
 
 the feitli of believers is confirmed to the praise and 
 glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, who liveth and reign- 
 eth with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy 
 Ghost, Avorld without end. Amen." 
 
 The death of St. Ninian occurred on the 16th of 
 September, A. D. 432 ; and on that day his memory 
 was celebrated in the Scottish Church, in Catholic 
 ages, with deep veneration, as their chiefest Saint, 
 to whom first they owed it, that they had been brought 
 from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to 
 God. The service for the day in the Aberdeen Breviary 
 is very beautiful, and in connexion with his history, 
 most interesting. It contains nine Lessons, extracted 
 from St. Aelred's life, and throws into devotional form 
 the various events we have been recording. The cir- 
 cumstances of liis life and miracles are expressed in 
 hymns and proses, antiphones and responses, which 
 once were chaunted in his praise throughout all the 
 Churches of Scotland. His name and day were noted 
 in the Kalendar prefixed to the Scottish Prayer Book 
 of King Charles the First. 
 
 The rest of St. Aelred's work is occupied by a de- 
 tailed account of miracles wrought at the tomb of St. 
 Ninian, which it is not necessary now to narrate. 
 " When the Saint had been taken up to heaven," he 
 says, " the multitude of the faithful continued to visit, 
 with the deepest devotion, what seemed to be left them 
 of him — his most holy remains, and out of regard to their 
 piety and faith,. the Almighty showed, by the evidence 
 of numerous miracles, that, though the common lot of 
 mortality had taken His Saint from the earth, yet he 
 still lived in heaven." A distorted child was first re- 
 stored ; this led many to hasten to bring their varied 
 diseases before his holy relics ; in particular, a man
 
 1 40 CONCLUSION. 
 
 covered with a cutaneous disease of a most horrible 
 kind was restored ; tlien a ^irl, who had lost her 
 sight ; and two lepers were made clean by bathing in 
 his spring. " Through his prayers," to quote a hymn 
 for his day, " the shipwrecked find a harbour, and the 
 barren woman is blessed with otfspring ;" and St. 
 Aelred says that the power continued to be manifested 
 even in his own times. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 Conclusion. 
 
 And now, that we have followed St. Ninian through 
 his laborious life to his peaceful rest, we may not un- 
 naturally wish to know what became of his Church 
 and people after he Avas taken from them. On this 
 point however our information is very limited, and 
 much is left to be inferred from probabilities. 
 
 He had introduced the Ritual and Observances of 
 the Roman Church, which were certainly different from 
 those which the Britons used. Of these however no 
 traces can be discovered. It would seem as if they 
 had been lost among the changes which occurred be- 
 tween his death and the time of Bede ; for, though 
 tliat writer carefully sought for instances of conformity 
 witli Rome, he makes no mention of this, which would 
 have been marked in itself, and known to the Saxons at 
 Whithern. The Church of St. Ninian may herein have 
 conformed to the practices of the other Britons, un-
 
 CONCLUSION. 141 
 
 der the Episcopate of St. Kentigern, or have quite 
 sunk into obscurity. 
 
 We should naturally expect that the instructions he 
 established, would, for a time at least, be maintained ; 
 that the religious society would hold together, and con- 
 tinue its work, as a refuge of piety and teacher of re- 
 ligion ; and there is some confirmation of this expec- 
 tation in the statement of Scottish historians, that St. 
 Ninian's monastery was a school which supplied teachers 
 for the people ; and that of Bede, that the body of the 
 Saint, with those of many holy men rested in the 
 Church of Whithern, as though there was there a 
 home of Saints. 
 
 As regards the succession to his See, we are alto- 
 gether without information. It is possible that in the 
 troubled state of the country, when the Picts and Scots 
 were so grievously afflicting the Britons, and when 
 there certainly was so great a want of earnestness 
 among the British Bishops, they may have neglected 
 to supply a successor to St. Ninian ; and the monastery 
 and country priests may have continued without a 
 pastor, trusting to occasional missionary visits, such as 
 those of Palladius and others. The Church he loved 
 so well was now desolate, and a widow. This seems 
 most probably to have been the case till the time of 
 St. Kentigern, who fixed his See at Glasgow, and in- 
 cluded in his diocese the district which had been St. 
 Ninian's care, and it is said, completed the work of 
 conversion. That diocese, as has been stated before, 
 extended over the south-west of Scotland, and the 
 Cumbrian Britons, as far as Stainmoor ; and Wliit- 
 hern, whether it retained its monastery or not, became 
 subordinate. 
 Meanwhile the Saxons were occupying England ;
 
 142 CONCLUSION. 
 
 were themselves being converted ; and their pewer 
 rapidly increasing, accompanied by a depth and earn- 
 estness of religion, perhaps unequalled in any people. 
 From being the most barbarous, they became the most 
 devout. The nation seemed a really Christian nation, 
 and England Avas indeed an Isle of Saints. A spirit 
 of piety was diffused through every class. Political 
 measures were in consequence determined by the prin- 
 ciples of the Gospel ; and Saxon conquests were Chris- 
 tian ones, suboi'dinate to the great objects of extending 
 the privileges of religion, and procuring everlasting 
 good for those whom they subdued. 
 
 It was the lot of Galloway in the eighth century to 
 be overcome, and partially occupied by them, as a por- 
 tion of the kingdom of Bernicia ; and they too revered 
 St. Ninian ; and in the place where he was resting, 
 and where his miracles were recorded to have been 
 wrought, they established a monastery, and introduced 
 a new succession of Bishops, under the metropolitan 
 See of York. Then it was that Bede wrote of St. 
 Ninian, and Alcuin was in correspondence with the 
 brethren of the monastery. This succession conti- 
 nued as long as the Saxons had possession of Gal- 
 loway ; and the names of the Bishops are recorded 
 from 723 to 790. 
 
 After this it was again broken ; for fresh incursions 
 afflicted tlie unhappy country. They were now over- 
 run, not by a people who introduced a pure religion 
 and social improvement, but by hordes of Irish, called 
 Cruithne, or Picts, which is said to be a word of the 
 same meaning ; a distinct race, be it observed, from all 
 who had previously borne that name. They were an 
 uncivilized and very savage people, who brought their 
 own religion and habits, and established them here.
 
 CONCLUSION, 143 
 
 They were long known as the wild Picts of Galloway, 
 and continued as a distinct and notoriously barbarous 
 people till after the time of St. Aeb-ed ; indeed Gaelic 
 continued to be spoken here till the time of Mary 
 Stuart. These are the Picts of later times, from whom 
 the Picts' wall is named. During the dreary period 
 which followed their invasion, the Bishop of Man, the 
 nearest See, took charge of the deserted flock. A 
 work of love which may add some little to our interest 
 in that lowly relic of the Celtic Church. 
 
 In the twelfth century however brighter days beamed 
 on Galloway. Tlie power of the Saxon race who 
 ruled in Scotland increased, and the Lords of Galloway, 
 with their country, became dependent on the sovereign, 
 and enjoyed the dangerous distinction of being the iirst 
 to make the onset in his battles. David I. was a de- 
 votedly religious prince ; the perfect example, as histo- 
 rians not disposed to flattery have called him, of a good 
 king, whom St. Aelred loved and mourned over as 
 though he were his father. His great object was to 
 restore religion in Scotland, and with this view he 
 founded Bishopricks and monasteries throughout his 
 dominions, and St. Ninian's See was first restored.^ 
 But such was the fallen condition of the Scottish 
 Church, that no Bishop was left to consecrate the 
 newly appointed one. And by the direction of the 
 Pope, Thurstan, the Archbishop of York, pei-fbrmed 
 the office. The Bishop, Gilaldan, from the evidence 
 of ancient custom, as he said, acknowledged the obe- 
 dience of his See to York ; referring to the time of 
 the Saxon succession in the eighth century. Gallo- 
 
 ' If it had not been, it was earlier ; as some think, by Malcolm 
 III., in the preceding century.
 
 144 CONCLUSION. 
 
 way thus again became part of the Province of York, 
 which gives the English Church another claim on St, 
 Ninian ; and so continued/certainly till the fourteenth 
 century, and perhaps till the establisliment of St. 
 Andrew's as a metropolitan Church in the fifteenth. 
 Thus was the Church again restored in Galloway, and 
 continued to flourish till the change of religion in the 
 sixteenth century ; her Bishop, out of regard to St. 
 Ninian, and the antiquity of the See, taking the first 
 place among the Scottish Bishops. 
 
 Soon after this new foundation of the Bishoprick, 
 the Lord of Galloway, Fergus, followed up the work 
 of his sovereign and friend, and imitated in Galloway 
 the course he had taken in the rest of Scotland. He 
 is spoken of by the historians of Galloway as in his 
 sphere, one of the greatest benefactors of Ids country. 
 He found his people wild, barbarous, and irreligious, 
 and to effect a reformation among them, he established 
 monasteries, as sources from which flowed forth the 
 blessings of holy example and Christian teaching, and 
 moral and social improvement, which in time took 
 effect upon the people. 
 
 At Whithern he introduced a body of Prtemonstra- 
 tensian canons, an order then recently established, and 
 full of life ; it was an offset from Saulseat, Avhere he 
 had previously brought a colony from Cockersand, 
 in Lancashire. These formed the Chapter, (the Prior, 
 during the vacancy of the See, being Vicar General) 
 and elected the Bishop, though with occasional oppo- 
 sition from the secular Clergy. It was soon after the 
 foundation of the Priory that St. Aelred wrote his Life 
 of St. Ninian, and the chancel of the Church was built 
 not long after ; the publication of the Life probably
 
 CONCLUSION. 145 
 
 making tlie virtues of St. Ninian known, and drawing 
 numerous worshippers and offerings to his shrine. 
 
 From that time the Saint was held in the highest 
 veneration, and his shrine visited, and his intercession 
 sought by people from every part. Thousands of pil- 
 grims came every year ; and a general protection, very 
 necessary in those days of Border warfare, was granted 
 by James the First, in 1425, to all strangers coming 
 into Scotland to visit St. Ninian's tomb ; and in 1506 
 it was renewed for all persons of England, L-eland, 
 and the Isle of Man, coming by sea or land to the 
 Church of Whithern in honour of St. Ninian. 
 
 Numerous Churches in every part of Scotland are 
 dedicated to him. In England there is one at Brough- 
 am, in the diocese of Carlisle, within the limits of his 
 ancient diocese, the name of which is now corrupted 
 into Ninechurch ; and another, it is believed, at a 
 place, called St. Ninian's, in Northumberland, where 
 an annual fair is held on his Day, (O. S.) Sept. 27. 
 Many wells too in the Border counties are called by 
 his name, and believed to have special virtues derived 
 from him ; never drying in the hottest, or freezing in 
 the coldest weather ; and still thought by the people 
 to wash linen whiter than any other water. 
 
 The accounts of miracles wrought, and blessings ob- 
 tained through his prayers, enter largely into the or- 
 dinary civil history of Scotland. For instance, Da- 
 vid II. received several wounds from the English 
 archers, at Neville's Cross, before he was taken pris- 
 oner ; one of the arrow heads could not be extracted, 
 and remained, it is said by the historian of the times, 
 till he went to St. Ninian's, then the flesh opened and 
 the arrow head sprung out. 
 
 Besides other kings and nobles who visited the
 
 14(3 CONCLUSION. 
 
 shrine, James IV., on whom the memory^of his father's 
 death hung so heavily, made a pilgi-image to St. Nin- 
 ian's (so AVhithern was usually called), once at least 
 every year. The treasurer's books of his reign con- 
 tain many notices illustrative of the circumstances of 
 his visits and his large almsgivings. One pilgrimage 
 he made on foot to pray for the safety of his Queen on 
 the bii'th of her first son, and, after her recovery, she 
 came with a great attendance to return thanks for the 
 blessing she had received. This was Margaret, the 
 daughter of Henry VII. and the mother of our Stuarts. 
 
 In the next generation, when Wliithern was again 
 without a Bishop, these pilgrimages continued so rooted 
 in the habits and aifections of the people, that the utmost 
 zeal of the preachers could not put them dow^ n, till they 
 were made punishable by law, in 1581. Such was the 
 regard for our holy Saint, and so deeply fixed in the 
 minds of those who had been blessed by him. And 
 doubtless it still lingers in the behef of those who 
 enjoy the fair water of his springs, or show his cave to 
 the passing stranger, or glory in the honour the Saint 
 once gave to their native town. 
 
 James I. restored a Bishop to Galloway, who was 
 consecrated in 1610. The succession continued till 
 1689 ; when John Gordon, the last Bishop, followed 
 the Kin"' to Ireland and France, and continued to per- 
 form the offices of the English Church at St. Ger- 
 mains. He died abroad ; and St. Ninian's country was 
 again included in the diocese of Glasgow — in name, at 
 least, for throughout the whole district of Galloway, 
 there is no Clergyman or congregation in communion 
 with the Scottish Bishops. So entirely has that por- 
 tion been swept away, so dreary a region to an English-
 
 CONCLUSION. 147 
 
 man is the countiy, wliich St. Ninian blessed by his 
 labours and his prayers. 
 
 In 1684 the tower of the Church was still standing 
 among the ruins of the aisles, transepts, and extensive 
 monastic buildings. All these ai*e gone ; but we 
 may still trace them partly in their foundations, partly 
 as portions of houses, partly as used for building ma- 
 terials, or kept as ornaments. The chancel has been 
 preserved, being used by the Parishioners, till of late 
 years, as their place of worship. It was built upon the 
 site of much more ancient buildings, which had been 
 the crypt, as it would seem, of an extensive Church ; 
 for there are large vaults of old and rude masonry 
 around, which rise higher than the level of the chancel 
 flooi". They must have been part of the original 
 Church of St. Ninian, of the fourth century ; or built 
 by the Saxons in the eighth century, and it would be 
 interesting to ascertain whether they are not really 
 part of a Church, the building and date of which are 
 so marked in the Ecclesiastical History of Scotland. 
 The chancel is a well proportioned and beautiful sjje- 
 cimen of the early English style. The South-west 
 door-way is round, and elegantly worked, the windows 
 pointed, of single lights. In the north wall, in the 
 usual place near the east end, are two canopied recesses, 
 apparently sepulchral ones, nearly on the level of the 
 floor, in one of which doubtless St. Ninian's body lay, ^ 
 
 ' The words, north and east are used, though improperly, 
 for the Church stands north and south ; a circumstance which 
 we may connect with St. Aelred, for that is the position of 
 his Abbey Church at Rievaux, and persons are sometimes glad 
 to repeat even defects, when they remind them of a place they 
 love. Fergus loved Aelred, and planted a colony of Cister- 
 cians from Rievaux at Dundrennan ; St. Aelred himself was in 
 Galloway, and probably concerned in founding the Priory.
 
 148 CONCLUSION, 
 
 This even is now dismantled ; a new building was 
 erected about twenty years ago, which is the place of 
 worship for the Parishioners ; and the roof and fur- 
 niture were removed from the old chancel, and the 
 mere walls left ; and that Church — once the most 
 honoured in Scotland, where the holy remains of St. 
 Ninian lay, and crowds of suppliants sought his in- 
 tercession, where once the chaunt was heard by night 
 and day, where holy men anticipated and prepared for 
 heaven — that Church is now bare and roofless, exposed 
 to the wild winds ; grass grows upon the pavement, 
 and ivy and wild flowers ornament its walls. A sad 
 sight indeed ; but it is beautiful in its ruins, and more 
 pleasing far thus consecrated by loneliness and deso- 
 lation, than defaced by incongruities, or applied to uses 
 inconsistent with its spirit. A sad sight indeed, but 
 one which harmonizes well with the condition of that 
 system of which it formed a part ; a system the i'air 
 relics of which we love to trace in histoiy, and com- 
 plete in imagination ; which once was, and is no longer. 
 Here St. Ninian laboured to raise a spiritual as well as 
 a material Building, and to frame it in its services 
 and doctrines after the Catholic model. Where is 
 that Church ? Where are those services now ? There 
 remains but a ruin of what once existed in beauty 
 and honour. 
 
 Henry Mozley and Sons, Printers, Derby.
 
 LIVES 
 
 THE ENGLISH SAINTS. 
 
 ^t. Stxman, 
 
 BISHOP OF AUXEERE. 
 
 MANSUETI H^REDITABUNT TERRAM, ET DELECTABONTUR IN 
 MULTITUDINE PACIS. 
 
 LONDON : 
 JAMES TOOVEY, 192, PICCADILLY. 
 
 1844.
 
 Henry Mozley and Sons, Printers, Derby.
 
 ADVEETISEMENT. 
 
 Cake has been taken in the annexed work, to avoid as 
 far as possible all dogmatism upon disputed points of 
 doctrine and discipline. The austerities of Saints and 
 the miracles they performed, are, in some measure, an 
 exception ; both because the numbers of those who have 
 ungenial feelings with regard to them, are gradually 
 diminishing, and because they form as it were the very 
 substance of ancient Hierology. At the same time 
 many things which are out of date in this country, 
 have been produced just as they were found in original 
 documents for the sake of historical veracity. Facts 
 have been often related as facts without any intention 
 of proposing them as examples. For which i-eason little 
 has been said about the develoj^ment of any prin- 
 ciple into its consequences, or the different stages of 
 the process, as necessarily involving an opinion and a 
 decision upon the thing developed or the reality of the 
 development. Those miracles which have been given 
 without any stress upon the authority or evidence, are 
 here considered true and credible as far as testimony 
 can make any thing credible. Still on the cu'cum- 
 stances and accidents chiefly has the weight been laid, 
 inasmuch as probable evidence varies in its influence 
 in proportion to the shades of human disposition and 
 prejudice. Where no authority is given, that of Con- 
 stantius, the contemporary of St. German, must be
 
 IV ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 supposed ; elsewhere the author or the sources of the 
 information are distinctly marked. Hericus, the Com- 
 mentator of Constantius, after his original, stands out 
 among the recorders of these miracles. 
 
 Lastly, the dates of Boschius the Bollandist have been 
 followed. Though on some occasions it might have 
 appeared warrantable to depart from them, yet it was 
 safer not so to do. Dates are, as many other things, 
 like a house of cards. Take away one, you endanger 
 the whole fabric. The chronology of the learned Jesuit 
 is all of a piece. It is finely interwoven with the facts, 
 and it does not materially vary from that of our great 
 Chronologer, Archbishop Usher.
 
 LIFE OF 
 BISHOP OF AEXERRE, A. D. 418-448. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Introduction. 
 
 The subject of the following narrative will be called, 
 not St. Germanvis nor St. Germain, though precedents 
 are not wanting for these forms of his name, but St. 
 German, Tliis it is believed is his true English name, 
 as connected with the ancient and warm sympathies of 
 our country. Several places still bear witness to these 
 sympathies, while they support the assei-tion just made. 
 The town of St. Germans in Cornwall, with its old 
 Priory, the Abbey-church of Selby in Yorkshire, dedi- 
 cated to St. German, the Cathedral church of the Isle 
 of Man, a chapel yet visible in the Abbey of St. 
 Albans, and the field of a famous victory obtained in 
 "Wales, by the Britons under St. German's auspices, and 
 still called Maes Gannon, or Field of German : these 
 are the most prominent instances, though doubtless 
 there are many other traces of the Saint and his name, 
 in that storehouse of old traditions and fond remem- 
 brances, "Wales. 1 
 
 ' He is called German in Cressy, Collier, Stillingfleet, Dug- 
 dale and Camden ; In the Primer of Queen Mary, Germayne, 
 but in the Psalter of Elizabeth, German. 
 B
 
 2 IXTRODUCTIOX. 
 
 St. Gei'man was born in the fourth century, and 
 flourished in the beginning of the fifth. He was not a 
 Briton l)y birth, parents, or habitual residence. Yet 
 he is numbered among English saints on account of 
 his great services to our nation, and has been honoured 
 with the high title of Apostle to the Britons by his 
 contemporaries and by subsequent ^vriters. He was 
 bishop of Auxerre in France, a town not very far from 
 Sens, which was the metropolitan See, and the name of 
 Auxerre is commonly added to his own, to distinguish 
 him from another famous St. German, bishop of Paris 
 a century later. ' Six other distinguished saints are also 
 mentioned as having at different times, and in different 
 countries borne the same name ; a martyr near Amiens, 
 a bishop of Constantinople, a bishop in Africa, a 
 martyr in Spain, another at Cesarea in Cappadocia, and 
 a bishop of Capua. The canonization of St. German of 
 Auxerre was not determined by those rules which in 
 later times were introduced to avoid mistake ; either 
 the age in which he lived was marked with gi-eater 
 candour, or his character stood too high to require any 
 investigation. The testimonies to his fame from early 
 writers, equal, one might almost say, the number of 
 authors in Gaul or Britain, who lived within a few 
 centui'ies of his own time. St. Gregory of Tours has 
 transmitted to us the words of St. Nicetius, who, a cen- 
 tury after St. German's death, wrote to a person in high 
 authority in the following way : " In what language can 
 I speak of the illustrious German, Hilary or Lupus ? 
 such miracles are performed at the time I write before 
 their shrines, that language fails me in relating them. 
 Persons afflicted by demoniacal possession are suddenly 
 raised and suspended in the air, while undergoing the 
 
 ' See Martvrol. Antissiod. 1751.
 
 INTKODUCTION. O 
 
 ceremony of Exorcism, and proclaim publicly the 
 glories of these Saints." Accordingly Anxerre, from 
 the date of his elevation to the bishopric, became the 
 object of universal reverence in the West. No town in 
 France, say the learned, ^ can boast of such a number 
 of precious offerings. Yet there is nothing in the 
 natural advantages of the place to raise it in men's 
 consideration. To the mere traveller for pleasure, 
 Auxerre must appear very insignificant. The country 
 around is uniform and tame. Its vineyards produce 
 excellent Avines, but vineyards are in reality not j^leasant 
 objects to behold. The river Yonne is large enough to 
 supply the town with the uecessai'ies of life, but too 
 inconsiderable on the other hand to give much dignity 
 to the walls it washes. The buildings are not of the 
 most stately and attractive appearance. Many col- 
 legiate Churches in France exceed St. Stephen, the 
 cathedral of Auxerre, in architectural beauty. Yet 
 notwithstanding Auxerre has ever had more than the 
 ordinary respect of Christendom, which is to be traced 
 up to St. German its founder and benefactor. Such 
 was the title of this Saint to Canonization ; not any 
 formal examination into his claims, but the general 
 consent of men, the acknowledged reality of his mira- 
 cles, the proverbial use of his name, the dm-able efficacy 
 of his saintly life. 
 
 St. German's name is found in all the early martyr- 
 ologies and calendai's. Mai'tyrologies are not confined 
 to the names of Saints who have sealed the Faith with 
 theii' blood, else were he excluded from them. He was 
 a Confessor. In the presence of danger and amidst much 
 suffering, he bore witness to truth and opposed profane 
 violence. Yet were his sufferings chiefly self-imposed ; 
 
 ' Gallia Christ. Abbayes de France Beaunier, torn. II.
 
 4 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 and occasioned by the mortifications of a singularly 
 ascetic life ; and unless we except the temporary diffi- 
 culties to which he was exposed by the contact of bar- 
 barian chieftains, voyages at sea, and opposition of her- 
 etics, his life may be said to have passed on the whole 
 calmly and quietly. He died at Ravenna in Italy, sur- 
 rounded by tlie imperial court, and attended by several 
 bishops of note. In the later martyrologies, his day is 
 appointed to be kept on the 31st of July, as the editions 
 of the Roman, by Baronius and Usuard, shew. But in 
 ancient times, the 1st of October was, together with the 
 former, observed in his honour ; and it is no small 
 commendation (if he needed any,) that his memory was 
 blessed solemnly by the universal Church in the West 
 twice a year. At Auxerre, as many as six days were 
 devoted to the praise of its Patron. One may add for 
 tlie benefit of persons accustomed to distinguish between 
 the relative importance of days, that the 31st of July 
 is still kept in France as a Duplex, and at Auxerre as 
 a Duplex Primaj Classis, according to the dignity of the 
 Patron of a Church. 
 
 But we have yet to inquire before we enter upon the 
 details of his life, what was that peculiar connexion 
 of St. German with England which has deserved 
 him the title of an English Saint. A short notice 
 in one of Bede's^ minor works will explain tliis point 
 sufficiently for the present purpose. " The Pelagian 
 heresy, he says, was disturbing the faith of the Britons ; 
 on which account they implored the assistance of the 
 Bishops of Gaul, who sent to them German, Bishop of 
 Auxerre, and Lupus of Troyes, both endued with Apos- 
 tolical gifts, to defend the Christian paitli. The two 
 Bishops, on arriving, restored religion to its purity by 
 
 ' Bede de sex Aetatibus ad an. 4402.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 5 
 
 the word of truth and the evidence of miracles. More- 
 over the Saxons and Picts were engaged in war with 
 the Britons at that time, and had united their forces. 
 Whereupon the two champions undertook tlieir defence, 
 and through Divine interposition defeated the enemy. 
 For German assumed himself the conduct of the Avar, 
 and instead of making use of the Trumpet, gave orders 
 that the whole army should strike up the cry of Alle- 
 lujah, which terrified their formidable adversaries to 
 such a degree that they took to flight." This, as it will 
 be seen, occurred in his first visit to England ; but he also 
 j)aid the Britons a second, the circumstances of which 
 are not in all points attainable from the remains of so 
 early a period. The fact however is certain, and is 
 not only related by Constantius, the original biographer 
 of St. German, by Bede, and Hericus a monk of Aux- 
 erre, but testified by the words of the martyrology of 
 this last town. " The 31st of July, it says, is sacred 
 as the day of the decease of St. German of Auxerre, at 
 Ravenna. He was a bishop distinguished for his birth, 
 faith, doctrine, and wonderful gift of miracles. Having 
 been sent into Great Britain together with St. Lupus, 
 of Troyes, by the prelates of Gaul, he overthrew the 
 Pelagian heresy in that island ; and again a second 
 time having resorted thither with Severus of Treves, he 
 entirely eradicated the remaining seeds of that error." 
 It will be seen by this that the companion of St. Ger- 
 man Avas not the same on the two occasions, the former 
 being St. Lupus, Bishop of Troyes, the brother of the 
 famous Vincentius Lirinensis, and the friend of St. Si- 
 donius Apollinaris, and the latter Severus, an eminent 
 Bishop of Treves, the residence of the imperial Prefect. 
 These are the principal reasons which justify us in 
 ranking him among our OAvn Avorthies. Nor is he
 
 6 INTRODUCTIOX. 
 
 solitary in this claim to naturalization. Palladiu?, (not 
 to speak of St. Augustino, tlic jrreat Arelibishop of Can- 
 terbury, and many others,) Palladius, the apostle of the 
 Scots, was not a Briton ; some have thought he was a 
 Greek by birth, who was attached to the Roman See. 
 In truth there are distinguished persons in history who 
 a^jpear to belong to no nation exclusively, but to be the 
 common property of society. Of this kind were the 
 Apostles of our Lord ; they were claimed as Patrons by 
 every Church they visited, and their Jewish origin was 
 merged, so to say, in the wider privileges of Catholic 
 l)irthriglit. Such also in his degree was St. German. 
 He is French, because he flourished in Gaul ; he is 
 British, because he converted Britain from heresy ; he 
 is Italian, because he terminated his glorious career at 
 Kavenna. Next to the service of establishing primarily 
 the Christian Faith in a nation, none may deserve higher 
 praise (if the word may be used for what is above 
 praise,) than that of extirpating error, and restoring 
 the Doctrines of the Church to their natural purity. 
 Such was St. German's work for the British Church. 
 The establishment of Christianity in this island dates, 
 as has been already remarked, from times Apostolical ; 
 but in process of time Orthodoxy was assailed by the per- 
 versions of the well known Polagius, who in all proba- 
 bility was himself a Briton, and who by means of his 
 emissaries created a schism in our Church, and threat- 
 ened the very foundations of its existence. Deputed 
 by the Galilean bishops with the sanction of Pope 
 Celestine, German fulfilled the object of his mission, 
 and secured to himself the eternal obligations of the 
 Britons, with the illustrious title of Apostle. 
 
 Were there not very vague notions afloat of the state 
 of Christendom in the fifth century, it might be suflR-
 
 INTRODUCTIOX. 7 
 
 cient to leave the details of his life to adapt themselves 
 to the circumstances of his times, according to general 
 principles of history. But the particular crisis in which 
 the Western world was placed when he was raised to 
 the office of Bishop, has given rise to some confusion. 
 In the minds of many there is no middle between an 
 age of barbarism and one of refinement. But in truth, 
 the line by which we may distinguish one period from 
 another, is often arbitrary and indefinite. On the bare 
 mention of the invasion of the barbarians, some Avould 
 expect nothing but ignorance, vice, and superstition. 
 Yet in general the most overbearing revolutions are 
 incapable of destrojdng at once the great features of the 
 manners of any period. There is a state of transition 
 which precedes a new era, and which partakes of the 
 characteristics of the two contending influences. The 
 middle ages are supposed to begin with the invasion of 
 the barbarians in the fifth century ; but whoever will 
 consider the protracted existence of Roman institutions 
 and manners for centuries after that time, wiU necessarily 
 abate his ideas of barbarian ascendancy. The great in- 
 vasion of the Goths into Gaul took place in 406, that is, 
 twelve years before St. German was Bishop of Auxerre, 
 and twenty-eight after his birth, consequently in the 
 very flower of his years. Honorius, the brother of Arca- 
 dius, and the son of Theodosius the Great, was then 
 emperor of the "West. The effects of this invasion were 
 dreadful beyond description. Its fury seems chiefly to 
 have raged in that part of France in which Auxerre is 
 situated. Mayence, Strasbourg, Spires, Rheims, Tour- 
 nay, Arras, Amiens, situated in the north-eastern parts 
 of that country, are noted as the objects of unlimited 
 devastation. " The consuming flames of war," says 
 Gibbon, " spread from the banks of the Rhine over the
 
 O INTRODUCTION. 
 
 greatest part of the seventeen provinces of Gaul. That 
 rich, and extensive countiy, as far as the ocean, the 
 Alps and the Pyi-enees, was delivered to the barbarians, 
 who drove before them, in a promiscuous crowd, the 
 bishop, the senator, and the virgin, laden Avith the spoils 
 of their homes and altars." Traces, it may be added, 
 were left long after at Auxerre of the presence of these 
 relentless invaders. But after all the accumulated cir- 
 cumstances of their oppression are taken into account, it 
 still remains constant that the great bulk of the people 
 in Gaul continued Roman in institutions, manners, lan- 
 guage, arts, and religion. There was no indiscriminate 
 division of the conquered lands among the conquerors, as 
 Montesquieu has proved, and in many cases conditions 
 Avere stipulated, which, Avhile they secured the liberty of 
 tlie natives, were more advantageous to the aggressors 
 than wanton violence. Again, though we should admit 
 the most extreme opinions concerning the multitude of 
 the barbarian invaders, yet had they been distributed 
 over so large a country as Gaul, their numbers Avould 
 have been very inadequate for any sudden revolution. 
 Consequently, in the first invasion of 406, it appears 
 their sojourn in particular places was not long ; and 
 after they had exei'cised their wonted pillage, they 
 moved onward Avithout securing Avhat they left behind. 
 Thus Auxerre, with a large district in its vicinity, re- 
 turned to the dominion of the Romans, Avho continued 
 as before their magistrates and generals throughout tliat 
 country. St. German himself, as Ave shall see, Avas duke 
 and govei-nor in obedience to Rome. The Franks seem 
 to have been the first Avho took regular possession of 
 Auxerre and the provinces around it, and in process of 
 time it Avas conceded to the king of the Burgundians, 
 the comparative leniency of whose government is Avell
 
 INTRODUCTION. 9 
 
 known. But there was another cause not less effectual 
 in diminishing the pernicious effects of the invasion, 
 and which ought not to be overlooked. 
 
 The ascendancy of moral and intellectual endow- 
 ments is so great, that when two hostile powers are 
 brought into contact for any length of time, physical 
 strength almost invariably yields in some measure to 
 the sway of mental superiority. The Goths became a 
 different people after they had taken possession of Gaul. 
 The court of Toulouse rivalled that of Ravenna in the 
 protection of literature and arts, and in the elegancy of 
 its forms. " The odious name of conquerors," says 
 Gibbon again, " was softened into the mild and friendly 
 appellation of the guests of the Romans ; and the bar- 
 barians of Gaul repeatedly declared, that they Avere 
 bound to the people by the ties of hospitality, and to 
 the emperor by the duty of allegiance and military ser- 
 vice. The title of Honorius and his successors, their 
 laws, and their civil magistrates, were still respected in 
 the provinces of Gaul, of which they had resigned the 
 possession to the barbarian allies ; and the kings, who 
 exercised a supreme and independent authority over 
 their native subjects, ambitiously solicited the more 
 honourable rank of master-generals of the imperial 
 armies. Such was the involuntary reverence which 
 the Roman name still impressed on the minds of those 
 Avarriors who had borne aAvay in triumph the spoils of 
 the Capitol." The sofuth of France moreover it must 
 be remembered, continued long in the possession of the 
 Romans. It comprehended what was called Septimania, 
 or the Seven Provinces, of which Aides was the seat of 
 Government. There the Pretorian Prefect of all Gaul 
 had his residence. The vicinity of this strong-hold of
 
 10 INTKODUCTIOX. 
 
 old Roman civilization and splendour tended not a little 
 to soften the barbarians throughout the land. 
 
 As a general fact, the invasion of the barbarians 
 produced an undoubted decay in the cultivation of 
 letters, and Sidonius Aj^ollinaris^ deplores, in his letters 
 many years after, the neglect into Avhich the schools 
 of learning were falling. AYithout stopping to observe 
 that the attainments of St. German himself would not 
 be affected by this circumstance, since his education 
 must have been completed many years before the inva- 
 sion, the expressions of Sidonius are to be understood 
 with great limitations. There were many like himself 
 who had enjoyed all the advantages of a liberal educa- 
 tion, Faustus of Eiez,2 Claudian Mamertus, Lupus, 
 Constantius, Probus, and many others. The study of 
 classical literature was still the great resource of the 
 higher classes, and very frequently the disturbance of 
 the times instead of diverting men from intellectual 
 pleasures, was the occasion of their popularity. Ferreo- 
 lus and Apollinaris, two distinguished persons, who had 
 retired from public life on account of the impossibility 
 of adapting high principles to the proceedings of state 
 affaii's, would thus naturally consider their libraries, as 
 one of the chief ornaments and resources of their mag- 
 nificent seats, where the danger of indulging in political 
 conversations would be compensated by the freedom with 
 which literary characters were canvassed. Not only 
 all the writings of antiquity whi«h have come to our 
 knowledge were familiar to persons of education, but 
 authors are alluded to by them which are totally un- 
 known to us. IMoreover schools had been established 
 in Gaul so early as Tiberius's reign ; the study of the 
 
 > B. II. Lett. X. p. 172. 
 2 Sidon. Ep. iv. I. p. 31S. See also Anquetil, torn. I. p. 221.
 
 INTRODUCTION, 11 
 
 sciences had been encouraged by several edicts from 
 successive Emperors ; and by degrees that country had 
 become the seat of learning and talent. The author of 
 St. German's life mentions his attendance at the Audi- 
 toria Gallicana, or Gallic schools, and we learn from 
 St. Jerome that at the same time the liberal arts were 
 in the most flourishing condition in Gaul. The prin- 
 cipal universities (for such they seem to have been) 
 were at Treves, Bordeaux, Autun, Toulouse, Lyons, 
 Marseilles, and other great towns. Their importance 
 may be estimated by the attention paid to them by the 
 government. Repeated edicts were issued for their 
 advantage. An extract from that of Gratian in the 
 year 376, only two years before St. German's birth, is 
 too interesting to be omitted. 
 
 " Gratian Augustus to Antony, Pretorian Prefect of 
 all Gaul. 
 
 " In the great cities, which belong to the district com- 
 mitted to your^ Magnificence, and which are distin- 
 guished for professors of learning, the most accomplished 
 must preside at the education of the youth ; whether 
 teachers of rhetoric or grammar in the Grecian and 
 Homan languages. The orators^ are to receive from 
 the treasury the salary of twenty four measures ; and 
 the Greek and Latin grammarians, according to custom, 
 may be content with twelve measures. In order also 
 that those cities, which claim metropolitan privileges, 
 may have the choice of professors, (inasmuch as each 
 town may not be enabled to pay sufficiently for masters 
 and instructors,) we intend to add something for the 
 advantage of Treves : and enjoin that thirty measures 
 
 ' The titles bestowed upon the various ofFicers of the Empire 
 was a point of great nicety, in the fourth and fifth centuries. 
 - The orators here are the same as the professors of rhetoric.
 
 12 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 be granted to the professor of rhetoric, twenty to the 
 Latin, and twelve to tlie Greek, master of grammar." 
 
 It is no contradiction to what has been said, that the 
 general taste had very much degenerated since the 
 Augustan age. The fact indeed cannot be denied, 
 though opinion as to its extent and application, may 
 vary according to the prejudices of individuals. But 
 the taste of an age is not a certain criterion of the con- 
 dition of learning and science. It sometimes happens 
 that the greatest diffusion of knowledge is not accom- 
 panied with an equal degree of judgment and refine- 
 ment. But whatever sjonptoms of decay may have 
 been perceptible in the public schools of "Western 
 Europe, they Avere more than counterbalanced by the 
 ardour and industry which was bestowed upon theolo- 
 gical studies. And it is very probable that the true 
 cause of those complaints to which Sidonius Apollina- 
 ris gave vent concerning the neglect of learning, arose 
 more from the distaste of Pagan literature which the 
 institution of Christianity produced, than from the im- 
 mediate influence of the barbarians. Do what they 
 would, to use a famiUar expression, the greatest votaries 
 of classical piirsuits, were finally compelled to follow 
 the tide of opinion, or rather were themselves alienated 
 from a subject which corresponded so imperfectly with 
 the new sympathies of their nature. The author just 
 quoted, so skilled in poetical art, so successful in 
 elegant composition, himself grew weary of his former 
 occupations, and devoted the latter years of his life to 
 the deeper studies of a Christian Bishop. Claudian 
 Mamertus, a man of considerable genius, was famous 
 for his pliilosophical attainments, yet to him was the 
 Church indebted for very different services in Christian 
 doctrine, and the introduction of a more perfect system
 
 INTRODUCTION. 13 
 
 of psalmody and public Avorship.^ In fact the whole 
 energy of Europe was concentrated upon one object : 
 the new Faith which had lately taken possession of the 
 nations and brought at last the imperial power into its 
 obedience. Gaul was not behind other countries in 
 giving evidence of the zeal which had been kindled. 
 Clu'istian literature became the general subject of in- 
 terest. Commentaries on the sacred scriptures, trea- 
 tises on ecclesiastical offices, practical exhortations, ex- 
 positions of orthodox doctrine, occupied the attention 
 of all. Foremost stood the monks of Lerins, in their 
 labours for the truth. Lerins was an island to the 
 south of France, where St. Honoratus had founded a 
 monastery after the example of Cassian, and Cassian 
 had lately brought over from Egypt the monastic 
 system and established it at St. Victor in Marseilles. 
 These two settlements proved the seat of religious 
 and intellectual activity. Many of the eminent writers 
 of the time were there brought up. Besides the two 
 distinguished founders just mentioned, Vincentius sur- 
 named Lirinensis, St. Hilary, St. Lupus, Faustus, and 
 others, had been disciplined by the rule of Lerins. These 
 were contemporaries of St. German, and in all pro- 
 bability well acquainted with him ; two we have positive 
 evidence of having been his friends, St. Hilary of Aides, 
 and St. Lupus of Troyes. But there is a peculiar cir- 
 cumstance connected with these monastic houses, wliich 
 tended greatly to promote religious studies in Gaul. 
 This was, as is well known, the contest which had been 
 awakened throughout Christendom between the sectaries 
 of Pelagius and the Church. No country took a more 
 ardent part in the struggle than Gaul, and no particular 
 spot centered in itself so much controversial warmth as 
 
 ■ See Sidon. Ep. iv. 11.
 
 14 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Lerins. Times of religious controversy are probably the 
 most conspicuous for the energetic display of the moral 
 and intellectual faculties. Discussions on abstract ques- 
 tions of philosophy, or even on subjects of political 
 interest do not always avail to rouse the feelings of 
 mankind in general. One country, one city, one school, 
 often absorbs all the sympathy which they fexcite. But 
 when religion and the interests of the soul, are the 
 subjects of debate, the sparks of human energy are 
 kindled as by a charm and spread with the rapidity of 
 an electric fluid. Opinions work upon actions, and 
 actions re-act upon opinions ; the defence of truth or 
 error, stirs up the moral powers and leads men on to 
 deeds of vigour, the character of which depends on the 
 principle which first gave birth to them ; again the 
 effects of active zeal reflect upon the opinions and 
 systems of men, and raise them to those heights of 
 speculative and logical abstraction which are the won- 
 der of beholders, and the enigma of future generations. 
 This w^as remarkably exemplified in the age of St. 
 German. Theology ^vas beginning to assume that 
 systematic shape which it maintained and developed 
 during successive ages. The attacks of heretics directed 
 against every part of orthodox doctrine, at one time 
 impugning the articles of faith, at another the canons 
 of discipline and order, had exercised the anus of the 
 Catholics. They had learnt by encountering so many 
 various sects, the analogy of the Faith, and at the same 
 time the connexion of error. Hence they were enabled 
 to dig more deeply round the foundations of Chris- 
 tianity, and to anticipate the introduction of false teach- 
 ing, by advancing to the abstruse and ultimate prin- 
 ciples of all religion.
 
 ST. GERMAN S YOUTH. 1 5 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 •S*^. Germans Youth. 
 
 St. German was born at Auxerre in the Diocese of 
 the Ai'chbishop of Sens, probably about the year 378. 
 Gratian was Emperor of the West, and Valens of the 
 East. The following year Theodosius the Great came 
 to the throne of Constantinople. ^ 
 
 Little is known of his early years. Constantius, his 
 original biographer, informs us that his parents were of 
 noble rank. Their names were Eusticus and Germa- 
 nilla, and long after their death their memory was 
 preserved at Auxei're, where German had erected a 
 chapel over their remains.^ There is no authority 
 however for considering them in the light of canonized 
 Saints. It is certain they attended carefully to the 
 education of their son ; and from the silence of ancient 
 writers, one might infer he was an only son. This 
 however is not necessary to account for the excellence 
 of his education ; it never was a feature of the Roman 
 character to neglect the education of the youth ; and 
 those of noble birth were in the foiu-th and fifth 
 centuries as careful on this subject as they might have 
 been in Cicero's time. Consequently Gennan was 
 instructed in the seven liberal arts, Grammar, Rhetoric, 
 Logic, Music, Arithmetic, Geometry and Astronomy. 
 The progress he made in them was proportioned to the 
 abilities and judgment with wliich nature had endued 
 him. To enter profoundly into the study of any, or 
 
 ' Art de Verifier les Dates, torn. I. p. 396. Anquetil. torn. 
 I. p. 216. 
 
 - Hericus tie Mir. ch. II. 19.
 
 16 ST. German's youth. 
 
 to arriAe at equal information in all, was not the object 
 of this prci)aratory course, or, as Eusebius calls it, ency- 
 clic instruction. ^ Exclusive attention to any particu- 
 lar branch of learning, was reserved for a subsequent 
 period, when tlie youth were sent to the Universities, 
 which, as we have seen, were in a very flourishing con- 
 dition at this time. Law was that which was marked 
 out for German, The knowledge and even profession 
 of the Law, was almost necessary for the young pre- 
 tenders to dignities and ofiices. It does not appear to 
 have incapacitated them from bearing arms, and the 
 two professions were not unfrequently united in the same 
 person.*^ But it was the Career of the Pleader which 
 was emphatically called the " Nursery of Honours."' 
 " Hardly, says a contemporary writer, were the suits of 
 the barrister at an end, than his titles and dignities 
 began.""* We cannot be surprised at this, when we 
 remember the important part which eloquence held in 
 the Roman constitution The corruption again of 
 manners would afford a larger scope for the talents of 
 the Pleader, than is possible in a well regulated state ; 
 and though the public acuteness and discernment would 
 naturally progress as the art became more refined, yet 
 would there be numerous occasions where the wit of one 
 man might divert the minds of the judges into the 
 channel he wished. Full proof of this fact is to be 
 found in the records of the age.^ 
 
 Wliat danger however was involved in the state of 
 life to which German was destined, he would have met 
 
 ■ Tijy E7xv)cXiav criiSt/a Book vi. ch. 2. see Valesius's learned note. 
 
 - See Sidon ApoU. Lib. xi. B. i. p. 58, and his Life. 
 
 3 " Seminarium dignitalum," Nov. Theod. xxxiv. 
 
 - Sid. Apoll. B. 1. Lett. xi. p. 60. 
 * See Sid. Ap. B. ii. Lett. v. and B. ii. Lett. vii.
 
 ST. GERMANS YOUTH. 17 
 
 with considerable advantage. He was a Christian, and 
 his parents were Christians. He lived in a place 
 adorned by holy Bishops, from whom all that spiritual 
 care, which parents are insufficient to bestow, was to 
 be expected. The Sacraments to which laymen are 
 admitted would have been early offered to him, though 
 we have no direct intimation of it. For it was con- 
 sidered so important a neglect in Novatian, that after 
 the Baptism he received on the bed of sickness, which 
 the ancients called Clinical baptism, he had not sought 
 for confirmation at the hands of the Bishop, ^ that Pope 
 Cornelius doubted whether he had been partaker of the 
 Holy Ghost ; and it was made the ground of a serious 
 opposition to his admission into the Priesthood. But 
 we do not find that objection was raised against German 
 at a subsequent period when elevated to the Bishopric, 
 on the score of any such omission. Nor would he have 
 been deprived of that Christian instruction, which the 
 catechetical schools of the primitive Church afforded. 
 A part so essential of ecclesiastical discipline, must 
 have held at Auxerre as in the rest of Chi'istendom, the 
 place which was due to it. The five Bishops who have 
 governed the Church of Auxerre before St. German's 
 accession, have all been honoured by posterity as Saints. 
 And we may safely infer that the flock which they 
 tended, possessed all the spiritual advantages which the 
 Church can fm-nish. 
 
 It was under these circumstances that German went 
 to Rome to complete his education and enter into public 
 life. Rome was at that time, what Paris was in the 
 middle ages, the University of Universities, or, as it 
 was called, the " Home of jurisprudence, and the school 
 
 ' £v aul^ 1-^ xXi'yr) zsspixvQus sXafSEv. Euseb. B. vi. 43 ch. 
 C
 
 18 ST. German's youth. 
 
 of letters."^ In the thirteenth century an ilhistrious 
 Italian was known to seek for knowledge in France ; 
 but in the foui-th, the native of Gaul repaired to Rome 
 in order to give the last finish to his studies. ^ Thither 
 flocked from all quarters of the empire numbers of 
 students, the occupations of whom attracted the special 
 notice of Government. They were obliged to enter 
 their names in the registers, to present testimonials of 
 their birth-place and quality, and to declare what studies 
 they intended to follow. Lodgings Avere assigned to 
 them, and officers, called Censuales, were appointed to 
 make an inspection into their lives, and to see that they 
 avoided clubs or associations, and attendance on public 
 sports and entertainments. If any were found faulty, 
 they were to be punished, and sent away home. But 
 none were permitted to stay at Rome after twenty, lest 
 the splendour and vanities of the city should tempt 
 them to forsake the service of their country.^ Besides 
 a large number of private teachers, there were public 
 professors appointed, who had their schools in the area 
 of the Capitol. Notwithstanding this discipline, among 
 the great temptations which Rome presented, German 
 would naturally require tlie antidote of early habits of 
 restraint, and experience the benefit of those precepts 
 which he had leai'nt of his parents and Bishop. His 
 character indeed had not as yet the mark of deep holi- 
 ness ; rather it appeared of an unformed kind ; like many 
 of his own age, he would seek to enjoy life, and yet 
 shrink from transgressing tlie dictates of conscience. 
 But where pleasure is constantly before the eyes, the 
 
 « Sid. Ap. B. i. Litt. 6. p. 30. 
 - See Villemain. Litterature, on Dante. 
 » See Stillingfleet's Origines. p. 215. Ed. 1840 — See also a 
 letter of St. Jerome to Rusticus.
 
 ST. German's youth. 19 
 
 conscience may soon lose its discernment, unless directed 
 by special circumstances. German's sojourn at Rome 
 has been left in obscurity by his biographers, and we 
 might fear for the consequences of his residence in so 
 corrupt a city.^ Yet nothing has been transmitted 
 which could throw any blame upon his morals or general 
 character, except what might be involved in careless- 
 ness with regard to religious duties, and fondness for 
 juvenile sports. Still such were the temptations which 
 especially then surrounded the Christian in Rome, and 
 in every large city of the empire, that public amuse- 
 ments, which are never without their dangers, were 
 poison in themselves to those who joined in them. 
 The majority of Christians nevertheless did indulge in 
 them, and the best that can be said of this practice is, 
 that the intention might be innocent at first. " Behold, 
 says Salvian, innumerable thousands of Christians resort 
 daily to the impure representations of the Theatres." 
 The theatres and games were but the continuance of 
 the old Pagan custom aggravated by the depravity of 
 imperial manners, and no baptized person, says the same 
 author, could attend them without offering plain vio- 
 lence to the oath of his initiation. Any one may easily 
 convince himself of this fact by the numerous accounts 
 left by ancient Christian authors, St. Augustine, St. 
 Cyprian, Tertullian and Salvian. So great however was 
 the force of example, that the circus and theatres were 
 crowded by those who might have been joining in the 
 solemn services of the Church. " If it should happen, 
 as it does indeed frequently, that the same day an ecclesi- 
 
 • St. Jerome in his early years, not long before, had experienced 
 the dangers of Rome, and was haunted ever after with the pain- 
 ful recollection of them. Vid. Fleury, Lib. xvii. § 3 — See also 
 the interesting poem of Chateaubriand : Les Martyrs.
 
 20 ST. German's youth. 
 
 astical festival be observed and public games announced, 
 I ask all candid persons which place attracts the most 
 Christians, the stalls of the theatre, or the House of 
 Qod ? — Nay, if the day of the Fimeral games (Feralia 
 Ludicra) occur at the same time as a feast of the 
 Church, not only do tliey who call themselves Chris- 
 tians not come to Church, but if any unawares should 
 have come, and hear suddenly that the games are going 
 on while they are in Church, immediately tl^ey take 
 their departure."^ 
 
 However it is remarkable how guarded the expres- 
 sions are which afford any clue to his life previous to 
 his conversion. " The austerities of his future years, 
 we are told, were sufficient to effiice his past errors, if 
 he had committed any, and render him who perhaps 
 had been exposed to sin, the pattern of virtue."*^ Tliis 
 deserves particular consideration ; for whereas on one 
 hand, much instruction is to be gained from the history 
 of persons who have lived long under the influence of 
 Satan and the world, and afterwards have been turned 
 to God, and passed the latter part of their lives in peni- 
 tence and deeds of amendment ; so on tlie other it is 
 useful to remark that unconunon religious fervour in 
 later years, need not be introduced by a youtli of dissi- 
 pation and vice, as the proverbial saying might seem to 
 imply : " The greater the sinner, the greater the Saint." 
 If this popular phrase can bear any good sense, it must 
 be taken to mean that those who have been great 
 sinners, must double their endeavours after holiness, in 
 order to reach the level of the just and make amends 
 for past transgressions. In early times it was a source 
 of lasting bitterness to have sullied the white garments 
 
 ' Salvian p. p. 127, 131, 133. Ed. Baluzii. 
 ■ Constantius C. ii. § 12.
 
 ST. German's youth. 21 
 
 of baptism, though the rigours of penance had restored 
 the sinner to God's favour. 
 
 However if students were obliged to return to their 
 countries at the age of twenty, German must have left 
 Rome before any durable impression could be made 
 on his disposition. About this time he entered upon 
 the public duties of his profession, probably in his own 
 country, Gaul, and distinguished himself in an especial 
 manner before the tribunals of the Prefect. He ac- 
 cordingly did not wait long to lay aside the Toga, 
 (which was the name for the Lawyer's habit, and from 
 which the whole class were called Togati ;) and he was 
 soon invested with the insignia of an administrative 
 charge. It is uncertain what the first office was to 
 which he was promoted. A later writer says he was 
 Censor,^ but his authority is insufficient. Soon how- 
 ever he rose to one of the highest dignities in the 
 Empire ; he was appointed Duke and Governor of the 
 Provinces. 
 
 Not to mention the numerous subdivisions of offices, 
 there were three distinct gradations in the government 
 of the provinces represented by the Prefect, the Gov- 
 ernor, and the JMagistrate. The first had the adminis- 
 tration of an entire province, the second that of a part 
 only, the third the superintendence of a city or small 
 district. In the last persecution which preceded the 
 establishment of Christianity, the edict of Maximin, 
 the Emperor, had been in the first place addressed to 
 the Prefect ; then it was the part of the Prefect, to 
 transmit its contents to the governors of the provinces'^ 
 who in their turn were enjoined to communicate the 
 imperial orders to the various magistrates of parti- 
 
 '■ Hericus. 
 
 - 01 xar 'iQyos r,'yov/u.fvot, or ol xar inxct^y^ity. — Euseb. Lib. ix. ch. i.
 
 22 ST. German's Yorxir. 
 
 nilar placos. ^ It was to the second of these sta- 
 tions that German was raised ; the importance of 
 it was great, for he appears to have had the gov- 
 ernment of the Armorican and Nervican Districts, 
 whicli comprehended what was called at that time 
 the first and second Acpiitain, the ])rovince of Sens, 
 and the second and third Lugdunensis, a tract of land 
 which extended nearly from the banks of the Ehine, 
 to tlie shores of the Atlantic. The title of Duke which 
 was attached to his office,^ had lost its etymological 
 sense of a charge only military, and was identical with 
 that of governor to all appearance, although naturally 
 he would have commanded the service of the troops. 
 Superior to him in the provinces, were the Pretorian 
 Prefect of all Gaul, and the vice-prefect or Yicarius 
 of Gaul, strictly so called. Tlie whole of the Roman 
 Empire was divided into four Prefectures, the East, 
 lilyria, Italy and Gaul. The Prefecture of Gaul in- 
 cluded Britain, Spain and Gaul. Consequently the 
 Prefect had a power equal almost to that of the sove- 
 reio-n. His residence was first at Treves, but during 
 the episcopate of German, it was fixed at Aries in the 
 south of France. Under him were three Vicarii,^ 
 whose authority must have been little inferior to that of 
 the Prefect himself ; there was one in each of the three 
 great divisions, Britain, Spain, and Gaul. They must 
 have been in fact the great check upon the Prefect's 
 power, for they were not properly liis ministers, but 
 
 ' y.o'^iiyra.], 'jrfcirr.'^oi and propositi. 
 - Thus in Euseb. ix. 4. mention is made of a Trf^troT^iBctfyJ-if (dif- 
 ferent from the irrpixrr.yos or magistrate) Iv ^ovkcx (Duke) Pw/xaioi 
 cT/)0(Ta70f)Euou(T. and the Codex Theod. says : " Ducis et Praesidis simul 
 officio quandoque idem functus." "Idem Dux et Corrector 
 Provinciarum. Kotitia Dignitatum." 
 
 ■■> See Sirmondus, Note I. to Litt. 2. B. I. Sidonius.
 
 ST. German's youth. 23 
 
 were appointed by the Emperor, and their office was 
 accordingly considered sacred, ^ like that of their supe- 
 rior. Next to these came the Dukes or Governors of 
 the provinces, to the number of twelve in the west, 
 one of whom was German. Before he reached this 
 high post, he had married Eustachia, a lady eminent 
 for her birth and wealth, as well as for her good quali- 
 ties ; nothing is known concerning her, except that 
 subsequently when German was ordained, she changed 
 the character of wife, for that of his spiritual sister. 
 
 In all these circumstances of St. German's secular 
 career, it would seem that he had been providentially 
 prepared for the ecclesiastical dignity he was after- 
 wards to hold. By the study of eloquence, which his 
 early profession required, he had learnt the art of com- 
 municating his thoughts freely to any assembly of men, 
 an acquisition which proved valuable in the exercise 
 of his episcopal duties ; for though on occasions, or 
 even tliroughout his future life, he may have been su- 
 pernaturally guided by the Holy Spirit in his inter- 
 course with others, yet it is impossible to say how far 
 what we call natural instruments, are rendered sub- 
 servient to the ends of God, or whether He ever dis- 
 penses with them, or whether there is not an antecedent 
 absurdity, involved in any of those distinctions, which 
 are founded on man's short sighted inductions, the 
 whole theory of human ideas being of a nature so in- 
 conceivable. Again, German's acquaintance Avith ju- 
 risprudence, was of the greatest importance to his 
 pastoral office, and enabled him to meet those numerous 
 legal emergencies which are common enough now, but 
 in the fifth century engi'ossed, in a special manner, the 
 attention of the Bishop. " The Bishop, says a modern 
 ^ Sacra vice.
 
 24 ST. German's youth. 
 
 historian,^ was become in each town the natural head 
 of the people, and in fact the major. His election and 
 the interest it awakened ^vere the great events of the 
 city. It was chiefly by means of the Clergy that the 
 Roman laws and customs were preserved in the towns, 
 from which they were aftenvards drawn for the general 
 legislature of the state." It were easy to object against 
 this consideration, that the career of the law was very 
 generally adopted, as has been observed, and that if 
 German was called from a secular pi'ofession to a re- 
 ligious office, it is not necessary to seek for a provi- 
 dential intervention to account for the advantages just 
 mentioned. Two thirds of the laity, it might be said, 
 were skilled in oratory and jurisprudence, and it 
 would be more extraordinary that German should be 
 ignorant with i-egard to them than the reverse. Again 
 it may be objected, that transitions from a seculai* life 
 to the ecclesiastical ministry were almost an every 
 day's occurrence. The fact is not denied ; and since 
 the invasion of the Goths, they had become still more 
 frequent. " If there is no strength in the republic, 
 said an author of the same age, ^ no protection ; if the 
 Emperor's supplies are at an end, the nobility have 
 resolved either to abandon their country or to assume 
 the Tonsure," which was the mark of ecclesiastical pro- 
 fession. But after all, the dictates of gratitude towards 
 the moral Governor of the world may have their founda- 
 tion in the reality of things, though the events which 
 are the immediate occasion, have in them apparently 
 nothing extraordinary or contrary to the expectations 
 of men. Effects are contained in causes, and effects 
 virtually imply causes ; if effects are good, on the sup- 
 
 ' Guizot. Essais. Ed. Charpentier, p. 39. 
 - Sidon ApoU. B. II. Lett. I.
 
 THE CHURCH OF AUXERRE. 25 
 
 position of a benevolent Author of all things, the causes 
 must not only be good, but providential. In strict 
 truth those occurrences which are most common, are 
 as miraculous and providential as those which appear 
 strange to our apprehensions. How can our concep- 
 tions grasp the real nature of any thing ? How can we 
 understand the relations, the causes, the ends, the 
 means, which constitute the reality of things ? Happy 
 coincidences are but the instrument of awakening our 
 perceptions of God's righteous government, they are 
 not the first link of a wise chain of circumstances. 
 Still they are the just ground of gratitude to God, 
 since they both involve the eternal causes of things, 
 and are the development of the excellent and har- 
 monious designs of Him who is the Foimtain of all 
 wisdom and g-oodness. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 The Church of Auxerre. 
 
 One of the districts of German's department was Aux- 
 erre. And there he resided. At the time he held the 
 office of Governor, St. Amator was bishop of the town. 
 Amator was the fifth bishop since an episcopal See had 
 been founded there at the introduction of Christianity 
 into that part of Gaul. 
 
 St. Peregrine, in the middle of the third century, 
 was sent by Pope Sixtus the second, at the request of a 
 few Christians at Auxerre ; and preached the gospel 
 to the Pagans who formed the bulk of the population. 
 He built a small Church at one of the gates of the 
 town, called the Gate of the Baths, because it was 
 near the river Yonne where Baths were erected. This
 
 26 THE CHURCH OF AUXERKE. 
 
 was probably tbe time when seven Bishops were sent 
 through Gaul in the Decian persecution, who accom- 
 plished the conversion of that nation, although a great 
 number of Pagans remained till a very late period.^ 
 Some provinces however had Christian Churches long 
 before ; those of Marseilles, Lyons, Vienne, were flour- 
 ishing in the time of Domitian, as Irenaius shows. St. 
 Peregrine, after he had accomplished his Apostolic task 
 at Auxerre, removed to other pagan districts, and finally 
 obtained the pahii of martyi-dom at Baugy in Bur- 
 gundy, during a persecution which was raised against 
 the Christians. We shall again have occasion to revert 
 to this Saint, and the circumstances of his life. His 
 memory is honom'ed on the ICth of May. St. Mar- 
 celianus was his successor in the Episcopate, and after 
 him St. Valerian, who was present at the Councils of 
 Sardica and Cologne, in the years 347, and 349. At 
 his death in 366, St. Eladius governed the Church of 
 Auxerre, and was succeeded by St. Amator in 388, 
 who, as has been observed, Avas Bishop, while German 
 was Governor. 
 
 This illustrious person, who holds such a conspicuous 
 part in the history of German, was the only son of 
 Proclides, and his wife Ursiciola.^ His father con- 
 strained him to marry Martha, a native of Langres, in 
 
 ' The authors of the Gallia Christiana make a singular mis- 
 take in placing the persecution of Domitian in the third century. 
 It was the persecution of Decius. 
 
 See Anquetil. France, torn. i. p. 170. Some say that nine 
 Missionaries were sent by the Apostolic See into Gaul. Satur- 
 ninus to Toulouse ; Trophimus to Aries ; Paul to Narbonne ; 
 Stremonius to Clermont ; Martial to Limoges ; Gratian to 
 Tours ; Peregrine to Auxerre ; Savinian to Sens ; Dionysius 
 to Paris. See Tillcmont, tom. iv. Mt^m. 480. 
 
 -' Isiciala in Gall. Chr. but Ursiciola in Tillcmont.
 
 THE CHURCH OF AUXERRE. 27 
 
 Champagne, in order to leave the riches of the family 
 to natural heirs. St. Valerian, who was then Bishop, 
 was desired to give the nuptial blessing. However, 
 Amator, who had profited by the spiritual counsels of 
 the Bishop, after the ceremony, determined to live a 
 life of vii'ginity, and accordingly communicated his in- 
 tention to Martha, who adopted a similar resolution. 
 After the death of his father, not content with this 
 secret vow, he applied to St. Eladius, the successor of 
 St. Valerian, and made public profession of continence, 
 on which occasion he received the Tonsure and was 
 ordained Deacon, while Martha was enlisted among the 
 women who consecrated themselves to God. They did 
 not however part from each other, and in this imitated 
 the example of St. Paulinus and St. Therasia, and 
 many others.^ It was not unlikely that envy should 
 take occasion of this circumstance ; and in fact, after 
 Amator became Bishop, Licinius, his Archdeacon, with 
 others, endeavoured to attack his character ; but God 
 took upon Himself the part of vindicating his innocence, 
 and punished severely his accusers, who had carried 
 
 ' According to Stephanas, the African, in the sixth century, 
 there was ecclesiastical sanction for the practice of the minor 
 Clergy living in the same house with their wives, and partaking 
 of the same table. But when they attained to a superior order, 
 it was not lawful ; whether Priests came under this limitation 
 does not appear. P. 55. Boll, ad Mai. I. Tillemont, however, 
 does not attach much credit to this author. See notes at the 
 end of torn. xv. Eccl. Mem. 
 
 In Constantius we find a Presbyter living in the same house 
 with his wife, Senator and Nectariola. 
 
 St. Aug. Cons. Evang. lib. ii. " Hoc enim exemplo (Mariae 
 et Joseph) magnifice insinuatur fidelibus conjugatis etiam, ser- 
 vata pari consensu continentia, posse permanere vocarique con- 
 jugium,non permixto corporis sensu, sed custodito mentis affectu.
 
 28 THE CHURCH of auxeure. 
 
 their profane curio^^ity so far as to penetrate into his 
 bed-chamber. Shortly after Martha died, and was 
 buried at the Mons Autricus, which was the great 
 Cemetery in the vicinity of Auxerre, where the three 
 Bishops, Marcellianus, Valerian, and Eladius, were like- 
 wise buried. 
 
 The author of Amatoi-'s life,^ who lived in the sixth 
 century, and had opportunity to obtain correct infor- 
 mation concerning him, relates, that while Amator 
 was still Deacon, a lady of rank, called Palladia, entered 
 the Church on Easter-day dressed in a costly man- 
 ner. She had been married to a rich Pagan called 
 Heraclius, of -^dua or Autun, and had subsequently 
 turned Christian, though her husband remained a hea- 
 then. " When the sacrifice was ended," ^ the author 
 continues, " and she had received the holy Eucharist in 
 bread, she advanced towards Aniator, who, as Deacon, 
 was appointed to administer the cup to the faithful as 
 the contirmation of the communion." But he rejected 
 her and bid her dejjurt, because she Avas splendidly 
 dressed, and had not witliheld intercourse with her 
 husband to prepare for so solemn a feast. Pricked to 
 the heart at this public reproof, she went home and 
 related to her husband what had happened, and urged 
 him to take vengeance on the Deacon. AVhile they 
 were designing the death of Amator, they both fell 
 dangerously ill. At last, conscious of the Divine wrath, 
 they set off in a carriage, (for they were too exhausted 
 
 ' Stephanus, an African priest, whose worli is found in the 
 Boll, ad Mai. i. p. 58. 
 
 •-■ Perfecto itaque sacrificio, dum Eucharistiae libamina San- 
 guinis quoque haustu confirmare voluisset, accessit ad beatissi- 
 muni Amatorem, tunc Diaconum, qui sacratissimum Calicem 
 in vitani ajtcrnam populis porrigebat.
 
 THE CHURCH OF AUXERRE. 29 
 
 to Avalk) and when they found the Deacon, threw them- 
 selves at his feet, and entreated his pardon for the bad 
 purposes they had entertained. Amator readily com- 
 plied, and having sent for a Priest, he had Heraclius, 
 the lady's husband, baptized, and then with oil that he 
 himself had blessed, anointed them, calling on the 
 name of the Lord, and healed them. 
 
 Amator succeeded to Eladius in 388, on Monday, the 
 27th of March, and governed the Diocese of Auxerre 
 for thirty years, during which he effected a great re- 
 formation by his preaching, and performed a number of 
 miracles. There was still much Paganism in that part 
 of Gaul, notwithstanding the efforts of the preceding 
 Bishops ; and we must not consider Amator in his 
 position when first he entered on his Episcopal duties, 
 in the same light with subsequent Bishops, or again 
 with Prelates of our own time. Power was still in the 
 hands of the heathen, though the seat of the empire 
 had declared for Christianity, and probably multitudes 
 preferred the gorgeous display of Pagan rites, to the 
 more simple ceremonies of Christians. Accordingly it 
 was with difficulty that ground was obtained for build- 
 ing Churches, ^ the number of which was very small. 
 However as the zeal of Amator converted many of the 
 Gentiles, it became necessary to obtain space for re- 
 ligious worship. He therefore applied to a wealthy 
 citizen named Ruptilius, for a large house which he 
 possessed within the town. Ruptilius at first refused, 
 but having fallen sick, he was compelled to resign it. 
 Amator then turned it into a Church, and dedicated it 
 on the .3rd of October. This is the Church which was 
 afterwards celebrated as that of St. Stephen, and stood 
 where the present Cathedral is situated. We shall see 
 ' See Steph. Amat. Vita and Hericus Mirac. B. i. ch. 3.
 
 30 THE CHURCH OF AUXERRE. 
 
 that St. Gennan Avas afterwards ordained Priest and 
 elected Bishop in the same, and that Aniator there 
 breathed liis hist, surrounded by his flock. Li GOO, 
 Didier, Bisiiop of the place, enlarged it, and dedicated 
 it afresh on the lOth of April. ^ And in 1215, William, 
 likewise Bishop of Auxerre, had it pulled down and 
 restored on a more magnificent scale. While Amator 
 was building, a large sum of money was found in the 
 house, which he sent to Ruptilius, the former owner ; 
 but it was refused by him, and returned for the benefit 
 of the poor and the repairs of the Church. 
 
 Among the miracles which are related of St. Amator, 
 he is said to have put to flight the evil spii'its which 
 occupied the public burial place on the Mons Autricus ; 
 to have restored sight to the blind, the use of their 
 limbs to the cripple and paralytic, nay, even life to the 
 dead ; and to have stopped a conflagration which 
 threatened to reduce the city to ashes. ^ Without 
 stopping to examine the evidence on which these 
 accounts rest, and to consider the degree of authority 
 due to Stephen the African, who is the chief witness to 
 them, it may be observed that there is no antecedent 
 improbability in them, since we shall find that St. Ger- 
 man performed greater and more miracles some time 
 after, and that the testimony which has handed them 
 down, is allowed by learned critics to be of tlie most 
 authentic and trustworthy nature. 
 
 During J^anator's episcopate took place the invasion 
 of the Goths, to which allusion has ah-eady been made. 
 There is no distinct relation of the measure in wliich 
 Auxerre sufi'ered during the invasion, except what is 
 involved in the vague expressions of St. Jerome and 
 
 ' See Gallia Christ, 262. and Tillemont, t, xv. 
 - See Ileric. de Mir. Tillemont, torn. xv.
 
 THE CHURCH OF AUXERRE. 31 
 
 Orosius. However one victim of the barbarian's fury, 
 as is supposed, a native of that city, and a child, has 
 been preserved in the memory of posterity among the 
 Acts of martyrs. ^ When the Jiead of St, Just, (for so he 
 was called,) was brought to his mother who resided at 
 Auxerre, the house in which it was bestowed, was seen 
 to spread forth a bright light. St. Amator having 
 perceived it as he rose up to say his nightly office, 
 inquired the cause of it, and upon learning what had 
 happened, returned thanks to God for the honour of 
 this martyrdom during his episcopate ; after which he 
 gave orders for a public procession, and deposited the 
 head of St. Just, in the place destined for its sepulture. 
 This account, if it may not Avith more probability be 
 referred to the persecution of Maximian a century 
 before, according to the poetical narrative found among 
 Bede's works, seems to prove that the effects of the 
 invasion were felt at least in the neighbom*hood of 
 Auxerre, though there is no positive account of any 
 siege of that town. At a later period it is certain that 
 the barbarians occupied the place, for there was an 
 interval of ten years, during which the succession of 
 the Bishops was suspended by the Goths. ^ But 
 for the details of the first invasions between 406 and 
 409, we can only draw inferences. St. Jerome says,^ 
 " Innumerable and savage nations have occupied the 
 tvliole of Gaul. JVhatever is situated between the 
 Alps and the Pyrenees, the Ocean and the Rhine, is 
 laid waste by the Quadi, Vandals, Sai'matians, Alani, 
 Gepides, Heruli, Saxons, Burgundians, Alemanni and 
 Pannonians. — Mayence, that noble city, has been taken 
 
 ' Vid. Tillemont, torn. xv. 
 
 - See Hericus Prologue to the De Miracul. 2. 
 
 ^ Ep. cxxiii. ad Ageruchiam. Ed. Venet. torn. I. 914.
 
 32 ST. AMATOR AND ST. GERMAN, 
 
 and sacked, and thousands liave perished in her Church. 
 AYorms, after a long siege, has been utteriy destroyed. 
 The powerful towns of liheims, Ainiens and Arras, have 
 been the prey of their fury. Terouenne, Tournay, Spires, 
 and Strasburg, are converted into German provinces. 
 Aquitain, Novempopulania, Lugdunensis, Narbon- 
 nensis, with the exception of very few towns, have 
 been entirely pillaged, &c." There is reason to think 
 Auxerre would be included in the general name of 
 Lugdunensis, the limits of which are so imperfectly 
 defined. And the course of the bai'barians from 
 Rheims to Toulouse, where they ultimately settled, 
 would naturally be directed through the Diocese which 
 Amator governed. 
 
 Such was the condition of the Church in which Ger- 
 man was born, the Bishop whose influence balanced 
 his own, and the succession which he was afterwards 
 to take up. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 St. Amator and St. German. 
 
 Like all the great men in Gaul, German had his 
 country seat. It was not far from Auxerre ; and 
 thither he frequently retired, to indulge in the amuse- 
 ment of hunting. Hunting at all times has been a 
 favourite sport of the rich, and was then as popular 
 with the Romans as with the Goths, to whose nature 
 and habits it was especially congenial. ^ The duties of 
 his office, often obliged him to visit remote districts ; 
 
 ' See Sidon. Apoll. Lett. 3. B. iii. Lett. 2. B. i. Lett. 9. 
 B. iv. Lett 21. B. iv. Lett. 8. B. v.
 
 ST. AJIATOK AND ST. GERMAN. 33 
 
 but he was at his native place, when an incident, appa- 
 rently trivial, connected with this same sport, was the 
 instrument in God's hands, of giving an entire change 
 to his life. 
 
 In the middle of the city, we are told, there was a 
 large pear tree, an object of reverence to the inhabi- 
 tants, both for its antiquity and its size. Ostentation 
 prompted German to bring the spoils of the chase to 
 the town, and hang them upon the favourite tree. 
 This relocated practice gave offence to Amator. Some 
 superstition was allied in the minds of the Pagans with 
 the sculls of the animals, which German exposed in 
 the public place, and which they called Oscilla. ^ The 
 Christian profession of German, ought not to allow him, 
 thought Amator, to foster the remains of heathenism, 
 which his own efforts had tended so much to extirpate. 
 It was an encouragement to the Pagans to continue 
 those practises expressly denounced in Holy Scripture : 
 " To sacrifice upon the tops of mountains, and bm-n 
 incense upon the hills, under oaks, and poplars, and 
 elms, because the shadow thereof is good.''' {Hosea 
 iv. 13.) He therefore presented himself before the civil 
 Governor, and addi-essed him thus : " Cease, I entreat 
 you, to indulge this empty jesting, for it is a stumbling 
 block to Christians, and a satisfaction to Heathens. 
 Such practices belong to the worship of idols, not to the 
 pure religion of Chi'ist." These admonitions, though 
 often repeated, were lost upon Gei-man. Nor was it 
 the power of an evil habit alone, which confirmed him 
 in his disobedience ; Amator knew he was ui'ged by a 
 foolish feeling of vanity and worldly honour ; he there- 
 
 ' See Const. Vit. Germ. Tillemont. xv. t. p. 8. Canons of 
 St. Boniface.
 
 34 ST. A^rATOR AXD ST. GEIJJIAX. 
 
 fore desired liim to cut down the tree itself, which gave 
 occasion to the scandal ; but all was vain. 
 
 One day when German had retired to his country 
 place, Amator took his opportunity, and had the tree 
 cut down to the very roots and burnt. The sculls he 
 ordered to be cast away without the city. When the 
 Governor heard what he had done, he was filled with 
 wrath, and thinking his dignity exposed, as well as his 
 vanity offended, he so far forgot the nature of that 
 religion, to whose blessed sacraments and graces he had 
 been admitted,^ that he threatened death to the author 
 of the deed. During the heat of his indignation he 
 set off for Auxerre, accompanied by a large body of 
 men. He knew well that the inhabitants would rise up 
 with one accord to defend their holy Bishop. The 
 news of his intention however reached Amator before 
 his arrival. Upon hearing which he exclaimed : " No, 
 it is not possible that so unworthy a man as myself, 
 should bear witness with my blood to my Saviour." 
 Martyrdom indeed was not granted to him, though 
 none was more able to suffer all things for Christ. Far 
 otherwise did Almighty God dispose events. It was 
 revealed to the Bishop that his departure from this life 
 was at hand, but that the very man who persecuted 
 him would shortly succeed him in the See of Auxerre. 
 Instigated by this divine admonition, he did not wait 
 for German's arrival, but set off to JEdua or Augus- 
 todunum, now called Autun, to have an interview Avith 
 Julius the Prefect of Gaul,- who was then making a 
 
 ' " Ritu atque munere insignitus." Const. Tillcmont, torn. 
 XV. p. 8. 
 
 - The Prefect of Gaul, in a public edict this year, 418, is 
 called Agricola, we must therefore either suppose him to have 
 been called by both names, as was common, or that one of the two
 
 ST. AMATOR AN'D ST. GERMAN. OO 
 
 transitory sojourn in that city, his usual residence 
 being Aries. 
 
 St. Simplicius was then Bishop of Autun. Second 
 of the name, he was one of that bright cluster of holy 
 prelates which then adorned the land, and did justice, 
 says our authority, to his auspicious name by his 
 singleness of heart and childlike spirit. Hearing of 
 Amator's approach, he went out to meet him with his 
 clergy. The same respect was shown by the Prefect 
 Jidius, who, attended by a large suite, advanced to 
 welcome him. After they had exchanged the usual 
 salutations, Amator was led to the city with all the 
 demonstrations of reverence, wliich his character and 
 station commanded. Times have changed, and manners 
 with them, and though genuine holiness must ever call 
 forth the expression of the respect and love Avhich it 
 produces, yet the Saint does not meet with that recep- 
 tion now, which he did in the fifth century, — shall we 
 say even from barbarians. But to adhere closely to the 
 original testimony of these precious customs at the risk 
 of repetition ; the following day, Amator expressed his 
 wish to visit the Prefect at the Pretorium, as was 
 called the abode of the supreme magistrate. Where- 
 upon Julius hastened to meet him on his way, and with 
 all the indefinable tokens of one who could distinguish 
 the intrinsic dignity of the Christian priesthood, from 
 the mere outward honours it possessed, he first guided 
 the Bishop to Ms palace, and then humbly requested 
 his blessing. After Amator had blessed him, he thus 
 addressed him : " The Lord has informed me of my 
 approaching end, and as there is no one fit to undertake 
 
 had lately succeeded the other ; or again, that this Julius was not 
 Prefect of all Gaul, but Vicarius of Gaul. See the Boll, note 
 ad locum Constantii.
 
 36 ST. AMATOR AND ST. GERAIAN. 
 
 the superintendence of the Churfh Imt the most illus- 
 trious ' German, I desire your eminence to allow me to 
 confer the Tonsure on him. For such is the revela- 
 tion which the Lord my God has deigned to communi- 
 cate to me." The Prefect answered that German 
 was indeed useful and even necessary to the republic, 
 but since God had chosen him, he durst not oppose 
 His commands, and therefore gave his consent. 
 
 No change could be made in the administration of 
 Gaul without the Prefect's leave. Except the office 
 of the Vicarius, all public charges were dependent upon 
 his authority. German's was of this number, and he 
 could not quit his post without commission from the 
 supreme governor. This will explain what might seem 
 strange in Amator's conduct. To influence German's 
 mind and obtain his submission, he knew well wa.s 
 God's part ; the ordinary methods of conciliation and 
 intercourse were precluded by the hostile attempt just 
 made ; aU in that quarter must be God's doing. His 
 own depai'tment was to gain from the state what 
 belonged to the state, and to prepare those subordinate 
 means, without which, Providence does not interpose, 
 but which yet diminish not from the divine nature of 
 the interposition. 
 
 " My beloved sons, said Aniator, to a large concourse 
 of his own flock, whom he had assembled in the hall of 
 his house on his return to Auxerre, listen to me with 
 attention ; what I have to communicate to you is of 
 the utmost importance. By revelation from God I 
 have learnt that the day of my departure from this 
 world is at liand. I therefore exliort you all with one 
 
 * These epithets were not merely redundancies, as there was 
 much nicety of etiquette concerning the titles of the different 
 officers of State. See Gibbon, torn. iv.
 
 ST. a:mator and st. german. 37 
 
 mind, carefully to inquire after the fittest person to 
 elect overseer of God's house." The multitude re- 
 mained silent, no one could speak for amazement. The 
 election of Bishops rested at that time very generally 
 in the hands of the people ;^ the whole burden indeed 
 usually devolved on the clergy, from the uncertainties of 
 popular suffrage ; still the privilege of electing belonged 
 to the former, and they were as zealous in asserting it, 
 as they were inefficient in exercising it. Amator, per- 
 ceiving the silence of the people, proceeded forthwith 
 to the Church. The multitude followed him. At the 
 entrance he stopped, and bid them lay down their 
 weapons and staves, adding, that they were about to 
 enter the house of prayer, not the camp of the god of 
 war. This was apparently directed to German and his 
 party, whose rage had had time to abate, and who urged 
 by the same feelings as the rest, had come to see the end 
 of this astonishing scene. Accordingly they laid aside 
 their arms, and entered the Church with the crowd. 
 Amator having watched the opportunity Avhen German 
 entered, immediately gave orders to the Porters,^ 
 that is, the lowest members of the ecclesiastical order, 
 to shut the doors of the Church, and fasten them 
 closely. He then gathered the clergy round himself, 
 with those nobles who were present, and proceeding 
 
 1 Guizot France, Le9on iii See also Eusebius, Lib. vi. ch. 
 
 43. and Valesius, Note at the words, " vrso tuocyloslov x'kripov Kal 
 
 - In Latin Ostlarii. This was the last grade of the Clergy, 
 see Ducange ad voccm. Isidorus junior explains his functions 
 in this manner. " To the porter belong the keys of the Church, 
 in order that he may shut and open the temple of God, have the 
 custody of every thing within and without, admit the faithful, 
 and exclude the infidel and excommunicated."
 
 38 ST. AiL4.T0R AND ST. GERJLAN'. 
 
 straightway to Gorman, laid hold of him. Then he 
 solemnly invoked the name of God, cut off his hair, 
 stripped him of his secular robes, and clothed him in 
 the habit of an ecclesiastic.^ After this he ordained 
 him Priest, and addressed him thus : " Labour you 
 must, most beloved and revered brother, to preserve 
 immaculate and entire the dignity which has been com- 
 mitted to you ; know, that at my death God has willed 
 you should succeed to my office." 
 
 Scarcely had Amator retired from the Church, than 
 he began to feel the sjinptoms of his final sickness. 
 His zeal hoAvever continued the same. Though de- 
 bilitated by fever, he ceased not to preach to his people, 
 and perform the last duties of his office. One topic 
 was ever foremost in his discourse : the succession of 
 German to the Bishopi-ic on his death, which was 
 fast approaching. Unanimity in electing him he 
 strongly pressed upon them ; nor were the inclinations 
 of the multitude less desirous of the succession, as they 
 showed by answering w^ith one accord, " Amen." At 
 the same time tears rushed from their eyes, and grief 
 filled their hearts, at the prospect of the loss they were 
 to sustain. This, Amator endeavoured to alleviate by 
 the character he cbew of his successor, as revealed to 
 him by God. On Wednesday the 1st of May, 418, A. D. 
 he began to experience the agonies of death. In the 
 
 • It seems to be agreed, that the Tonsure was not quite the 
 same with that in the present Roman Church. A circle of hair 
 was left, say some, to grow round the lower part of the head. 
 St. Martin, by his opponents, was called " Hominem vultu despi- 
 cabilem, vcste sordidum, critic deformem." Sulp. Sex. ch. vii. 
 His editor refers to Concil. Tolet. iv. c. 40. and Isid. de Offi. 
 iv. 4. Bingham lays needless stress upon what small distinction 
 existed in different times.
 
 ST. A5IAT0R AND ST. GERM.AJ^. 39 
 
 midst of these he still continued to address words of 
 consolation to all arovind, and to mitigate the general 
 sorrow. " Surely, said he, these expressions of grief 
 are ill-suited to your condition ; you are about to obtain 
 a Bishop far better than me. What poor services I 
 may have been able to bestow, he will greatly surpass, 
 by contributing to your eternal advantage. I mean, 
 not only in life, but even in death he will remain the 
 blessing of your city." These words were understood 
 by the inhabitants of Auxerre in later times, to be pro- 
 phetic of the numerous miracles which were performed 
 at the tomb of St. German. Then Amator requested 
 he might be carried to the Church, intending to give up 
 his spirit in the place where he had so often by day and 
 by night, confessed the name of God. A great multi- 
 tude accompanied him ; the clergy advanced first, and 
 then followed the matrons. He had just time to be 
 taken up to his pontifical throne, (which, probably, like 
 in many Churches of the time, Avas placed at tlie extreme 
 end of what we should now call the Chancel,)^ before 
 he breathed his last, at the third hour of the day, that 
 is, about nine in the morning, according to our present 
 reckoning, the hour appointed for the chief office of the 
 Church, and that in which our blessed Lord is supposed 
 to have been crucified. At the sajne time, says Con- 
 stantius, our chief informer, a choir of Saints, to the 
 wonder of all, was seen to descend, and amid hymns and 
 praises, to carry up his spirit in the form of a dove to 
 lieaven. Many he adds, who had been present and lived 
 in his own time, were ready to bear witness to the fact. 
 Among these, says another writer before quoted, was 
 Helena, a holy virgin famous for her virtues and mira- 
 
 ' See Bingham's plan after Eusebius's Description.
 
 40 ST. AMATOR AND ST. GERMAN. 
 
 cles, whose feast occurs on the 22nd of May.^ His 
 body after it had been washed, was conveyed to the 
 same cemetery where Martlia had been buried, and 
 which was called, as we have seen, Mons Autricus or 
 Mont-Artre. A circumstance which occurred some 
 time after, contributed to render this spot still more 
 famous, though it was already noted for the blessed 
 remains it contained. But of this hereafter. 
 
 When the multitude who had accompanied the funeral 
 procession were returning, tliey were met by a paralytic 
 person borne on the shoulders of others. He had come 
 from the province of Berri, which is at some distance 
 from Auxerre, attracted by the fame of Amator's holi- 
 ness, and with some hope of being healed by him. His 
 infirmity had remained with him for thirty years. He 
 appears to have been a man in affluence. His atten- 
 dants, ignorant of the Bishop's death, inquired of the 
 multitude concerning him, and learnt the nature of the 
 procession they had seen. Thereupon the infirm man 
 entreated that he might be allowed tlie use of the water, 
 in which his body had been washed. German who had 
 not yet resigned his office of Governor, though he had 
 been ordained Priest,^ struck with their faith, gave 
 orders that tlie limbs of the paralytic man should be 
 washed with the water. The command had scarcely 
 been executed, when the sufferer recovered his strength 
 and soundness. 
 
 It is also said, but tlie autliority is less certain, that 
 as the funeral procession was passing by the public 
 gaol, the gates opened by miracle, the prisoners re- 
 gained their liberty and joined in the train. 
 
 ' Stephanus Africanus. 22nd May. Boll. 
 - " Tunc Presbyter;" subsequently he is called Magistrate.
 
 GERMAN BISHOP. 41 
 
 Bede,^ in his Martyrology, assigns tlie Gth of No- 
 vember, as the day of Amator's Deposition. Those of 
 Usuard and the Latin writers, says Tillemont,^ place 
 his feast on the 1st of May, the day on which his body 
 was solemnly translated, (and also apparently the day 
 of his decease.) 
 
 In 870, says Hericus,^ who lived at that time, his 
 remains were carried about, and the monks of St. 
 German's monastery went in procession to request a 
 relic of him. They obtained the fingers of the right 
 hand, with which he had cut off German's hair, and 
 carried them back to their own monastery, and depos- 
 ited them in German's tomb. This meeting of the 
 remains of two saints, so strangely connected with each 
 other in life, was signalized by the miraculous cure 
 of an infirm woman. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 German Bishop. 
 
 After the death of Amator, there was but one voice 
 in favour of the election of German in his place. The 
 three distinct orders, the Clergy, Nobility, and People, 
 including those who resided in the neighbourhood, as 
 well as the inhabitants of Auxerre, joined in demanding 
 the performance of the Divine order so lately communi- 
 cated through Amator. But German could not bring 
 himself to accept an ofiice, for which he deemed he 
 had had so little preparation. By his former charge 
 
 ' He says Augustoduno, but this is probably a mistake for 
 Antissioduro. 
 
 - Tillemont, t. xv. p. 11. = Vide Supra.
 
 42 GER5IAX BISHOP. 
 
 in the administration of tlie state, he had been thrown 
 into circumstances so very unfavourable to the exercise 
 of religious duties, that he needs must unlearn much 
 that he knew, over and above the acquirement of what 
 was indispensalde for the episcopal functions. "VMien 
 the empire was in the gift of armies or factions, and 
 tyrants were continually changing, involving often an 
 entire revolution in the government of the provinces ; 
 when court intrigues, and all the pernicious arts of 
 designing men, occupied the chief attention of the 
 officers of the republic, that conscientiousness and single- 
 ness of heart which German felt were necessary in an 
 ecclesiastical ruler, were exposed to dangers almost 
 unavoidable. He therefore determined to refuse the 
 election which he foresaw, and brought witli him a 
 party to support him. But all was in vain. He failed 
 in commanding the wonted submission of the people ; 
 and a regular opposition was raised against him, not 
 only by the mass of the people, ^ but by the nobles 
 also, and even the former abettors of his own cause. 
 Forced at last to accept the Bishopric, he soon showed 
 that he Avas more fit for the office than he had sup- 
 posed, and that the direction of Providence was signally 
 manifested in the circumstances of the event. 
 
 Vocations are not to be lightly esteemed, because 
 there may appear an insufficiency in the means to fulfil 
 them. Humanly speaking, nothing could be more unfit 
 for the conversion of nations, tlian the instrumentality 
 of the fisliermen of Galilee. But they were ordered 
 to take no thought about wliat they should say, that is, 
 not to shrink from their task, from ignorance of the 
 means of discharging it ; " For the Holy Ghost, it is 
 added, shall teach you all things." " It is impossible, 
 ' BcUum civile indicitur potcstati. Const.'
 
 GERMAN BISHOP. 43 
 
 says Tillemont,^ to conceive any thing more astonishing 
 than this vocation of St. German, so contrary, as it 
 should seem, to the rules of the Church. But when 
 He who is the Master of all rules speaks, it is our part 
 to worship Him, and receive His orders with humble 
 submission. It may be said that St. Britius, Avho at 
 that time governed the Church of Tours, was still 
 more unfit for the Bishopric than St. German, and 
 yet God called him by the mouth of the very St. 
 Martin, whom he had ottended when Deacon and Priest, 
 much more grievously than St. German had St. 
 Amator. God purified St. Britius, by dreadlul perse- 
 cutions, and St. German, by austerities unheard of in 
 Gaul, and which the power of grace alone can enable 
 to undergo. These, he concludes, are fully established 
 by the sincerity of Constantius his Biographer." 
 
 German's accession to the Bishopric of Auxerre, 
 may be assigned with tolerable certainty, to the 7th of 
 July 418, A. T), He was apparently elected, as dis- 
 tinguished from consecrated, immediately after St. 
 Amator's death, as we have just seen, and therefoi-e on 
 the 1st of May. About a month before, Amator had 
 first secured him to the ministry of the Church and 
 ordained him Priest, according to all probability, per 
 salturn, that is, without the preparatory degrees.^ But 
 the delays occasioned by his own diffidence, and the 
 necessity of getting three Bishops to attend at his con- 
 secration protracted the ceremony of his induction to 
 the month of July. 
 
 The reader may be desirous to know what were the 
 leading circumstances of the fortunes of the Roman 
 
 ' Memoires Eccl. t. xv. 
 - See Bingh. 2 B. ii. ch. sec. 4, also Euseb. B. vi. 43.
 
 44 GERjrAN BISHOP. 
 
 Empire when this event took place. Honorius was 
 still Eraperor of the West. He had again recovered 
 the possession of Gaul through his able General, Con- 
 stantius. That country had been distressed by civil 
 war for many years. Maximus, ^ in 388, had given the 
 example of laying hold of the imperial crown without 
 any other title than ambition. The murder of Gratian, 
 the lawful Emperor, by which he had secured his 
 usurjiation, was punished however subsequently by 
 Theodosius the Great, who conquered him at Aquileia 
 and put liim to death. After him Eugenius, the crea- 
 ture of Arbozart, who durst not proclaim himself Em- 
 peror because he was not a Roman citizen, assumed the 
 purple in Gaul, and was likewise vanquished and be- 
 headed by Theodosius about 394. In the third place 
 shortly before the time which we are considering, Con- 
 stantine, a common soldier, who had been saluted Em- 
 peror in Britain, had passed over into Gaul, taken 
 possession of it, removed the imperial residence from 
 Treves to Aries, and had engaged successfully with 
 the barbarians, was at last subdued by the General of 
 Honorius and murdered on his road to Rome. Other 
 tyrants'^ succeeded him for a very short time in Gaul, 
 but Constantius soon put them down, and restored 
 the greater part of that country to Ilonoi'ius, the son 
 of Theodosius. Some provinces in the "West were 
 conceded to the Gothic king "Wallia 
 During these changes Rome had been taken and sacked 
 
 ' See Anquetil, torn. i. and Annales Alfordii ad annos cjusdem 
 saeculi. Gibbon, torn. iv. 
 
 » Their character is described briefly by Sidonius in these 
 words, " In Constantino inconstantiam, in Jovino facilitatem, 
 in Gerontio perfidiam, singula in singulis, omnia in Dardano 
 crimina simui exsecrabantur." Ep. ix B. v. p. 32.
 
 GEKMAK BISHOP. 45 
 
 by Alaric, the king of the Goths. This year, 418, Zo- 
 zimus, the Pope, died, and was succeeded by Bonifacius. 
 Zozimus himself had succeeded to Innocent, a pontiff 
 remai'kable for his opposition to the growing heresy of 
 Pehigius. Two councils had been held in Innocent's 
 time, about 416, against Pelagianism, one at Carthage, 
 another at Milevum in Numidia, where St. Augustine 
 of Hippo presided. Innocent had ratified the decrees 
 of these councils, which had formally condemned the 
 authors of the heresy. These circumstances are con- 
 sidered by the defenders of the Papal prerogative as 
 decisive in favour of the claims of the Apostolic See ; 
 they occurred only two years before German's eleva- 
 tion. The next year Pelagius had made a public ab- 
 juration of his errors in a letter to Innocent, the con- 
 tents of which are the. best explanation of the dangers 
 with which his doctrines threatened the Church.^ Zo- 
 zimus, the next Pope, had been imposed upon by 
 Celestius, the companion of Pelagius, a circumstance 
 which some divines have exaggerated into an imputa- 
 tion of indulgence towards heresy, while Alford, a divine 
 of another school, maintains, with some reason, that Zo- 
 zimus proscribed the Pelagian heresy at the very same 
 time. His successor Bonifaciusj the same year 418, 
 engaged Honorius to write a public letter to the Pre- 
 torian Prefect, to extirpate Pelagianism and banish the 
 supporters of it for ever. The sentence was to extend 
 over all the empire. To add one more prominent fact 
 to this brief sketch, we may observe that St. Jerome 
 was still alive, as well as St. Augustine. St. Chrysos- 
 tom had died a few years before in banishment. The 
 writings of these three fathers, perhaps the most cele- 
 
 1 Vid. Apud Alford. Ad An. 417.
 
 46 GER>rA>^ BISHOP. 
 
 brated in history, were doubtless the study of the new 
 Bishop, next to the Holy Scriptures, which he appears 
 to have searched fortliwitli with the greatest diligence. 
 We have seen that wlien St. Amator ordained Ger- 
 man in the Church before all the people, he invested 
 him with the religious habit, as his Biographer calls it, 
 that is, the monastic dress. From this circumstance 
 some have thought that he became an actual monk. ^ 
 But this seems to be a mistake. There was no monas- 
 tery then at Auxerre : St. German was the first to in- 
 stitute one at a future period. ^ Nor did he ever be- 
 come monk himself, though he continued to wear the 
 dress of that profession duiing the thirty years of his 
 Episcopate. This Avas no uncommon practice. St. 
 Martin, Bishop of Tours, had always worn the monas- 
 tic habit. But the office of Bishop was kept distinct 
 from the character of monk.^ By the outward ap- 
 pearance, a stranger might not discover whether a man 
 was an ecclesiastic, a monk, or a penitent, as is shown 
 by a question put by Sidonius Apollinaris to a friend. 
 But at this time the governors of the Church were 
 zealous in keeping the clerical body distinct from the 
 ccenobitic, the more so, as there was a growing ten- 
 dency in the Western Church to fill the ecclesiastical 
 ranks with men taken from monasteries at the expense 
 frequently of adequate preparation, and of the order 
 which distinguished the degrees. Hence in some sharp 
 letters of Zozimus and Celestine, the monks are em- 
 phatically denominated by the term of laymen, which 
 
 Among these, Alford, in his Annals. 
 - These points are satisfactorily explainetl in Boschius' Com- 
 ment. Prsev. ch. v. apud Bolland, 31 Jul. 
 
 ' Lib. iv. Ep. xxiv. p. 404.
 
 GERMAN BISHOP. 47 
 
 indeed was fully applicable to them before St, Bene- 
 dict's time. 
 
 The circumstances of German's elevation to the 
 Bishopric of Auxerre are so striking, and, together 
 with other instances somewhat similar, have given oc- 
 casion to such discordant opinions, that it may not be 
 out of place to compare one or two parallel accounts left 
 to us by contemporary writers. It is unquestionably 
 false to say with a modern writer, " that the election of 
 Bishops had not the characteristics of a real institution, 
 that it was destitute of rules, of permanent and leo-al 
 forms, and abandoned to the chance of circumstances 
 and passions." 1 It is perhaps nearer to the truth to 
 say, that there existed a real standard of order, and a 
 received body of apostolical canons, but that they were 
 not as yet considered invariably obligatory, and were 
 in some particulars often dispensed Avith in emero-en- 
 cies.2 The history of St. Ambrose is well known. 
 After the death of Auxentius, the Ai'ian Bishop of 
 Milan, the people, the Clergy, and the Bishops of the 
 Province, had met in the cathedral to elect a successor. 
 The confusion was very great, and the divisions of the 
 Orthodox and the Arians impeded the decision. A 
 violent tumult ensued, when Ambrose, the civil gover- 
 nor of Milan, arrived. He was not much above thirty 
 years old. Having learnt the cause of the disturbance, 
 he entered the cathedral, and addressed the people in 
 order to pacify them. His appearance and manner 
 pleased the multitude, and it is reported that a child 
 screamed out in the Church, "Ambrose is Bishop." 
 
 ' Guizot France, torn. i. Le9on 3. 
 - See Hallier. De Sacris electionibus et ordinationibus. P. 
 ii. S. i. Ch. i.
 
 48 GERMAN BISHOP. 
 
 The meeting was not dissolved before Ambrose was 
 proclaimed Bishop with one consent. ^ Wliat renders 
 this election still more extraordinary than that of Ger- 
 man is, that Ambrose was not yet a Christian, but only 
 a Catechumen. He was then baptized, and eight days 
 after consecrated. 
 
 Ambrose's election took place about fifty years before 
 that of German. Sidonius ApoUinaris relates a similar 
 example which occurred about fifty years after. The 
 Bishop of Bourges, in France, was dead, and the ardour 
 of competitors and factions was so great, that the whole 
 town was thrown into confusion. ^ Thereupon Sido- 
 nius, lately made Bishop himself of Clermont in 
 Auvergne, and distinguished for his birth, wealth, elo- 
 quence and science, was requested by the inhabitants 
 of Bourges to repair to their city to make choice 
 of a successor for them. Sidonius took with him 
 some other Bishops, and proceeded to Bourges. Hav- 
 ing assembled the people and clergy, he pronounced a 
 discourse to them in which he reviewed those classes of 
 persons against whom objections might be raised. " A 
 monk, he said, will be considered unequal to fulfil the 
 double part of intercessor with God and civil magis- 
 trate ; and there are not wanting many among the 
 people and clergy who entertain invidious prejudices 
 against the Avliole order. Again, if I choose fi'om the 
 clergy, immediately jealousy and contempt will be ex- 
 cited. Should I decide for one invested with military 
 offices and honours, what accusations of partiality to a 
 profession through which I have myself passed !" He 
 
 ' Sec Church of the Fathers. Hallier, P. ii. S. i. Ch. i. 
 St. Paulin. Vita Ambrosii. 
 
 - Sid. Ap. B. vii. Lett. ix.
 
 GERMAN BISHOP. 49 
 
 then proceeded to give the description of the person he 
 tliought fit to succeed to the Bishopric. He was a lay- 
 man, he was even a soldier, he was married and had off- 
 spring ; but then he was a zealous friend of the Church, 
 the defender of her rights, and he had built a temple to 
 God at his own expense ; he was moreover of noble 
 birth, in affluence, kind, charitable, mature in age and 
 mind, and especially too modest to desire the sacred 
 dignity, a circumstance Avhicli made him the more de- 
 serving. Such was Simplicius, who forthwith was 
 consecrated Bishop of Bourges and Metropolitan of the 
 Province. ^ 
 
 Many other instances similar to these might be 
 quoted, to show that German's election was not a soli- 
 tary example. But after all, they were mere excep- 
 tions and irregularities, and indicative of that spirit of 
 toleration and expansion with which the Chui'ch suf- 
 fered deviations from her canons in cases of necessity. 
 As well might it be said that there is no established 
 form for Baptism, because in extreme emergencies the 
 ministry of a layman is allowed to supply that of a cler- 
 gyman, as that these exceptions prove the want of 
 canonical rules in the ordinations of ecclesiastics. Dif- 
 ferent churches might have different customs on minor 
 points, but in all essentials the consent was uniform in 
 Christendom. It was embodied in what Pope Celestine 
 calls the Decrees of the Fathers (Decreta Patrum,) and 
 was appealed to as the Ecclesiastical Custom. ^^ 
 
 Modern philosophy does not appear to have exercised 
 all its ingenuity as yet upon the period which we are 
 considering, otherwise we might expect some clever 
 
 ' See other parallel cases in Guizot's France. Le9on 3. 
 
 - Ep. ii. § 3. apud Labb. Concil. torn. iii. p. 482. 
 
 E
 
 50 GERMAN BISHOP. 
 
 theory to prove tliat a transition like that of German 
 from a liigh civil magistrac}^ to a clerical office, was 
 the effect, not of divine intervention, or of any desire 
 to promote the welfare of the Church, but of mere fear 
 and the pressure of worldly circumstances. Constau- 
 tine the tyrant would be cited to show that the easiest 
 way to escape the vengeance of enemies was to assume 
 the clerical coat. ^ The Avords of Sidonius, who in the 
 perils of civil war observed that the nobility had resolved 
 to seek their safety in the ecclesiastical state or in ban- 
 ishment, would be appealed to with confidence. And 
 among those Avhom in fact fear and policy had driven 
 into the clergy, the illustrious saints whose examples 
 edified the whole Church, would be indiscriminately 
 ranked. Attempts of tins kind have been made to rob 
 the City of God in patriarchal times of her blessed 
 succession of witnesses. Nor Avould it be more extra- 
 ordinary if the transition of German were attributed 
 to the growing ascendancy of the barbarians, the 
 changeableness of Court intrigues, or the worldly ad- 
 vantage to be derived from a station which engaged 
 the esteem of the people while the civil authorities 
 daily lost their influence. However the subsequent 
 life of Gei-man is a sufficient answer to such intima- 
 tions, were they made, as we shall see in the following 
 chapter. 
 
 ' Vid. Annals Alford, ad Annum, 410-11.
 
 gerjl^n's character, etc. 51 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 German's character and mode of Life. 
 
 It is difficult to conceive any thing more surprising 
 and sudden than tlie change wliich took phice in Ger- 
 man. St. Paul, whose conversion is the type of won- 
 derful changes, yet was earnest, ascetic, strict from the 
 very first. ^ He had always lived according to the 
 straightest sect of his religion a Phai'isee. But German 
 had been surrounded with the luxury and comforts of 
 the world, courted by all, accustomed to command not 
 to serve, and lulled in the arms of domestic happiness. 
 Like Jonah he might have " made himself a booth and 
 sat under it in the shadow to see what would become 
 of the city" of God. Instead of this, he at once girded 
 up his loins and prepared to take an active part in the 
 spiritual warfare of the ChmTh. Let us attend to the 
 account given by Constantius, his biographer. He im- 
 mediately resigned his civil appointment, dismissed liis 
 numerous attendants, sacrificed the splendid and plea- 
 sant possessions of his wealth, gave away his substance 
 to the poor, and enlisted himself in their company. 
 His wife Eustachia became his sister. It is uncertain 
 whether she continued to dwell under the same roof, 
 or retii-ed to a i-eligious house. The circumstances of 
 his future life seem to imply the latter, for he travelled 
 much, and her presence on those occasions is not no- 
 
 ^ srpof TOOTutswfTjy tctv /M.eXXov'Jwv triiTTcUEiv. 1 Tim. i. 16.
 
 52 German's character 
 
 ticed, nay, must have ])een noticed in some, liad she 
 kept him company. However there was notliinfr to 
 share with him. His table Avas seldom spread for him- 
 self, his days were employed in the duties of his office, 
 his nights were spent in prayer and meditation. ^ 
 
 With regard to his austerities, much of course was 
 concealed from the pu1)lic gaze, as is remarked of our 
 own George Herbert ; but though he ever strove to 
 avoid observation, yet as a city built on a hill cannot 
 remain hid, so the brightness of his sanctity shone 
 througli all reserve, and spread a glow over his least 
 actions. What was ascertained may be briefly summed 
 up as follows : From the day on which he began his 
 ministry to the end of his life, that is, for the space of 
 thirty years, he was so spare in his diet, that he never 
 eat wheaten bread, never touched wine, vinegar, oil or 
 vegetables, nor ever made use of salt to season his food. 
 On the nativity and resurrection of our Lord alone he 
 allowed himself one draught of wine diluted with water, 
 so as to preserve little of its flavour. Meat was out of 
 the question ; he lived more rigorously than any monk, 
 and in those early times no meat was allowed to monks 
 in France, except in the most urgent cases of debility 
 and sickness.^ What he did take was mere barley 
 bread which he had winnowed and ground himself. 
 First however he took some ashes, and, by way of hu- 
 miliation, tasted them. Severe as was this diet, it ap- 
 pears almost miraculous when we are told that he never 
 eat at all but twice a week, on Wednesdays and Satur- 
 
 • " Vitabat suorum Solatia." Const, again " Convivium 
 jejunus pastor exhibuit." 
 
 = See Calmet, Regie de St. Benoit. torn. i. 564.
 
 AND MODE OP LIFE. 53 
 
 days, and in the evening of those days ; nay that gene- 
 rally he abstained entirely till the seventh day. ^ 
 
 His clothing was the same in winter and in summer, 
 simply the cucuUa and the tunic. What these were in 
 the tilth century we learn from Cassian, a contemporary 
 writer. ^ The cucuUa, he says, was a small hood for the 
 head, ending in point and falling down over the neck 
 as far as the shoulders. In process of time this di-ess 
 changed very considerably. The tU7iic was a mere 
 shirt, which the ancients wore next to the skin and 
 generally without sleeves. Cassian describes the monks 
 with linen tunics, which he calls colobia, the sleeves of 
 which descended only to the elbow. But he is de- 
 scribing the monastic habit of the Egyjjtians, and it is 
 probable that when the same pattern was adopted from 
 them in Gaul, the tunic was made of wool or coarse 
 stuff. It covered the whole body and reached to the 
 feet. Under this however German wore the badge of 
 the religious profession, the hair-cloth, (cilicimn) which 
 never left him. He seldom bought a new dress, but 
 
 ' That this is the true sense of the passage is proved by an- 
 other of the same author Constantius. B. ii. ch. 66. " Cujus 
 inediam septimus plerumque dies pane tantum hordeaceo re- 
 creabat." See Bosch. Boll, ad locum Const. 
 
 - " Cucullis perparvis usque ad cervicis humerorumque de- 
 missis confinia, quibus tantum capita contegant, indesinenter 
 utuntur diebus ac noctibus." Quoted by Camlet, Regie de St. 
 Benoit, ch. iv. torn. ii. 
 
 " Colobiis lineis induti quse vix ad cubitorum ima pertingunt, 
 nudas de reliquo circumferunt manus." Ibid. 
 
 Cassian travelled into Egypt, and founded afterwards a mo- 
 nastic house at Marseilles, after the model of Egypt. On the 
 subject of the Egyptian monks, see the abstract of Fleury, torn. 
 V. Liv. 20. p. 20, &c. See also Liv. 24. p. 600, &c. See also 
 Heliot, torn. i. p. 163.
 
 54 ger3ian's character 
 
 wore the old till it was nearly in rags, unless perchance 
 he i^arted with it for some person in distress whom he 
 had no other means of relieving. 
 
 His bed was even more uninviting than his dress. 
 Four planks, in the form of an oblong, contained a bed 
 of ashes, which they prevented from being dispersed. 
 By the continual pressure of the body they had become 
 hai'd, and presented a surface as rough as stone. On 
 this he lay with his hair-cloth alone, and another coarse 
 cloth for a coverlet. ^ No pillow suppoited his head, his 
 whole body lay flat on the painful couch. He did not 
 take off his garment to sleep, and seldom even loosened 
 the girdle or took off his shoes. Neither did he ever 
 part witli a leathern belt which fastened to his chest 
 a little box containing the relics of the saints. This, 
 his only treasure, he valued above all earthly things. 
 The relics were those of all the Apostles and of different 
 Martyrs. At a subsequent period he took some from 
 them to deposit in the tomb of St. Alban, at Verulam, 
 in Britain ; and it was this little box which the Em- 
 press Placidia so eagerly desired when German died at 
 Ravenna. His sleep was such as might be expected 
 from these austerities ; it was neither long, nor unin- 
 
 ' " Sagulum." See Calmet, torn. ii. p. 268. Also Bosch. 
 Boll. Not. ad § 75. " Sagulum ego indnmontum hie intelligi 
 nullum existimo sad lodicem sen stragulum qua noctu obtectus 
 dormiebat." 
 
 As there appears a slight inconsistency as the text of Con- 
 stantius stands, viz. : " Stratum omne, subjccto cilicio, et super- 
 posito uno tantum sagulo, fuit — Noctibus nunquam vcstitum, 
 raro cingulum, raro calceamciita detraxit ;" we might almost 
 suspect cilicio had been written for silice, alluding to the hard 
 ashes. Lipoman, Surius, the Bollandists have however all 
 cilicio.
 
 AXD MODE OF LIFE. 55 
 
 terrupted. Frequently after tlie example of our Lord 
 he would pass the whole night in prayer ; and it should 
 seem that .these holy vigils had a peculiar efficacy in 
 his case, which manifested itself in the following morn- 
 ings by miracles and extraordinary deeds. These mid- 
 night watchings were divided between the tears and 
 groans of penitence and hjonns of praise and interces- 
 sions. In this manner, says his biographer, as we have 
 before remarked, did the blessed German expiate any 
 past errors into which human infirmity may have led 
 him, and set the example of a sudden and transcendent 
 holiness. 
 
 According to the Apostolic precept he was " given 
 to hospitality." His house was open to every one and 
 he paid no regard to the quality of the visitor. Faithful 
 to the lesson taught by our Lord Himself, he washed 
 the feet of his guests with his own hands and then pre- 
 pared a feast which all partook of but the ascetic Ger- 
 man. It is often said at the present day that there is 
 cowai'dice and want of faith in retiring from the world 
 to avoid temptation, and that to bury religion in mo- 
 nastic seclusion is to perform but one part of the 
 Christian Law which commands vis to love our neigh- 
 bours as ourselves. Here then German might obtain 
 the approbation of modern objectors. He did not leave 
 the world as far as outward things are concerned. His 
 whole Episcopate was passed amid the tumult and con- 
 course of men, with the exception of those hours he 
 spent among the Brotherhood he instituted, as we shall 
 see. He would fail however in satisfying them, in that 
 he encouraged monastic retirement in others. Kor was 
 it by contenting himself with smaller measures of strict- 
 ness than a religious rule enforced, that he preserved 
 his conscience spotless in the busy scenes of the world.
 
 56 GERMAN'S CIIARACTEK 
 
 He lived like St. Antliony and St. Athanasius at the 
 same time. 
 
 No distinct account has been left us of the personal 
 appearance of German. All we know is that when his 
 body was removed in the ninth century it was observed 
 that he was of middle stature, and that he had a fine 
 head of hair interspersed with white hairs. ^ In this 
 form we are told he also appeared to a little girl whom 
 he cured of dumbness after his death. As a general 
 remark it may be said that his features were rendered 
 squalid and emaciated by the severe fasts he endured, ^ 
 while at the same time his countenance possessed a dig- 
 nity which commanded universal respect.^ Dugdale 
 informs us that in St. German's Priory in Cornwall 
 there was a mutilated impression from the Seal of this 
 monastery. The inscription was gone, but the area on 
 one side represented a few feint traces of the figure of 
 the Saint. 
 
 If it may be permitted to assign human reasons, where 
 so much was superhuman, we should say German was 
 naturally a healthy person and possessed a robust con- 
 stitution. Other Saints, by austerities less great than 
 his, were rendered infirm for life. St. Bernard never 
 quite recovered from the effects of his early severities.* 
 Forced to be carried about in a carriage, he was subject 
 to temporary weaknesses whicli greatly impeded his ex- 
 ertions. St. Basil^ again and St. Chrysostom lost the 
 health of their body while the soul seemed to gather 
 
 ' Hericus de Miraculis, C. v. B. i. 
 
 Constantius, C. ii. B. ix. apud Surium. 
 
 ' Ibid. Ch. xxxiii. 
 
 •• Neander's Life of St. Bernard. 
 
 ' Church of the Fathers, p. 114 and 71.
 
 AXD MODE OF LIFE. Oi 
 
 fresh vigour for heavenly things.^ " I cannot number, 
 says the former, the various affections which have be- 
 fallen me, my weakness, the violence of the fever and 
 the bad state of my constitution." German was not 
 apparently subject to this trial. The only sickness we 
 find he endured previous to his last iUness was a tem- 
 porary lameness, produced by a fall, when he sojourned 
 in Britain. Like St. Martin of Tours, he could under- 
 take long expeditions, and mix in the stir and noise of 
 the crowd without inconvenience. All blessings are 
 from God. Daniel was " fairer and fatter in flesh" 
 than all the children which did eat the portion of the 
 king's meat, though he lived on pulse. ^ Perhaps Ger- 
 man had not those particular inclinations and habits 
 which needed the humiliation of bodily suffering. The 
 pride of learning, intellect and wisdom, seem to have 
 been checked often by these visitations. St. Paul had 
 a thorn in the flesh, lest he should be too much exalted. 
 St. Basil thought he owed much to some such affliction, 
 in being weaned from the seductive philosophy of 
 Athens. ^ German was probably free from these allure- 
 ments. He became profoundly learned in sacred sci- 
 ence, insomuch, that St. Patrick, the apostle of Ii-e- 
 land, esteemed him the best guide for his own early 
 studies, of all the teachers of Gaul. Yet he was igno- 
 rant of that passionate love for learning as such which 
 seems to have devoured the minds of Origen and others. 
 It is to be regretted, together Avith the absence of any 
 external description, that we have no definite account 
 of his particular natural disposition, or of his acquire- 
 ments. It is certainly interesting, if it is not instruc- 
 
 ■ Fleury, Lib. 21, p. 161. - Daniel i. 15. 
 
 * Serm. " De Libris Gentilium Leerendis."
 
 58 German's character 
 
 tive, to learn wliat cliaracteristics of" a more earthly 
 kind Avere combined with the heavenly virtues of Saints. 
 And the observation is often made, that their example 
 has more hold upon the imagination of the weaker 
 brethren than that of our blessed Lord, for the reason, 
 that they were liable to infirmity, and had tastes and 
 feelings Avhich showed them to be mere men. The 
 want of such description, is perhaps to be attributed to 
 the fact, that his biographer Avas not personally ac- 
 quainted with him. He had certain means indeed of 
 obtaining minute information, whether from the monks 
 of Auxerre, who had continual opportunity of seeing 
 him and conversing with him, or from those Bishops 
 and men of education who attended him in his last days 
 almost without intermission. But his account is a mere 
 sketch ; and wluit seems important to one writer does 
 not to another ; nay, different subjects of consideration 
 occupy different generations ; at one time miracles, at 
 another original characters. Then again, the style of 
 Constantius is poetical, not philosophical, and style is 
 indicative of the train of men's thoughts. 
 
 However, thus much appears. From the time of his 
 ordination, he applied diligently to the study of the 
 scriptures, and became so versed in theological matters, 
 that he was considered among the Doctors of the time. 
 St. Patrick spent many years under his tuition. ^ The 
 learned supj^ose him to have committed to writing some 
 of the fruits of his stutlies. But nothing has remained. 
 His natural eloquence, his learning and practical wis- 
 dom, would mark him out as the fittest person to en- 
 counter the Pelagians in Britain, even in a synod of 
 
 ' This is well authenticated from Probus, Jocelin, Hericus 
 and others. See Stillingflect Orig. p. 211. Ed. 8vo.
 
 AND MODE OF LIFE. 59 
 
 prelates, Aviiere so many were eminent for talent as well 
 as piety. The event proved the justness of their 
 choice. " His own arguments, we are told, Avere in- 
 terspersed with revealed truth, and Avhile he poured 
 forth in torrents of eloquence the dictates of his con- 
 science, he supported them always with the agreement 
 of what he had read."^ That there was in his language 
 an elevation and wisdom, which are not indeed to be 
 taken apart from his holy life, but which were the es- 
 pecial cause of the attention paid to his words, is mani- 
 fest from the unwearied earnestness with which his last 
 discourses were received by the six Bishops who waited 
 upon him, among whom was the famous St. Peter, sur- 
 named Chrysologus, one of the Doctors of the Church, 
 and then Bishop of Ravenna. ^ The moral endowments 
 which he evinced before his conversion distinguished 
 him throughout. He retained all his firmness of pur- 
 pose, courage in difficulties, command over his own will 
 and that of others, presence of mind, penetration and 
 prudence. But Clu'istianity taught him resignation in 
 suffering, charity which flowed over the least of his 
 actions, forgetfulness of self in common danger, a spirit 
 of reserve strongly contrasted with his former tendency 
 to ostentation.^ 
 
 ' Const, ch. xxiii. Surius. B. i. 
 
 ■'■ Conf. also, ch. xxxiii. " Assidebant jugiter obsequentes 
 sex venerabiles saccrdotes." " Dum cum Episcopis sermones 
 conferret de religione." 
 
 ^ " Sed semper secreti obumbratione notitiam suppressit." 
 Ch. xvi. Surius.
 
 00 ST. GERMAN FOUNDS A MONASTERY. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 St. Germa7i founds a Monastery. 
 
 One of the first acts which displayed German's zeal for 
 the Church over which he was appointed, was also 
 highly characteristic of the age in wliich he lived. The 
 fifth century was the period wliich introduced the mo- 
 nastic system in Gaul and other Western countries. 
 The East had got the start of a hundred years. Ger- 
 man was the first to institute it at Auxerre. No posi- 
 tive declaration of the causes which led him to found a 
 monastery has been transmitted, except that whicli was 
 obvious enough to a Saint of those times, " the advance- 
 ment of religion."! g^t it requires very little stretch 
 of imagination to understand the chain of circumstances 
 which gave the impulse. First, however, let us ascer- 
 tain the fact itself. 
 
 At the north-east of Auxerre, separated by the river 
 Yonne from the town itself, as it then was, he built the 
 first monastery which had been seen in that district. 
 It was dedicated to St. Cosmas and St. Damianus, Mar- 
 tyrs, and subsequently obtained the name of St. Ger- 
 mans. Afterwards it again changed its appellation and 
 was called St. Marian, from one of the holy brethren 
 who gave lustre to the institution. Tiiis is not the 
 monastery which Avas celebrated as the Abbey St. Ger- 
 mans of Auxerre at a later period, the fame of which 
 far eclipsed St. Marian. St. Marian, however, was the 
 original foundation, and under its vauUs the body of 
 
 ' Ad profectum religionis. Const.
 
 ST. GERMAN FOUNDS A MONASTERY. 61 
 
 German himself reposed, until it was translated to the 
 larger convent in the ninth century. It is now no 
 longer standing, one column alone exists to testify the 
 spot of its situation. But before it fell into ruin one 
 might have seen the very cell of the good Bishop, where 
 he retired when he visited the monastery. It could be 
 entered ouly by a small opening, and in a kneeling pos- 
 ture. This place was the witness of his many prayers 
 and mortifications. St. Allodius, probably the same 
 who succeeded him in the Bishopric, was the first 
 Abbot or Archimandrite, as he was called ; and after 
 him St. INIamertinus Avas elected, the conversion of 
 whom holds a prominent rank in the history of our 
 Saint. These are the only Abbots known before the 
 twelfth century ; when the order of the Premonstrants 
 was established at St. Marian. After various changes, 
 the monastery was finally destroyed by the Calvinists, 
 in 1567, among the other acts of their sacrilegious 
 fury. 
 
 We must now retm-n to those causes which doubtless 
 influenced German's mind, and which will furnish the 
 most satisfactory explanation to be obtained concernino- 
 the rule and discipline of the new monastery. 
 
 There were at this time three principal religious 
 houses in France, that of Marmontier, near Tours, in- 
 stituted by St. Martin, that of St. Victor, at Marseilles, 
 founded by Cassian, and that of Lerins, an island to the 
 south of France, where iSt. Honoratus retired. Which 
 of these was the model of that at Auxerre ? Not Mar- 
 montier, because it had scarcely any rule at all in its 
 origin. Lerins, on the other hand, in process of time 
 adopted the constitutions of Cassian as well as St. Victor. 
 The rule of Cassian wliich he established at Marseilles 
 was that which attracted the chief notice, and we shall
 
 02 ST. GERMAN FOUNDS A MONASTERY. 
 
 see that there were many associations which would par- 
 ticularly recommend it to German. But we must take 
 np the subject somewhat liigher. 
 
 Enmity to institutions as well as to men and persua- 
 sions is an active principle whicli exercises the human 
 ingenuity in the discovery of everything which tells 
 ao-ainst the devoted object. But love is one of far 
 greater energy, as it never faileth, " and endureth all 
 things ;"^ it is ever ardent and indefatigable in the sup- 
 port of the cause it has espoused. Much, then, has been 
 written to weaken the foundations of monasticism, but 
 much more has been written for the establishment of 
 its claims. Indeed, if any plausible work lias been 
 composed to throw discredit upon it, the labours of 
 love have furnished apparently the chief materials ; 
 and as heretics learn even the history of heresy from 
 the Church, the enemies of the coenobitic life have 
 o-ained their information from its very advocates. 
 This persuasion may afford sufficient ground for the 
 view here taken of its origin.^ 
 
 Four modifications of the monastic system are ob- 
 servable in the early ages. The ascetics, properly so 
 called, ai'e its first representatives. They existed in 
 the times of the Apostles ; nay, they were always in 
 the Church, under the Judaic dispensation, before the 
 Christian. Celibacy, fasting, prayer, silence, watching, 
 and mortification, were the practice of their profession. 
 It does not appear that in the earliest times of Chris- 
 tianity they separated from the general community. 
 The Church itself, when compared with the rest of the 
 
 ' 1 Corinth. 13. 
 = See Fleury. Discours. Hist. Eccl. Heliot Discours. pre- 
 liminaire.
 
 ST. GERMAN FOUNDS A MONASTERY. Go 
 
 world, was a monastery. And while the fervour of the 
 whole body countenanced strictness and austerity, sepa- 
 ration was superseded. When the numbers of Chris- 
 tians increased, and all ranks, j^rofessions, and pursuits 
 acknowledged the standard of the cross, the temptations 
 of the world entered into the Church's bosom. This 
 was the signal for the first general retreat. The her- 
 mits, or anchorites, forthwith fixed their abode in the 
 deserts. Nor did their behaviour meet with any dis- 
 approbation. They were called the people of God in a 
 special sense, their example was professed from the 
 pulpit to the multitude, and their prayers were allowed 
 to have a peculiar efficacy for the rest of the world. 
 
 Such were the two first stages of the monastic spirit. 
 When the hermits had filled the deserts, they began to 
 draw near to each other, and to fix their habitations or 
 cells in close vicinity to each other. These religious 
 societies abounded in Egypt during the fourth century. 
 They resembled little cities, where each man had his 
 own house, and all met, morning and evening, to pray 
 together. St. Martin's monastery, at Tours, was at 
 first nothing else than a community of this kind. 
 Finally, in the midst of these, arose in Egypt the 
 fourth class of monks, those which were destined to 
 prevail — the Coenobites. They cast all their substance 
 into one common stock, assembled under one roof, con- 
 formed to one rule, and submitted to one superior. 
 The Abbot, or Archimandrite, thus obtained a distinct 
 position. After this model have all future monastic in- 
 stitutions been framed, though there were in the fourth 
 and fifth centuries some characteristics which do not 
 exist at present.^ There seems to be reason in the 
 
 ' Guizot. France.
 
 64 ST. GERMAN FOUNDS A MONASTERY, 
 
 remark of a modern historian, that a principle of lib- 
 erty was the basis of monasteries at their origin, No 
 obligation of perpetual residence, other than that of 
 decency, obtained. A set of devout persons congre- 
 gated to practise a rule of life impracticable in the 
 world ; but they were not, at least in the west, bound 
 by vows before the sixth century, when St. Benedict 
 fomided his order. There were even instances when 
 those who had attained a higli degree of perfection 
 retked from their monastery to live the Ufe of hermits. 
 Another prominent feature of the institution was, that 
 monks were regarded as laymen, and had actually few 
 among them who were ordained. Like other classes 
 of men distinct from the clergy, they were subject to 
 the same kind of episcopal jurisdiction ; nor had they 
 for a long time any appointed priests for themselves, 
 but were members of the tliocese and parish in which 
 they lived, and attended one common church with the 
 rest of the people. Many reasons, however, would 
 have, and in fact, did supervene, to require peculiar 
 ministers for themselves, without recurring to the in- 
 vidious motive of vieiug with the secular clergy, which 
 is assigned by some. Still it is manifest that till the 
 tenth centuiy the monastic houses were never emanci- 
 pated from the episcopal rule. In 451, a few yeai\>; 
 after the foundation of German's monastery, the fol- 
 lowing canon was enacted by the council of Cluilcedon. 
 " Let those who have sincerely and in truth adopted 
 the solitary life, be honoured as is just. But whereas 
 some, who are in appearance and name monks, throw 
 confusion into the civil and ecclesiastical affairs, by 
 wandering into towns, and attempting to establish of 
 their own accord monasteries, it is decreed that no one 
 sliall build or found a monastery or a chapel, without
 
 ST. GER5IA1J FOUNDS A MONASTERY. 65 
 
 the sanction of the Bishop of the city. Let the monks 
 in every city and country be subject to' the Bishops, 
 live quietly, apply themselves to fasting and prayer, 
 and remain on the spot where they have made renvtn- 
 ciation of the world. Careless of external things, let 
 them continue in their seclusion, unless the contrary be 
 ordered by the Bishop of the place for some necessary 
 work." Allusion is here made to the Sarabaites and 
 Messalians, fanatics, who, under pretence of strictness, 
 committed many excesses, and were generally repro- 
 bated by good men. The authority of the Bishop was 
 thus positively declared, while the honour due to the 
 monastic body was sanctioned by the same decree. At 
 that time, no exception to ejDiscopal rule was claimed 
 by any appeal to the Pope. If we may attribute par- 
 tiality to the see of Rome, it inclined certainly to the 
 side of the clergy against the monks. There are angry 
 expressions on record, of Pope Celestine, who lived 
 about this very time. They were called forth by the 
 great tendency of the age to escape from ecclesiastical 
 obedience, and by the excesses of fanaticism. The dis- 
 cipline and order of the hierarchy were the great 
 object at which the Church of Rome aimed in the 
 fifth century. And to this, not to any settled disap- 
 probation of the system, must be attributed the occa- 
 sional rebukes which the Popes directed against the 
 monks. At Rome, as well as in the rest of Christen- 
 dom, religious houses had been established, and after 
 the first impression of strangeness had rapidly passed 
 away, obtained the same favour as elsewhere.^ 
 
 ' The passages alluded to by Guizot, in his endeavour to 
 establish the contrary opinion, can hardly be said to make for 
 him ; the opposite inference would be best drawn from them, 
 especially when compared with others of the same writers. 
 F
 
 66 ST. GERMAN FOUNDS A MONASTERY. 
 
 Monasticism was introduced into the West in the 
 following manner. In 340, St. Athanasius, during 
 the troubles occasioned by the Arians, came to Rome, 
 and there made known the practices of Antony and 
 other P^gyptian monks. ^ Convents were established 
 forthwith in that city. St. Eusebius, of Vercelli, car- 
 ried out the same plan in other parts of Italy, and soon 
 after Milan followed the example.- Hence St. Martin 
 issued to found a monastery at Toui's, as we have seen. 
 Two thousand persons in process of time are said to 
 have congregated under his discipline.-' But no fixed 
 rule such as afterwards was instituted, determined all 
 their actions. Sulpitius Severus, the' biograplier of 
 St. Martin, describes their habits after tliis manner :■* 
 " St. Martin made himself a monastery about two miles 
 out of the city. So secret and retired was the place, 
 that he did not miss the solitude of the desert. On one 
 side it was bounded by the high and precipitous rock 
 of a mountain, on the other the level was shut in by the 
 river Loii-e, which makes a gentle bend. There was 
 but one way into it, and that very narrow. His own 
 cell was of wood. Many of the bretliren made tliem- 
 selves dwellings of the same kind, but most hollowed 
 out the stone of the mountain which was above them. 
 There were eighty scholars (at that time) who were 
 under training after the pattern of tlieir saintly master. 
 No one had aught his own ; all things were thrown 
 into a common stock. It was not lawful as to most 
 
 ' See Giesler. Church Hist. Monastic System. 
 
 '- Mabillon Acta, S. S. Ord. Bon. Prccfat. § 7. 
 
 ' He'liot. Discours prelim, and torn. v. p. 61. 
 ■» Vid. Transl. Church of the Fathers, and compare the origi- 
 nal. Ed. Octav. Lugd. p. 498, 500, 517, 51G, 541, 551, 566; 
 the whole of the first dialogue.
 
 ST. GERMAN FOUNDS A MONASTERY. 67 
 
 monks to buy or sell any thing. They had no art 
 except that of transcribing, which was assigned to the 
 younger ; the older gave themselves up to prayer. 
 They seldom left their cell, except to attend the place 
 of prayer. They took their meal together after the 
 time of fasting. No one tasted wine except compelled 
 by bodily weakness. Most of them were clad in cam- 
 el's hair ;^ a softer garment was a crime, and what of 
 course makes it more remarkable is, that many of them 
 were accounted noble, who, after a very different edu- 
 cation, had forced themselves to this humility and 
 patience, and we have lived to see a great many of 
 them BisJiojys."^ 
 
 There was indeed much in this institution which 
 would influence the feelings of German, but it was 
 as yet too indefinite to be used as a model for his 
 own, and something more to the purpose had been 
 introduced in Ms time by Cassian, from which Mar- 
 moutier itself may afterwards have borrowed. Cas- 
 sian, according to some, was a Scythian by birth ; 
 but more probably he was a native of Provence, in 
 France. In his early youth he went to Palestine, and 
 then became a monk, at Bethlehem. After this, with 
 one companion, he visited the deserts of Egypt, and 
 familiarised himself with the habits of the chief orders 
 of solitaries.' He then went to Constantinople, was 
 ordained deacon by St. Chrysostom, and passing tlu-ough 
 Rome, came into France, and stopped at Marseilles, 
 where he received the Priesthood and built a monastery 
 in honour of St. Peter and St. Victor the Martyi-. This 
 
 " See the print in Heliot, torn. i. p. 160. 
 - Sacerdotes. Tiiat this is the sense of the word in the Fa- 
 thers of the fourth and fifth centuries, see Ducange ad vocem. 
 ■■' He'liot, torn. v. p. 154. Fleury Hist. Eccl. Lib. xxiv.
 
 68 ST. GER3IAN FOUNDS A MONASTERY. 
 
 was in 409. lie also founded a convent for women. 
 He introduced the customs of the P>gyptian monks ; 
 and his rule, which he explained in his books concern- 
 ing monastic institutions, became the chief pattern 
 in France till the reform of St. Benedict. The most 
 famous monastery of all, namely, that of Lerins, which 
 St. Honoratus founded a year after that of St. Victor, 
 in 410, certainly borrowed many of its regulations 
 from Cassian, who began to write about 420. And 
 with this establishment German would have been well 
 acquainted from a variety of sources, among which was 
 his intimacy with St. Hilary of Aries, who had been 
 Abbot of Lerins, and St. Lupus of Troyes, once a monk 
 of the same place, and the brother of the famous Vin- 
 centius Lirinensis. 
 
 Although the works of Cassian convey the most defi- 
 nite idea to be obtained of the rise of Monasticism in 
 Gaul, yet the introduction of Egyptian customs there 
 described naturally was attended with some changes, 
 owing to the climate and different education of the 
 natives. Moreover it is tlie remark of the writer 
 himself, that no uniform plan was carried out in 
 any country, and that there were nearly as many 
 forms and rules as there were cells and monasteries. 
 And such was the state of things till St. Benedict, 
 in the sixth century, brought in a more perfect code. 
 Till then, the superior's will was sometimes the 
 law ; sometimes custom and tradition authorized any 
 particular form ; again sometimes a few statutes were 
 written. The unanimity and consent of the monks 
 was the i)ledge of their obedience and conformity, 
 as perhaps would be the case were the monastic sys- 
 tem reviving in our own country. There was, so to 
 say, but one order of monks at the time, all subjected
 
 ST. GERMAN FOUNDS A MONASTERY. 69 
 
 to one main law, renunciation of the world, and ascetic 
 life. Nevertheless a type existed of all the institutions 
 of the fourth and fifth centuries ; namely, the Egyptian 
 coenobites. St. Basil adopted their usages in Asia 
 Minor, St. Athanasius brought them into repute in 
 Italy, and Cassian established them in Gaul. The prin- 
 cipal alterations which were here made regarded the 
 food and clothing of the Western monks. The natives 
 of Gaul could not content themselves with the very 
 scanty allowance of the Egyptians, nor could they en- 
 dure the cold of a noi'theru climate without additional 
 covering. 1 "We cannot, said Cassian, be content with 
 simple socks, and with one tunic, on account of the 
 severity of the winter, and so small a hood as the 
 Egyj)tians wear, would provoke laughter rather than 
 edify the people." Moreover, the practice of manual 
 labour was frequently laid aside, and reading and 
 writing substituted. Thus, under St. Martin, the 
 monks had been taught to transcribe books. Lerins it 
 is well known was the seat of learning and literary 
 occupations. Another deviation not to be overlooked, 
 was the use recommended by Cassian of daily prayers 
 in common, after the example of some monks in Pales- 
 tine. For whereas the Egyptians only assembled for 
 nocturns and vespers, other eastern monks observed 
 the hours also of tierce, sext, and nones. ^ 
 
 It would exceed the limits of these pages to enter 
 into any further details concerning the customs of these 
 religiovis institutions. The spirit however which pre- 
 sided over them may be in part understood by the fol- 
 
 • The saying was : " Edacitas in Graecis gula est, in Gallls 
 natura." Sulp. Sever. 
 
 - Fleury Hist. Eccl. Lib. xxiv.
 
 70 ST. GERMAN FOUNDS A MONASTERY. 
 
 lowing sketch of the Egyptians extracted from Cassian's 
 works. ^ " They came together, he says, to pray at even- 
 ing and night, and each time recited twelve psalms, 
 according to the instructions given, as they believed, to 
 their forefathers, by an angel who came and sang eleven 
 psalms among them, with a prayer after each, and tlien 
 added a twelfth, with a hallelujah, after which he disap- 
 peared. They read also two lessons, one out of the Old 
 Testament, and one out of the New ; except on Satur- 
 days, Sundays, and the Easter season, at which times 
 tliey only read the New Testament, at one lesson the 
 Epistles or the Acts, at the other the Gospels. After 
 each Psalm, they prayed standing, with their hands ex- 
 tended, then prostrated tliemselves for an instant, and 
 arose immediately for fear of falling asleep, copying the 
 motions of him who directed the prayers. A j)rofound 
 silence reigned in the assembly however large it might 
 be. One voice alone was heard, namely, that of the 
 Chanter who recited the Psalm, or of the Priest who 
 said the Prayer. The Chanter stood upright ; the rest 
 were seated on low stools, because their fasting and 
 labour rendered them unfit for a standing posture. If 
 the Psalms were long, they divided them, desirous not 
 to recite much and rapidly, but to pay great attention. 
 The signal for prayer was given by a liorn, and one was 
 appointed to awake tlie brethren for tlie nightly prayer. 
 On Saturdays and Sundays they assembled at nine in 
 the morning for the Holy Communion."^ 
 
 ' See Fleury Hist. Eccl. Lib. xx., and more at length, Cellier 
 Aut. Eccl. torn. xiii. 
 
 - It does not appear that Saturday was ever kept up in the 
 West, as it was in the East, with that reverence which the Jew- 
 ish Sabbath had taught the Eastern nation.
 
 ST. GERMAN AND ST. IVIAJMERTINUS. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 St German and St. Mamertinus. 
 
 One clay, as German was coming out at the door of 
 the monastery he had founded, he was met by a young 
 man who had lost the sight of one of his eyes and the 
 use of an arm. The young man, on perceiving him, 
 fell down at his feet and did obeisance.^ German had 
 been apprized by divine communication of the visit, 
 and when the stranger earnestly entreated his assist- 
 ance, he answered, " Be not afraid, but have confi- 
 dence," and stretching out his hand, raised the suppli- 
 ant and kissed him on the chin. But the stranger 
 drew back, exclaiming, " Far be it from thee, man of 
 God ; my lips as yet are not purified from the em- 
 brace of the devil's altars." " Nay," returned German, 
 " I am assured that this very night thou hast been 
 pm-ged from this pollution." The Bishop then took 
 him by the hand, and led him through the monastery 
 into the cell which he had reserved for himself, when- 
 ever he came to the place. ^ He there made him sit 
 down, and questioned him on the cause of his arrival. 
 Not satisfied with the account he received, he rebuked 
 the young man for concealing some important circum- 
 stance, adding that he had been acquainted already 
 with every thing. He afterwards conducted him to 
 the town of Auxerre, and entered the church, where 
 the clergy and a number of laymen were assembled. 
 
 ' Quem procidens in terram adoravi." — Const. 
 " See Hericus de Mir. 22.
 
 72 ST. GERMAN AND ST. MAMERTINUS. 
 
 In the hearing of all, he then desired the stranger to give 
 a complete ^'elation of all that had happened to him. 
 Whereupon the young man, who perceived nothing 
 could be concealed, addressed the multitude in the 
 following manner : — ^ 
 
 " My name is Mamertinus : I was a servant of Idols, 
 and an ardent worshipper of Jupiter and tlie rest of the 
 false gods, insomuch that it was with difficulty I could 
 be dragged away from their images. On one occasion, 
 while I was paying my wretched veneration to their 
 statues, suddenly I lost the sight of one of my eyes, 
 and one of my hands Avithered up. Supposing I had 
 incurred their displeasure by some transgression, I 
 poured forth abundant tears of penitence, and implored 
 their foi'giveness. As I was one day returning to the 
 temple of the gods to repeat my lamentations, I was 
 met by one Sabinus, who was clad in the habit of a 
 monk, and wore the tonsure. After we had exchanged 
 some words, he asked the cause of my affliction, and 
 the religion I professed. " The religion of Jupiter, 
 Mercuiy, and Apollo and the other gods," was my 
 answer, " and I am hastening to obtain absolution and 
 soundness of body at their altars." " You err," replied 
 Sabinus, " because you know not the truth, and this is 
 the real cause of your sufferings. Had those gods 
 whom you worship any knowledge and understanding, 
 they would not remain blind, dumb, deaf, void of 
 smelling, motionless, mutilated, or bound with iron and 
 lead, as we see them. Of them does the Holy >Scrip- 
 ture speak when it says, ^ ' They have mouths and speak 
 
 ' Mamertinus published the account himself, and it is inserted 
 in Constantius's Life of St. German. 
 - Ps. 1 15.
 
 ST. GERMAN AND ST. MAJIEKTINUS. 73 
 
 not ; eyes have they and see not ; they have ears and 
 hear not ; noses have they and smell not.' And with 
 regard to their worshippers, the same Psalmist pro- 
 ceeds to say, ' They that make them are like unto 
 them, and so are all such as put their trust in them.' 
 Consider the punishment prepared for worshipjiers of 
 statues, and then apply it to yourself. If yoix would 
 recover your sight and touch, follow my injunctions. 
 In the Church of Auxerre there is a man of eminent 
 holiness, called German, (whose minister I am among 
 the clergy.) Christ manifests himself to him as it 
 were face to face, and the most wonderful cvu'es are 
 performed by him. Leave your idols, and go seek him 
 there." 
 
 " I thanked Sabinus and desired him to direct me to 
 the Bishop he thus commended. Pleased at my readi- 
 ness he guided me to an elevation called Mons Mato- 
 genes, and thence showed me my road in the plain be- 
 neath. When he had left me I proceeded with some 
 alacrity. And though the rain had not ceased to fall 
 from sun-rise to sun-set, and my garments were 
 soaked, nevertheless I continued boldly my journey. 
 About five o'clock, however, as the night was drawing 
 on, the rain increased with such violence, and the dark- 
 ness became so profound, that I was unable to discern 
 my way. It was with difiiculty I arrived at the Ceme- 
 tery. ^ The rain fell in torrents and repeated lightnings 
 rent the clouds. I was in great anxiety to find a place 
 of refuge. At last, by the constant glare of the light- 
 ning, I discerned a small cell in which there Avas a 
 tomb. Having entered, and finding nothing else to rest 
 myself upon, I laid me down on the tomb itself, igno- 
 
 ' The Mons Autricus mentioned before.
 
 74 ST. GER5L4-X AND ST. !VLA.MERTINUS. 
 
 rant of the remains it covered. Hardly had I entered, 
 when a sudden light, equal to that of the day, shone 
 through the cell. Not curious about the cause of it, I 
 placed my little basket under my head, my staff at my 
 side, and fell fast asleep. 
 
 " The thunder awoke me soon after, and lo ! I be- 
 held at the entrance of the cell a young man in white 
 and glittering garments. Struck with awe at the ap- 
 pai'ition, I turned myself round and lay flat upon the 
 tomb. Prompted by fear, I gave vent to this prayer : 
 " O God of the Christians, whom German doth serve 
 in holiness, and who hast granted him that virtue which 
 I am about to seek, deliver me from the tb-ead which 
 has seized my mind." While I thus prayed, the young 
 man at the door exclaimed in a voice full of the sweetest 
 melody : " Holy Corcodemus, holy Corcodemus, Levite 
 of Chi'ist."^ When he had uttered these words, an an- 
 swer came from the tomb : " I know who thou art, and 
 hear thy voice ; tell me, I pray thee, brother Florenti- 
 nus, what wilt thou with me ?" Florentinus replied : 
 "Rise up quickly. The blessed Bishop Peregrine, ^ 
 with the rest of his company, are assembled in the 
 Church to j^erform their vigils. St. Amator desires 
 thou wilt also come to their meeting." " Nay, beloved 
 brother, returned Corcodemus, return to the blessed 
 Bishop and give him this message : I am not able to 
 leave this cell to-night, because I am entertaining a 
 stranger ; there is a nest of savage animals about the 
 place who are only waiting for my departure to devour 
 
 ' The Levitcs under the Judaic Law being inferior to the 
 Priests, the term would apply to the Deacons under the Chris- 
 tian Dispensation. 
 
 * Peregrine the first Bishop of Auxerre. See above.
 
 ST. GERMAN AND ST, aiA3IERTINUS. / 
 
 him. May God not deprive me of the benefit of your 
 nightly office. There are two Sub-deacons, ^ my fellows, 
 besides me, Alexander and Jovian, and Jovinianus is 
 Lector. Report this, I pray thee, to the holy Bishops." 
 " The young man then retired. The mysterious na- 
 ture of their discourse made my blood run cold. Sleep, 
 however, soon regained my wearied limbs. Sometime 
 before daybreak, I thought I again saw the young man 
 at the entrance of the ceU. He called to Corcodemus, 
 saying : " The holy Bishops, Peregrine and Amator, 
 before they separate, intend to celebrate a Votive Mass, "^ 
 and have sent me to invite thee to come and fulfil thy 
 appointed ministry.^ If thou art anxious for thy guest's 
 safety, Alexander can relieve thee. But they request 
 thee to bring Jovian the sub-deacon, and Jovinian the 
 Lector." After this, the tomb opened, and there came 
 forth a man of beautiful appearance clad in garments 
 of the whitest wool. He lelt the cell and found at the 
 door three others di-essed iia white, whom he saluted 
 and called by their respective names. Then he ad- 
 dressed Alexander : " Peregrine and Amator have 
 commanded me to go to them, do thou preside in this 
 cell to guard the stranger from the savage reptile, with 
 her crew of seven." 
 
 ' Hence it appears that the Sub-deacons were a proper sub- 
 stitute for the Deacons at ordinary offices. But for the Mass, 
 it was necessary the Deacon should be present, as is shown a 
 little below. 
 
 - i. e. " The Eucharist performed out of the usual time by 
 voluntary impulse — See Ducange ad vocem. One might con- 
 jecture it originated in the expression of our Lord : " With de- 
 sire I have desired to eat this supper with you." 
 
 ^ Corcodemus had been Deacon in his lifetime, as was before 
 shown.
 
 76 ST. GEmiAN AXD ST. MAMERTINUS. 
 
 " Afterwards I tliouglit in my vision that tlie blessed 
 Deacon took me by the hand, saying, " Come tliou also, 
 stranger, to the Mass." "We then went together to the 
 Chui'ch, Avhere I beheld around the altar five persons 
 standing, dressed in splendid robes. I asked Corcode- 
 mus the names of those who ministered at the altar. 
 He answered : " He that is standing in the middle is 
 the Bishop and Martyr, St. Peregrine,^ with whom I 
 myself was sent from Rome by command of Pope Six- 
 tus.*^ The tAvo jjersons at his right hand are Amator 
 and Marcellianus, both Bishops, and those at his left 
 EUadius and Valerianus, all Avliich succeeded St. Pere- 
 grine in their tui'n."^ The Deacon then left me and ad- 
 vanced towards them. Then I thought I heard St. 
 Amator speak to the Deacon, saying :* " Enjoin silence. 
 Brother, that undisturbed we may perform our office, 
 for our brother Peregrine is in haste to return to 
 Baugy,^ and on his account we must celebrate the 
 Sacrifice somewhat earlier.^ 
 
 " Silence was then proclaimed and the Catechumens' 
 Dismissal announced. In the mean while I remained 
 in secret awe at the novelty of the mystery. Not daring 
 to advance to the place where the Mass Avas celebrated, 
 I stood where the Deacon had left me. Then St. Pere- 
 
 ' See a previous chapter. 
 
 - Sixtus II. in the middle of the third century. Vid. Supra. 
 
 * Hence it appears the middle of the altar was the chief place, 
 it is here assigned to the Founder. 
 
 ■• It was usual for one of the minor clergy, before the service 
 of the Eucharist, to order the Catechumens to retire, as they 
 were not allowed to be present at the mysteries. Stilling. 229. 
 
 ^ Or Boiiy, in Burgundy, where Peregrine had been buried. 
 See Chap. III. 
 
 " " Consummare Sacrificium."
 
 ST. GERMAX AND ST. 3L43IERTIXUS. 77 
 
 grine questioned Corcodemus about me. " He is my 
 guest, said the Deacon, in order to protect him I re- 
 frained from attending upon you before." After thislwas 
 brought up into their presence. My whole appearance 
 was difterent from theirs : they were dressed in white 
 robes and I was in black. While I was musing on this dif- 
 ference, a voice addi-essed by one of the bishops to Cor- 
 codemus, resounded in my ears. " Separate the stran- 
 ger from our assembly, and drive him from the Church ; 
 he is unworthy to participate in this ordinance of grace, 
 for he is a servant of idols." The Deacon was sroinsr 
 to obey, when I fell at his feet and used these en- 
 treaties : " I pray thee, friend of God, to intercede for 
 me with the Bishops, that they may have pity on me 
 and break asunder the bonds of demons which shackle 
 me." I was then presented to them, and Corcodemus 
 received orders to place his hand upon my head. ' After 
 a second Imposition of hands from the Deacon, the Pre- 
 lates instructed me in the duties of my condition and the 
 ceremonies which I might assist at. Then they enjoined 
 my guide to conduct me back to his cell and send me 
 at day -break to German, whose office it was to impart 
 spiritual grace to me. We then retired. 
 
 " Before we entei-ed the cell, I thought I fell down 
 at the feet of the Deacon, and desired him to tell me 
 how many years had passed since he came to rest in it. 
 "After the martyrdom of the blessed Peregrine, ^ on 
 
 ■ The Catechumens were not blessed by the Bishop but by 
 the Deacon, Confirmation being a subsequent ordinance for the 
 baptized — Conf. Newman's Arians, p. 49. 
 
 = St. Peregrine's martyrdom was May 16, during the persecu- 
 tion of Diocletian. Some, however, place it under the Decian 
 persecution, nearly fifty years before, erroneously as it appears 
 from Tillemont, torn. iv. Mem. p. 481.
 
 78 ST, GERMAN AND ST. MAMERTINUS. 
 
 tlae third day of the same month, but not till some 
 years had elapsed, did I leave this world to meet the 
 Lord. I and my brothers had wislied to be partakers 
 of his sufferings, inasmuch as we had been entrusted 
 with the same Commission.^ But not long after an 
 Emperor was created,'* distinguished for his Christian 
 profession, who put an end to the persecution, opened 
 again all the Churches, and appointed orthodox Bishops. 
 We thus failed in our desires. My companions were 
 Marsus the presbyter, Alexander and Jovian. Here 
 they buried me. They afterwards, as I learnt by divine 
 intimation,^ died as Confessors of the Faith. Jovinian, 
 however, the Lector, by God's permission, obtained the 
 crown of Martyrdom."* 
 
 " All these things seemed to take place in my sleep. 
 On my awaking, immediately the cock crew.^ Re- 
 membering the circumstances of the vision, I made the 
 Sign of the Cross on my forehead, as I had been in- 
 structed, and lying prostrate on the sepulchre, prayed 
 in this manner with tears in my eyes : " O Lord God 
 of Israel, Avho dwellest on high and beholdest all things 
 below, and considerest from afar great things ; beside 
 whom there is no God ;^ thou who didst visit this 
 
 ' Of converting Gaul. See Chap. III. 
 -' Constantino the Great. 
 ^ Comp. August. " de Cura pro mortuis gerenda." 
 ■* Concerning these Saints, the most accurate account is to 
 be found in Tiliemont, Mem. vol. iv. p. 480. 
 
 '^ The crowing of the cock is an incident which is mentioned 
 significantly by writers of this period, as bearing a mystical ref- 
 erence to repentance. 
 
 f These Biblical expressions are probably the colouring of 
 Mamertinc after his conversion ; or he may have been instructed 
 in the doctrines of Christianity before that event. Vid. Bolland. 
 ad locum Const.
 
 ST. GER3IAN AND ST. MAMERTINUS. 79 
 
 earth to recover the human race, and didst abide among 
 men ; by whose merciful direction I this niglit, unwor- 
 thy as I am, have learnt the secret of my salvation : 
 grant that I may without delay be brought into the 
 presence of German, towards whom I have been so far 
 guided." I then rose up, and turned my eyes towards 
 the Basilica, ^ where I beheld a large light which spread 
 within and around it. At the same time a voice issued 
 in chants and hymns. I stopped to listen. The strain 
 which first broke on my ears was : " Let them all be 
 confounded that adore carved images and glory in their 
 idols." The next was : " Save thy servant, O God, 
 Vvho trusteth in thee." The third, " Blessed are they 
 "whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are cov- 
 ered."^ On hearing this, I prostrated myself seven 
 times on the tomb and prayed : " O God of the holy 
 Corcodemus, receive him that hasteneth to Thee, and 
 disappoint me not in my hope ; by Thy care and favour 
 have I been brought to this place, where I have learnt 
 the error of my ways." I rose again and turned to- 
 wards the Church, when, lo ! another strain suited to 
 my wants : " The Lord hear thee in the day of tribu- 
 lation, the name of the God of Jacob defend thee." 
 Strengthened by these sounds, I fell down a thii'd time 
 in prayer ; on rising, I found the light had disappeared. 
 I had learnt the mysterious virtue of the Sign of the 
 Cross, which I repeated on my forehead. At last the 
 day returned, and having again crossed myself several 
 times, and given thanks to my saintly host, I hastened 
 
 ' The Church built by Amator at the spot where the house 
 of Ruptilius stood. See Ch. ili. 
 
 - These were, the Antiphons sung at the end of the Psalms, 
 probably.
 
 80 ST. GERMAN AND ST. JIAMERTINUS. 
 
 to find my future guide and director. I enquired where 
 Bishop German lived, and Avas told that to-day he 
 was not in the town, but at a Monastery which he 
 visited very often by passing the river in a little boat. 
 I then asked the Avay to it, and proceeded thither ; 
 having stopped a little at the entrance, suddenly the 
 Bishop came out, who, to my astonishment, was ac- 
 quainted with my vision, and reproached me with en- 
 deavouring to conceal the circumstance of the serpents 
 which lay in wait for me at the sepulchre." 
 
 When Mamertinus had finished his account, the 
 whole assembly were filled with joy, and blessed God, 
 saying : " Thanks be to Thee, O God, because Thou 
 had foreordained this vessel of election for Thyself be- 
 fore the foundation of the world, in order to manifest 
 in him the greatness of Thy power to all and Avithout 
 end." The Bishop then led him to the place where 
 Remission of Sins was granted, ^ and having blessed the 
 water as the custom of the Church was, he baptized 
 him according to the usual rites. Mamertinus then 
 addressed German : " My Lord, he said, inasmuch as 
 you have healed me in my inmost soul, restore, I pray 
 you, the members of my body, give me back my sight 
 and my hand." German answered, " Dost thou believe 
 that I can perform this for thee ?" " I do believe, and 
 for this purpose do I seek your assistance." German 
 then took oil, and having made the Sign of the Cross on 
 the eye and hand of Mamertinus, restored them to their 
 former condition. The people immediately began to 
 praise God for the works lie accomplished through His 
 servant. 
 
 ' The Baptistery was often in ancient times separate from the 
 Church, as is shown by the plan in Bingham, (quod vide.)
 
 ST. GERMAN AKD ST. JIAMERTINUS. 81 
 
 Gei'man tlien desired them to accompany him to 
 the place where Mamertinus had lodged, to look for 
 the serpent and her crew. When they arrived at the 
 spot, prayer was offered up, and Mamertinus showed 
 the cell and the tomb where he had had the vision. 
 The Bishop ordered the stone to be removed ; eight 
 serpents were found under it, one of which exceeded 
 the rest in size. This was the mother. She raised her 
 head and stared upon all, but especially German. 
 " Thou wicked serpent, said he, dost thou still cleave 
 to the heel of the human race, and dost thou dare after 
 thy crime and defeat,^ stretch thy folds over the limbs 
 of the venerable Deacon Corcodemus ? As the Lord 
 liveth, thou deservest death with all thy tribe. But 
 since thou hast obeyed the Deacon, and hast not injured 
 his guest, depart untouched and avoid henceforth the 
 abode of man. Let the forest and desert be thy dwell- 
 ing, do hurt to no one on thy way. Not I, but Christ, 
 through me, charges thee." The sei-pent forthwith, 
 says the writer of these facts, as if burdened with the 
 mass of her iniquities, bowed the head and unfolding 
 her long back, departed, and was followed by the rest. 
 On seeing the vast size of the beast, all fled in terror ; 
 German however remained motionless, and reproved 
 them for their want of faith. The serpent, we are in- 
 formed, was seven cubits in length. 
 
 After this, the chapel of the blessed Deacon Cor'-o- 
 demus, which from the thickness of the briars had 
 been known to none, became the resort of all devout 
 
 ' Prsevaricatio and Devictio. The latter word is found in 
 Tertullian for "victory." Possibly Devinctio may here be the 
 proper reading, i. e. "binding," Satan being bound by the tri- 
 umph of the Cross. See Forcellinus ad vocem. 
 
 G
 
 82 ST. GERMAN AND ST. MA3IERTINUS. 
 
 persons, who studiously carried thither their voluntary 
 offerings of piety. ^ 
 
 Mamertinus gave himself up to the monastery of 
 German with such ardour that he never left its en- 
 closiire without command of his Bishop or his religious 
 brethren. His holy life and divine knowledge became 
 so conspicuous, that on tlie death of Alodius,^ the first 
 Abbot, he was aj^pointed to take his place, and gov- 
 erned the monastery till about 468. He died near that 
 time on the 21st of April. 
 
 The days on which the memory of the Saints men- 
 tioned in this chapter are honoured at Auxerre, are as 
 follows, according to the ^lartyrology of that town, 
 published in 1751.^ Peregrine, on the 16th May ; 
 Marcellianus, 13th May ; Eladius, or Helladius, 8th 
 May ; Valerianus, or Valerius, 7th INIay ; Amator, 2nd 
 May ; Corcodemus the Deacon, ISth May ; Floren- 
 tinus, 27th Sept. ; Alexander the Sub-deacon, 4th 
 Feb. ; Jovinianus the Lector, 5th May ; Jovianus the 
 Sub-deacon, not known ; Alodius, 28th Sept. ; Mamer- 
 tinus, 21st April. 
 
 ' Culturam promeruit. Cellulae votivara gerentcs devotionem. 
 
 - Alodius is the name in the Martyrol. Antissiodorense, not 
 Alogius. It is uncertain whether Alodius or Alogius was the 
 same as the Bishop of Auxerre of that name. 
 
 3 See Tillemont, torn. iv. 480, &c., with respect to the chro- 
 nology and acts of these Saints. See also Is'otes to Const, by 
 Boschius, Bollandist.
 
 German's first miracles. 83 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 German's First Miracles. 
 
 We have just seen that Mamertinus recovered the 
 use of his sight and touch, by the instrumentality of 
 German ; the following pages will record a series of 
 miracles, which finished only with his death, and 
 among which some were of the most astonishing 
 nature. It has been remarked that ecclesiastical mira- 
 cles are of a character very tliifereut from that of 
 Scripture miracles ; alloAving the truth of the remark, 
 still it seems more applicable to the four first centuries 
 of the Chnrch than to the fifth ; and again, to public 
 miracles, which affect the Church in general, than to 
 those which rather regard individuals. The miracles 
 of German, as wiU be observed, bear in many cases a 
 strong resemblance to those of our Lord and His Apos- 
 tles. They are not less striking in the power they 
 evince, the effects they produce, or the publicity with 
 which they were performed. If the consciousness of 
 the agent be a prominent feature in the miracles of 
 Scripture, it is not less so in those of German and 
 others of the same period. Of course this conscious- 
 ness rested, as in the Apostles' case, not on any feelings 
 of self-sufl[iciency, but on faith in Christ's merits and 
 power. Thus we have seen that German sometimes 
 thought it right to declare that, " Not he liimself, but 
 Clu-ist through him, gave the charge."^ Among the 
 earliest of liis miracles is the following : — 
 
 ' See last Chapter.
 
 84 GERMAJJ'S FIRST MIRACLES. 
 
 There was ^ man of a highly respectable character 
 called Januarius. When the governor of the province 
 made his round of visits, Januarius had to collect the 
 tax-money, and carry it to the treasury. Prompted 
 once by the vicinity of Auxerre, he deviated a little 
 from his straight course to see German. In the mean- 
 while, he lost the tax-bag. It happened that a man 
 afflicted with an evil spirit had found it, and absconded 
 with it. Januarius, upon discovering his loss, was 
 thrown into great alarm, and filled the town with his 
 enquiries. When all failed, he ventured to require 
 the restitution at the hands of the Bishop, as if he had 
 committed the bag to him. Others would have re- 
 ceived the charge with contempt. But German sub- 
 mitted at once to the responsibility, and promised in 
 God's name to restore the money. It was the Sabbath 
 day ; that is, Saturday. German caused the town to 
 be searched with the greatest diligence, but in vain. 
 Three days elapsed — no clue appeared. The tax-gath- 
 erer, in tears, pleaded the punishment of death which 
 impended over him. German exhorted him to patience 
 and confidence. Thereupon, he ordered one of those 
 who were possessed with devils to be brought to him. 
 By a strange coincidence, the author of the theft was 
 the first introduced. German examined and questioned 
 him closely, told liim that the crime, (whoever had com- 
 mitted it,) could not remain concealed, and adjured the 
 enemy of mankind to disclose the fact. No confession 
 could be extorted as yet. The Bishop then left his 
 house, and proceeded to the church, to celebrate Mass. ^ 
 
 ' This would be on Tuesday, if it was three days after Satur- 
 day. In fact, every day this office seems to have been per- 
 formed.
 
 German's first miracles. 85 
 
 After he had entered, accompanied by the multitude, 
 he gave the usual solemn salutation ^ to the congrega- 
 tion, and fell prostrate to the ground. While he was 
 praying, the prisoner of Satan, who had been brought 
 to the Church, was seen to be raised in the air above 
 the people, and enveloped in a blaze of fire. His cries 
 filled the place, and spread consternation among all. 
 Suddenly, with a loud voice, he called out the name of 
 German, and made public confession of his theft. The 
 Bishop then rose from prayer, advanced to the head of 
 the steps leading to the altar, ^ and evoked the evil 
 spirit. The bag of money was discovered buried in 
 the ground. The acclamations of the multitude were 
 loud in German's honour, and the report of the action 
 spread rapidly. The afflicted man forthwith recovered 
 the soundness of his mind. 
 
 Not long after, a malignant fever infected the town 
 of Auxerre. Its results were imputed, from their vio- 
 lence, to supernatural influence. Children fell the 
 first victims : the glands of their throats unexpectedly 
 swelled, and they were carried olf within three days. 
 The malady then attacked every one else, with a ra- 
 pidity and severity which was compared to the sword 
 of an avenging enemy. Medical resources Avere ex- 
 hausted. At last, in desj^air, the people fled to divine 
 assistance, and sought the intercession of German. 
 He immediately took some oil, blessed it, and had all 
 the sick touched with it. Its efficacy proved instanta- 
 neous ; the symptoms of the disease disappeared, and 
 the city was at once delivered from all danger. It 
 appeared, says the Avriter of the account, that the evil 
 
 ■ This salutation would be the "Dominus Vobiscum" probably. 
 - Podium is thus explained by Bosch. Boll, ad locum.
 
 86 gerjian's fikst hheacles. 
 
 spirits had been the authors of the fever, for one of 
 the demoniacs out of whom German was evoking the 
 devil, at the moment of his last paroxysm, affirmed 
 that the prayers of the Bishop had prevailed in putting 
 them to flight. The sight of his piety and devoted- 
 ness had provoked their fury to exert itself in torment- 
 ing his flock. 
 
 It was the custom of German to visit, on alternate 
 days, the Church and the Monastery, to superintend 
 the functions of the Clergy on one hand, and of the 
 Monks on the other. One day, he was prevented from 
 going to the Monastery where his presence was desired, 
 and he excused himself on the plea of unavoidable 
 business. He was not, however, detained so long as 
 he expected, and he resumed his pui^pose of visiting 
 the brotherhood, thinking to take them by surprise. 
 It happened that in the meantime, in the Monastery, a 
 man possessed with an evil spirit was tlu'own into one 
 of his fits, in the middle of which he screamed out that 
 German was already at the bank of the river, and 
 could not pass without a boat. The Abbot who had 
 received the refusal of the Bishop, imputed his cries to 
 tlie evil One. But as he continued in the same asser- 
 tions, Alodius, (this was the Abbot's name) sent one 
 of his Monks, who brought back a confirmatory report. 
 A boat was immediately dispatched, and the Bishop 
 passed over and was welcomed by all the brothers. 
 When he was informed of what had passed, he fell 
 down to pray, and the Monks imitated him. AVhile 
 they were in this situation, the same fact occurred as 
 was described above ; the demoniac was suddenly 
 raised into the air and suspended by the invisible 
 chains of Satan, to use the language of the narrator.
 
 German's first imiracles. 87 
 
 When they got up from prayer, German evoked the 
 spirit, and healed the man. 
 
 In the three instances here described, we evidently 
 remark a family likeness. The power of the 'Prince of 
 Darkness over mankind is the prominent feature of 
 them. It is well known that exorcisms in the early 
 Church were of frequent occurrence, and they have 
 been enumerated among the miracles of ecclesiastical 
 times with the avowed contempt of some modern 
 writers. ^ Nor is there any way of procuring credit to 
 them among those who ai-e not strongly impressed with 
 the truth " that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, 
 but against principalities, against powers, against the 
 rulers of darkness of this world, against sjjiritLial wick- 
 edness (or rather ' wicked spirits') in high places ;"^ 
 that is, against the " wiles of the devil." It is a fact, 
 however, Avhich must have weight with serious minds, 
 that few things have been more universally realized in 
 the Chi'istian Avorld for the first fom'teen centuries, 
 than the direct, and so to say, personal agency of the 
 devil. Even the cool and cautious Eusebius speaks of 
 Satan in terms strictly applicable to a visible and living 
 enemy. Li the eleventh century, one of the most dis- 
 tinguished writers'' of his time fills a great part of liis 
 own history with examples of the presence of evil 
 spirits. But these actions of German's were merely 
 the prelude to the greater miracles which he performed 
 subsequently, and which we shall see were more closely 
 parallel with those of our Lord. It would seem they 
 were reserved to the time when he should have re- 
 ceived his Apostolic commission, and when contact 
 
 1 See Douglas, in Essay on Miracles, p. xxxv. 
 - Philipp. vi. 3 Guibertus Novingenti.
 
 88 German's first MraACLES. 
 
 with paganism and heresy should require a more 
 special manifestation of divine power. And upon en- 
 quiry, it will be found perhaps that a great part of 
 those miracles which are considered the most w^onderful, 
 were done by men who had to convert nations, — St. 
 Martin, St. Patrick, St. Palladius, St. German. 
 
 Two more incidents may here be noticed before we 
 proceed to the more important events of German's life. 
 He was once travelling in winter. Oppressed with fa- 
 tigue and the effects of his long fasts, he retired towards 
 the evening with his attendants to a deserted ruin not 
 far from his road. The place was said to be infested 
 wath evil spirits ; and it was conspicuous for its wild 
 and rugged appearance. He was not however hin- 
 dered from taking up his abode there for the night. 
 His followers on arriving began to prepare their sup- 
 per, and sat down to eat. St. Gorman abstained 
 from all food. In the meantime, the Reader^ read 
 aloud some pious work, after the manner introduced 
 into monasteries, and which still is observed in reli- 
 gious houses. As he continued his task, German fell 
 into a deep sleep. Immediately a spectre appeared 
 before the Reader, and a violent sliower of stones 
 beat against the walls of the ruin. The young man 
 alarmed awoke the Bishop, who in the name of 
 Christ adjured the spectre to explain the cause of the 
 visit. The mysterious personage answered, that he, 
 witli another, had formerly been the perpetrator of 
 great crimes, for which after death they had remained 
 unburied, and had been deprived of the rest allowed to 
 other departed spirits. German having ascertained 
 
 ' The Reader or Lector was one of the minor clergy in early 
 times.
 
 German's first miracles. 89 
 
 the spot where the bodies of these wretched men had 
 lain, assembled on the following morning the people of 
 the neighbourhood, and employed them in removing 
 the ruins. After much labour, they found two corpses 
 loaded with iron chains. " Then, we are informed, ac- 
 cording to the Christian custom of burial, a pit was 
 made, the chains taken off, linen garments thrown over- 
 them, and intercession offered up to obtain rest for the 
 departed and peace for the living." Henceforth the spot 
 was again inhabited and grew into a prosperous and 
 flourishing abode. 
 
 During the same journey he retired one evening to 
 the dwelling of some persons of humble condition. 
 Though he could command the attentions of the 
 wealthy and great, yet he often avoided them, and 
 frequented the lower ranks of life. AVhile he was thus 
 lodged, he passed the whole night in prayer, as was his 
 practice after our Lord's example. Day-light broke in, 
 and to his surprise the cock failed to herald in the 
 morning. He asked the reason, and learnt that an ob- 
 stinate taciturnity had succeeded to the usual cry. 
 Pleased at finding an opportunity of rewarding his 
 hosts, German took some wheat, blessed it, and gave it 
 to some of the birds to eat, whereby he restored their 
 natural faculties. A deed of this kind which might 
 have been forgotten by the rich, was likely to remain 
 fixed in the memory of the poor. The appreciation of 
 any action depends generally on the degree of utility 
 which it conveys to different people, and circumstances 
 which ajDpear trivial to some are important to others. 
 Thus could our Lord adapt His wonderful signs to the 
 wants of men, at one time turning water into wine, at 
 another multiplying the loaves, at another taking a fish 
 for a piece of money which it contained.
 
 90 BRITAIN IX 429, A. D. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Britain i?i 42'J, a. d. 
 
 " About this time," says Constantius, " an embassy 
 came from Britain, which informed the Gallican Bish- 
 ops that the Pelagian heresy had widely spread among 
 the Britons ; for which reason, they were requested 
 to give their immediate assistance to the Catholic 
 Faith. Thereupon, a large synod was gathered, and 
 by the judgment of all present, German and Lupus 
 were unanimously entreated to defend the cause, as 
 lights of the Christian Church and bishops of Apos- 
 tolic character, who, though bound to earth by the 
 flesh, dwelt in heaven through their virtues. They, 
 like heroic champions, readily undertook the task, 
 heedless of the labours it involved, and forthwith pro- 
 ceeded to the work." 
 
 In this brief sketch of the causes Avhich occasioned 
 the visit of German to our island, there is much that 
 has exercised the ingenuity of the leai*ned, and still 
 more which requires illustration, to enable the general 
 reader to obtain a definite view of his mission. For 
 the first time, we are here introduced to the people of 
 Britain, in a somewhat abrupt manner. Nor are we 
 accustomed at present to the idea of our nation send- 
 ing for assistance to France ; and interference from 
 abroad in our religious controversies, is the last thing 
 which most men would welcome. Two things neces- 
 sarily demand explanation, — the nature of the Political 
 Union of Britain with the rest of the Roman Empire, 
 and the nature of that Religious Unity which bound
 
 BRITAIN m 429, A. D. 91 
 
 together the difFei-ent parts, including Britain, of 
 Christendom. Both these, it is hoped, will appear, by 
 enquiring as briefly as may be into the state of Britain 
 in the fifth century, the rise and progress of the Pela- 
 gian heresy, and into the circumstances of the Council 
 which Constantius mentions. If the history of this 
 period of our history has been considered uninterest- 
 ing, it is for want of clearness and precision in our 
 popular sources of information. Antiquarian researches 
 are seldom read, and it requires some pat-ience to dis- 
 cern the truth, amid their discordant views. To sup- 
 ply partially the need of this trouble, without preten- 
 sions to original investigation, is the chief object of 
 the following pages. 
 
 Gildas, a writer who flourished not long alter the 
 events here related, tells us that Britain was situated 
 on the other side of the Ocean ;^ — there is nothing in 
 the fact but what we all know ; but it is worth the 
 while observing, that whereas the Atlantic, among the 
 ancients, received the name of Ocean, the Channel 
 which divides England and France was included under 
 that appellation. Amid the devastations which a civi- 
 lized age may be said to have spread thi'oughout this 
 rich country, there is still reason for all to admire its 
 beautiful pastures, its luxuriant woods, and green hills. 
 But in Gildas's time, it should seem that nature and 
 art were tempered in that happy manner, which at 
 once made the land habitable and fertile, while <it left 
 room for the poet or the hermit to indulge their love 
 
 ' " Trans Oceanum." — Gildas Ed. Stevenson, 1838. p. 19. 
 Vid. etiam Bed. Ephemeris Oct. 1. and scriptores astat. passim. 
 Lucan. Pharsal. lib. iv.
 
 92 BRITAIN IN 429, A. D. 
 
 for solitude. ' He tells us tliat by the mouths of the 
 Thames and the SeveiTi, the riches of foreign countries 
 were brought into Britain, and thence spread through the 
 land by many minor streams ; that Britain was adorned 
 with twenty-eight large cities, besides other fortified 
 places ; in all which there was a vast display of strong 
 walls, gates, towers, edifices some of which were 
 equally remarkable for their magnitude and their so- 
 lidity. Another author tells us the names of these 
 twenty-eight cities, and as there are many which the 
 reader may like to recognize, it will not be out of 
 place to give them in the original, as well as the 
 present idiom. It will be remarked the word Cair is 
 applied to all. In the British tongue it signified City ; 
 and as in the Roman lists of towns the word Civitas 
 was prefixed, so it happened with the British word 
 Cair. 
 
 1" Cair Guorthigern (a town in Monmouthshire.) 
 
 2 " Cair Guiuntguic, Norwich in Norfolk, or Winwick in 
 Lancashire. = 
 
 3" Cair Mincip, Verulam, where the Church of St. Alban's 
 was built, and which was a Roman municipal city, according to 
 Tacitus. 
 
 4" Cair Ligualid, Lugubalia, in Latin, Carlisle in Cumber- 
 land. 
 
 5" Cair Meguaid (in Montgomeryshire) called by the 
 Romans ^lediolanum, or Milan. 
 
 6" Cair Colun, Colchester, called by the Romans Colonia. 
 
 7" Cair Ebrauc, this is the famous town of York, which in 
 Latin was Eboracum. 
 
 8" Cair Custoient, that is the town of Constantius.'' " Here, 
 
 ' Gildas, p. 11 et p. 15. Vid. etiam Ranulph. Higden. Hist. 
 Brit. ed. Gale. p. 197. 
 
 - Nennius, p. 62, ed. 1838, Stevenson. Usher. Primord. p. 
 39, ed. 40. Vid. et Antonin. Itinerariam. 
 3 Nennius, p. 20.
 
 BKITAIJSr IN 429, A. D. 93 
 
 says Nennius, Constantius the Emperor (the father probably of 
 Constantine the Great) died ; that is, near the town of Cair 
 Seo'eint, or Custoient, in Carnarvonshire." There was an in- 
 scription in Nennius's time left on his tomb, which bore witness 
 to his death. He had enriched the town greatly, insomuch that 
 there were no poor persons to be found in it. It was called by 
 the Romans Segentium, and also Minmanton. 
 
 9" Cair Caratauc, Salisbury. 
 
 10" Cair Granth, Cambridye, (in Gloucestershire, thinks 
 Usher, though others believe it to be the more famous Cam- 
 bridge.) 
 
 11" Cair Maranguid, called in Latin Mancunium, Man- 
 chester. 
 
 12" Cair Lundein, London, (Londinum) the metropolis of 
 the kingdom. 
 
 13" Cair Ceint, Canterbury (Cantuaria.) 
 
 14° Cair Guiragon, Worcester (Vignornia.) 
 
 15" Cair Peris, Forchester. 
 
 16" Cair Danu, called in Latin Danus, Doncaster. 
 
 17" Cair Legion, civitas Legiouum, Chester. 
 
 18° Cair Guricon, Warwick. 
 
 19° Cair Segeint, Silchester, near Reading in Berkshire, on 
 the Thames. 
 
 20" Cair I>egion guar Usic, Cair Leon, on the Usk, in Latin 
 Urbs Legionis ad Iscam. 
 
 21° Cair Guent, Winchester, called by the Romans Venta 
 Belgarum, (afterwards Wintonia.) 
 
 22" Cair Brithon, Bristol. 
 
 23° Cair Lerion, Leicester. 
 
 24" Cair Draitou, Drayton in Shropshire. 
 
 23° Cair Pensa vel Coyt, Exeter. 
 
 26° Cair Urnac, Wroxeter in Shropshire, called by the 
 Romans Uriconium. 
 
 27" Cair Celemion, in Somersetshire, Cumalet. 
 
 28" Cair Luit Coyt, Lincoln. 
 
 But these twenty-eight cities were by no means all 
 that could pretend to the rank of towns ; tliey were
 
 94 BRITAIN IN 429, A. D. 
 
 probably the principal. Gibbon affirms,^ with appa- 
 rent truth, that there were ninety-two considerable 
 towns in Britain which had arisen under the protection 
 of the Romans, thirty-three of which were distin- 
 guished above the rest by superior privileges. And 
 in fact, Nennius esteemed the minor towns to be count- 
 less,^ and Bede speaks of twenty strong towns added 
 by Vespasian in one campaign to the rest of the Eoman 
 possessions, which implies that there were many be- 
 sides ; and we have the testimony of Gildas himself, a 
 contemporary, to an important town not mentioned in 
 the list given, namely Bath, which sustained a memo- 
 rable siege. On the other hand, while these cities 
 spread affluence around and encouraged the progress of 
 civilization, there were not wanting vast ranges of 
 uncultivated ground and woodland, with all the beauty 
 which nature alone can confer. It is almost proverbial 
 that ancient Britain was covered with forests, and the 
 easy growth of trees in this climate would confirm the 
 saying. AVith all the limitations then wliich the causes 
 of wealth assigned necessarily require, it is not difficult 
 to enter into the spirit of Gildas when he tells us, 
 " that Britain was also decorated with broad meadows 
 and plains, liills remarkable for their pleasant sites, and 
 adapted to the highest culture, mountains affording 
 ample pastures to all kinds of cattle, upon which 
 flowers grew of all colours, so as to present a rich pic- 
 ture to the traveller, who might think he beheld a 
 bride adorned with nuptial necklaces and bracelets. 
 
 ' Vol. iv. p. 131. He quotes Richard of Cirencester. De 
 Situ. Brit. p. 36. 
 
 -' " Innumera,"Nenn. p. 6 — " Oppida," Bede de sex. Aetat. 
 4033 Ann. — " Badonicus mons." Gildas, p. 33.
 
 BRITAIN IN 429, A. D. 95 
 
 The streams, lie continues, are lucid as crystal ; some- 
 times they wander about the land in abundant channels 
 and with grateful miu'muring ; sometimes, as they 
 glide slowly beneath the long shadowy banks, they 
 seem to fall into a deep slumber, forming themselves 
 into lakes of pure and icy water." England, then, in 
 Gildas's time, possessed the charms which it still owns. 
 Nor had it lost them in those of Bede. England was 
 still the beateous picture of Gildas. ^ 
 
 On reading an account of St. German's deeds and mir- 
 acles in Britain, most men would naturally ask them- 
 selves such questions as the following : Were the Bri- 
 tons, as they are often represented, in such a state of igno- 
 rance and simplicity, that the grossest acts of deception 
 might be practised among them without fear of being 
 detected ? Had they nothing of that distrustful spirit 
 which wealth and soft living introduce ? Had they so 
 little correspondence with foreign nations, and were 
 they so ill acquainted with theu" faith, customs, and 
 life, as to receive any one as an apostle or a teacher 
 because he assumed these characters, and claimed defe- 
 rence and belief ? Or again, might the subseqvient 
 report and account of his deeds in Britain be so little 
 subject abroad to the criticism of experienced judges, 
 that any tale might be circulated without fear of expo- 
 sui'e, just as one at the present day might publish any 
 relation of regions in Africa unexplored by all biit 
 himself ? It is believed then that histoiy furnishes 
 an absolute negative to these questions. And before 
 historical evidence, there is this antecedent proba- 
 bility, that all ages of the world, especially those which 
 
 ' " Et signis te picta Britannia texit." — Ephemeris Oct. 1. 
 Et Introd. Eccl. Hist.
 
 96 BRITAIN IN 429, A. D. 
 
 have succeeded the preaching of the Gospel, have been 
 -much more on a level in intellectual and political ad- 
 vantages than is often supposed. Man is of an elastic 
 nature ; circumstances must be very untoward to check 
 its expansion. They were not such by any means in 
 the fifth century in Britain, as will be seen. 
 
 Britain in ancient times seems to have meant that 
 island which now consists of England, Scotland and 
 Wales. With less precision apparently it sometimes 
 included Hibemia or Ireland. Kennius^ gives the 
 names of four i-aces of inhabitants, the Scots, the Picts, 
 the Saxons, the Britons. Three islands among those 
 which are situated near the coast of Britain claimed 
 the highest importance, the Isle of Wight, then called 
 Inisgueith ; the Isle of Man, or Eubonia, or Manau ; 
 and the Orkney Islands to the north, which went by 
 the name of Ore. From these geographical statistics 
 it was usually said " that the governing power admin- 
 istered justice to Britain and its three Isles." ^ Without 
 stopping to enquire what truth there might be in the 
 statement that the Britons were descended from the 
 Trojans, like their neighbours the Gauls ;3 that is, by 
 the posterity of Eneas who settled at Alba Longa ; or 
 whether their name was derived from Brutus the 
 grandson of Ascanius : it is more to the present pur- 
 pose to show that in the fourth and fifth century 
 Britain was part of Gaul. The generic term Gaul, as 
 a portion of the Empire, included France, Great Bri- 
 tain, Spain and Portugal. It seems to be agreed by 
 learned men that the same language at this time was 
 
 ' Nennius, p. 7. Ed. 1838. 
 Judicavit Britanniam cum tribus insulis." Ibid. 
 '■' Vid. Dubos, torn. i. ch. i.
 
 BRITAIN IN 429, A. D. 97 
 
 spoken by the natives in Gaul Pi'oper and Britain. 
 The Pretorian Prefect of all Gaul had twenty-nine 
 provinces under him, seven in Spain, seventeen in 
 Gaul, strictly so called, and five in Britain, i There 
 was a Vicarius, or what we should call a Lieutenant- 
 Governor over each of these countries. The seat of 
 government in Britain was at London or York, some- 
 times the one, sometimes the other. Caer Leon in 
 Wales seems to have ranked next. ^ 
 
 A residence of 400 years on the part of the Romans 
 had placed the nation on the same footing as the most 
 important provinces of the empire. Dacia, Scythia, or 
 Sarmatia, were only occasionally visited by Eoman ar- 
 mies, and though often ranked among tributary pro- 
 vinces, would feel in a small measure the influence of 
 Roman civilization. But Britain was a regular division 
 of the Empire, subject to an administration similar in all 
 respects to that of other parts. Legions to the number of 
 twelve had been kept there for the repression of exter- 
 nal as well as internal disturbance. ^ Every city had its 
 magistrates and civil codes like municipal towns else- 
 where. The imperial court itself had been often fixed 
 there. Julius Caesar entered the mouth of the Thames 
 three times, according to Nennius.* On the last occa- 
 sion he fixed his camp at Triuovantum 47 years before 
 Clu-ist. This of course was no regular settlement. But it 
 opened the way to one. Li the year 48 after Christ, 
 the emperor Claudius came and reigned several months 
 
 1 Valerius Not. Gall. p. 69. Buchanan, Cluverius, Camden. 
 
 Notitia imp. p. 13. ad Not. Dignitat. vid. quoque, p. 95. 
 
 - Stillingfleet, p. 199 and p. 220. 
 
 ^ Alford An. ad an. 401. ubi Camden. 
 
 ^ P. 17 and 18. 
 
 H
 
 98 BRITAIN IX 429, A. D. 
 
 in Britain, ^ according to the same author and Bade, 
 and penetrated as far as the Orkney Islands, which he 
 made tributary. In tlie year 107, Lucius, a British 
 king, with the rest of the petty sovereigns, ^ received an 
 embassy from the Roman Emperor and Pope Eleuthe- 
 rius, whence it appears that the government of the 
 land was divided between the ancient kings of the 
 Britons and the Roman settlers. But in the year 208, 
 when Septimius Severus carried on the Caledonian 
 war, and afterwards under Caracalla his son,^ the Island 
 was definitively invested with all the privileges of a 
 Roman province, which it preserved till the time we 
 are engaged in. 
 
 Britain became a favoured country. Men often 
 rose first to importance among her downs and her 
 plains — sometimes gained the imperial diadem in her 
 defence ; and they loved to return to the cradle of 
 their glory. Septimius Severus died at York. Con- 
 stantius died in Wales. Constantine the Great was 
 born at York, and educated in the same country. 
 Afterwards usurpers issued from the Island or reigned 
 in it. With the exception of the continual aggressions 
 of the barbarians — the Scots, Picts and Saxons — every 
 thing tended to increase the prosperity of the nation. 
 During the period which elapsed from Claudius's reign 
 to that of Ilonorius in the fifth century, Whitaker, in 
 his learned History of jManchcster,'* tliinks the British 
 monarchs of several tribes continued to reign, though 
 with subordinate jurisdiction, and in spite of Gibbon, 
 
 ' De Sex iEtat. 4007. 
 = " Rcguli."— Nennius, p. 18. Bede de sex ^t. 4132, 
 (not Eucharisto but Eleutherio.) 
 
 3 Gibbon vol. i. ■• Vol. i. p. 247-257.
 
 BRITAIN IN 429, A. D. 99 
 
 " the public and private kings" of Gildas, ^ and passages 
 of Nennius,^ seem to favour the opinion. An iskxnd 
 under equal circumstances must always be favourable 
 to the effects of peace. The Romans brought thither 
 with them their luxuries, arts, and sciences, which 
 were essential to their existence, and the important 
 colony had become the exact copy of the mother coun- 
 try. What Calcutta is now to London, London or 
 York was to Rome. But the author just quoted wiU 
 best stand in the place of other evidence.^ " At 
 this signal period (that now under review), he says, 
 the five provinces in general of our country seem to 
 have advanced very high in the scale of political per- 
 fection. And they even seem to have attained a more 
 considerable degree of refinement, and to have actually 
 existed in a more flourishing condition than any of 
 them knew for many, very many centuries afterwards. 
 All the improvements of the Romans had necessarily 
 been introduced among us. Our mines were worked 
 with the greatest skill. And our towns were decorated 
 with baths, temples, market-places and porticos. Our 
 architects were even so remarkably numerous and good, 
 that a body of them was sent by Constantius into Gaul, 
 to rebuild the ruined Augustodunum with greater mag- 
 nificence. And so universally diffused were the riches 
 of the kingdom, that even after the lapse of many cen- 
 turies, and merely from the scatterings of negligence 
 or the concealments of fear, the sites of all the greater 
 provinces remain generally to the present times inex- 
 haustible mines of Roman wealth. So absolutely false 
 is the charge of barbarism against the Britons of this 
 
 Gildas, p. 33. - Nennius, p. 38. 
 
 * Tom. ii. p. 6. Hist, of Manchester.
 
 100 BRITAIN IN 429, A. D. 
 
 period, whicli has been regularly transmitted from pen 
 to pen through a succession of 1200 years." ^ This 
 last sentence seems more particularly directed against 
 the early pages of Hume's history, which are very in- 
 accurate and insufficient, as he elsewhere shows. 
 
 However, that this prosperity of the Britons remained 
 unimpaired till the great invasion of the Saxons, which 
 was subsequent to St. German's time, is clear from the 
 nature of the devastations which these barbarians then 
 exercised ; for Gildas tells us their fury was spent 
 upon the monuments of Roman and British wealth, 
 their columns, towers, streets, high walls and fine 
 houses.^ And though towards the beginning of the 
 fifth century the Emperor was obliged to recall, as we 
 shall see, the legions that guarded Britain to protect 
 other portions of his dominions, yet it was not to be 
 expected that in twenty, or at most forty years, all 
 traces of Italian refinement would have been effaced. 
 Numerous alliances and permanent settlements of 
 foreigners, would have taken place during the long 
 period of the Roman connexion ; and as at this time 
 the natives of Gaul had almost merged their nation- 
 ality into the Latin citizenship,^ so this island, whicli 
 had been conquered by the same general was now as 
 much Roman as British. Furthermore, a passage of 
 Nennius, shows that in the later years of Vortigern, 
 that is, about 450, notwithstanding the many departures 
 for the defence of Rome, there was still a considerable 
 number of Romans,* who kept tliat tyrant in awe. 
 
 ' See also Alforcl. Ann. ad an. 401. " Romani cum insulam 
 subjugarunt, &c. 
 
 - See Gildas, p. 15 and p. 32. 
 => See Salvian Ue Gub. Dei. passim. 
 * P. 24. One IMS. adds, " Those that remained there." — 
 See Ed. 1838.
 
 BRITAIN IN 429, A. D. 101 
 
 During those forty years wliich followed the retreat of 
 the Romans, Gibbon relates that the artificial fabric 
 of civil and miKtary government was dissolved,^ and 
 the independent country was ruled by the authority of 
 the clergy, the nobles, and the municipal towns. Zozi- 
 mus, he continues, very accurately observes, that the 
 letters of Honorius are addressed to the cities of Bri- 
 tain ; and he proceeds to give the description of this 
 government, which was essentially Roman in its forms, 
 and highly indicative of the advance of British civ- 
 ilization. 
 
 K these inductions be true, it would follow as a mat- 
 ter of course that learning and literature were in a 
 flourishing condition in this land. And in fact we do 
 find the same state of things in this respect as in Gaul.^ 
 Schools and colleges were instituted in all the chief 
 towns, and the usual rewards offered to professors and 
 persons who distinguished themselves. Hence it could 
 be said by a contemporary writer that the Britons were 
 consummate lawyers.^ Christianity, as elsewhere, in- 
 creased the ardour for intellectual pursuits, and learned 
 divines, as well as acute disputants, sprung up in the 
 island. Fastidius, Bishop of London, flourished about 
 this time. He has left some writings which are stiU 
 extant. Faustus, afterwards Bishop of Riez, one of the 
 most eminent writers of his day, was a native of Britain. 
 Pelagius, (no honour doubtless, but still a case in point,) 
 was also born and educated here. Thus the Bishops 
 and Priests of this country, though poor, were qualified 
 in all other respects to attend the debates of foreign 
 councils as well as those at home. Some were present 
 
 ' T. iv. p. 151. = Stillingfleet. Origin. 220. 
 
 " " Causidicos Britannos."
 
 102 BRITAIN IX 429, A. D. 
 
 at Aries in 31G, a.d. And our churches attracted the 
 attention of men a thousand miles distant, St. Athana- 
 sius, St. Chrysostom and St. Jerome. ^ 
 
 In the foregoing observations, little has been said 
 which does not strictly apply to the time when St. 
 German lived and came over to Britain. To complete 
 the view of the political state of the covmtry, a rapid 
 outline of the leading events since the beginning of the 
 fifth century is necessary. Those who desire further 
 knowledge of the preceding annals of Britain must con- 
 sult other sources, among which, the life of St. Augus- 
 tine, lately published, will naturally commend itself. 
 
 By the continued aggressions of the Goths and other 
 barbarians upon Italy and even Rome, chiefly under the 
 conduct of Alaric and Kadagaisus, the Roman legions 
 were forced to leave Britain, about the year 401, to de- 
 fend the centre of the empire. ^ Thus the island was 
 left destitute of the chief obstacle to the invasion of the 
 Picts, Scots and Saxons, which last, we shall see, were 
 already known for their piratical exploits. Nor did 
 these enemies lose tlie o])})ortuuity afforded them of 
 plundering the northern boundary. ^ It was a proverb, 
 says Gildas,'* that the Britons were as little brave in 
 war as they were faithful in peace. He retm'ns often 
 to the same charge, which is j^erhaps not to be accepted 
 without many limitations. He himself had said that 
 the expedition of the usurper Maximus into Gaul some 
 years before had stripped Britain of her youth, which 
 was the first sinrnal for the attacks of the Picts and 
 
 'Alford. 401. Stillingfleet 178. 
 
 " Vide Alford ad an. 401. 
 
 3 " Britanni non sunt in bello fortes, nee in pace fideles." 
 
 * Gildas de Excidio, 15 p. also p. 25.
 
 BRIT Am m 429, a. d. 103 
 
 Scots. ^ However, so it is that little effectual resistance 
 was made against the barbarians. 
 
 Opinions dilFer as to the abode of these people. It 
 is certain that the Picts lived in what is now called 
 Scotland, but whether they occupied the whole or only 
 the southern part is not clear. ^ Gildas clearly tells 
 us the Picts were to the north of Britain, the Scots 
 to the west (a circione), which serves to prove the 
 Scots to be the same as the natives of Ireland or Hi- 
 bernia, and such also is Usher's opinion.^ It appears 
 they were assisted in their incursions by Norwegians 
 and Danes. 
 
 In the meantime, about the year 407, A. d., Constan- 
 tine (whom none will confound with Constantine the 
 Great or his son) was raised in Britain from the rank of 
 private soldier to the dignity of Emperor, at the death of 
 one Gratianus, who had been in a similar way elevated 
 to the throne, and had been killed after a reign of four 
 months. Constantine crossed over into Gaul, which 
 he rapidly reduced, but was not long after conquered 
 himself, and put to death by the generals of Honorius, 
 the lawful emperor. This prince was now no longer 
 able to guard his distant j)rovinces, and in 409 he was 
 under the necessity of exhorting the Britons to defend 
 themselves as best they could, against their northern 
 foes. However, in 411, the Romans, induced by the 
 repeated requests of the Britons, again took the com- 
 mand of the island, and legions, with Victorinus the 
 Prefect, were sent there to protect it. Ten years after, 
 a fresh supply was sent by Honorius ; and an engage- 
 
 » Gildas de Excidio, p. 20. = ibid. p. 20, 21. 
 
 3 Usher Prim. Index. Chron. p. 1096, alias Alford. Annal, 
 quem vide 406, 407.
 
 104 BRITAIN IN 429, A. D. 
 
 ment took place, according to Gildas, witli the Picts 
 and Scots, 1 in which a great number of them were 
 killed, the rest driven away, and the captives recov- 
 ered. A coin on which this victory is commemorated, 
 has been produced by Camden the antiquarian. It was 
 at this time, apparently, that the first wall was made,^ 
 by the Romans and Britons conjointly, across the strip 
 of land wliich divides Edinburgh from Dunbarton, be- 
 tween the Frith of Forth and the river Clyde, or as it is 
 in the ancient descriptions between Bodotria and Glotta. 
 The emperor Valentinian had by this' time succeeded 
 to Honorius, and the Romans again were recalled to 
 protect him. As a matter of course, the Picts and 
 Scots began their depredations afresh ; they broke 
 down the wall, which had been made too lightly, of 
 mere earth and rubbish,^ and poured into the province. 
 Once more the Romans were entreated, once more they 
 returned. Aetius, the famous general of the empire, 
 who afterwards conquered Attila, at Chalons, and at 
 this time governed Gaul, sent this last succour to the 
 distressed Britons, with his lieutenant Gallio. The 
 barbarians retired, and a new wall was built, more 
 solid than the former, and apparently in a dilFerent line 
 of country, from the mouth of the Tyne to the Solway 
 Frith. It was then that the Romans, as Gildas tells us,^ 
 having admonished the Britons to look to themselves 
 alone for defence, assisted them " in building forts at 
 intervals along the coast, towards the southern part 
 of the ocean, (meaning the English Channel) where 
 
 ' Vid. Alford ad an. 428. 
 - Vid. Usher, Index Chron. p. 1096. 
 
 s Magis cespitc quam lapide Bed. de Sex ^t. vid. et Hist. 
 
 ■* De Excidio, p. 24 — Alford. an. 421.
 
 BRITAIK m 420, A. D. 105 
 
 their ships were stationed, because from that quarter 
 also the fierce barbarians were expected, (alluding to 
 the Saxons, who infested those seas) and then bid 
 farewell to the natives, never again to return to the 
 island." This last event took place not more than 
 tliree years, according to Usher, seven according to 
 Alford, before St. German came to Britain. At six 
 different times, had a wall across the island been built 
 or restored by the Romans ; first by Agricola, then 
 by Hadrian, afterwards by Septimius Severus, again 
 by Diocletian, then by Theodosius, and lastly, by the 
 officers of Honorius and Valerian. Henceforth the 
 Picts and Scots harassed with impunity the exposed 
 regions of northern Britain. On one occasion, how- 
 ever, we shall see, a severe check they met with at 
 the hands of the natives, at the time St. German came 
 over. 
 
 In the mean time, a king of the Britons had come 
 into notice. Vortigern is a name wliich, like that of 
 king Ai'thur subsequently, stands out as the represen- 
 tative, so to say, of a period. In the ancient chroni- 
 cles, from Gildas downwards, he seems to gather 
 around him almost every event of importance that 
 happened between the departure of the Romans and 
 the arrival of the Saxons. If there is a special evil 
 spirit that brings about revolutions in states, Vortigern 
 would be the personification of it. The nature of the 
 circumstances, division within, expectation without, are 
 reasons merged in the odium of one individual char- 
 acter. Vortigern introduced the Saxons into England. 
 Vortigern's crimes brought down the vengeance of 
 heaven. Such is the theme of early historians. Vor- 
 tigern, in Nennius, or the work which goes by his 
 name, written in 858, a. d., and all those who have
 
 106 BRIT.VIX IN 429, A. D. 
 
 borrowed from his history, is closely connected with 
 the name of St. German ; and as Vortigern is repre- 
 sented in colours which often remind us of Saul or 
 Ahab, so St. German seems to exemplify the opposite 
 traits of Samuel or Elijah. Here is a field upon which 
 one would naturally expect the disciples of that alle- 
 gorical school which has lately prevailed so extensively 
 in Germany and elsewhere, to find a wide range for 
 their fancies. It would not be surprising if the per- 
 sonality of Vortigern were denied altogether, (too 
 gross an attempt would it be to deny that of St. Ger- 
 man) ; or if he were supposed to be a mere type of a 
 divided, misettled, and decaying constitution, one gen- 
 eric name to represent a multitude of petty tyrants, 
 which would necessarily spring up when all central 
 government was broken up. But let us distinguish 
 matter of fact from matter of conjecture. There is 
 undoubtedly much mystery hanging about the person 
 of Vortigern ; but Vortigern is, nevertheless, a true 
 historic character. "When the Eoman government was 
 withdi-awn from Britain, in 4(»9, (according to Bede)^ 
 the natives took the administrative power into their 
 own hands. " The hereditary lords of ample posses- 
 sions,"^ to borrow Gibbon's admissible inferences, 
 " who were not oppressed with the neighbourhood of 
 any powerful city, aspired to the rank of independent 
 princes, and boldly exercised the rights of peace and 
 
 war Several of these British chiefs might be the 
 
 genuine posterity of ancient kings, and many more 
 would be tempted to adopt this honourable genealogy, 
 and to vindicate their hereditaiy claims, which had 
 
 ' Bede Epitome Eccles. Hist. 
 
 - Gibbon, vol. iv. p. 152.
 
 BRITAIN m 429, A. D. 107 
 
 been suspended by the usurpation of the Ctesars 
 
 The public strength, instead of being united against a 
 foreign enemy, was consumed in obscure and intestine 
 quarrels ; and the personal merit which had placed 
 a successful leader at the head of his equals, might 
 enable him to subdue the freedom of some neighbour- 
 ing cities, and to claim a rank among the tyrants Avho 
 infested Britain after the dissolution of the Roman 
 government." Gildas and St. Jerome both inform us 
 that Britain at this time was a province fertile in ty- 
 rants. Among these was Vortigern,^ before he became 
 king of Britain. According to Alford, he first was a chief 
 among the Danmonii, and called Count of Cornwall, 
 and sometimes Consul of the Gevissei. He had three 
 sons, Vortimer, Categirn, and Pascent. About the 
 year 438, it should seem Vortigern was placed at the 
 head of the many petty kings who divided the land, 
 that he might oppose the united strength of the nation 
 against the northern invaders. Gildas, Bede, and 
 Nennius, are uniform in calling him the sovereign of 
 the country, while, at the same time, they indicate the 
 weight which the inferior princes, according to their 
 relative importance, must have had in the public coun- 
 cils and measures of the state. 
 
 ' Vid. Gild. p. 15 et p. 33. Alford, ad. ann. 438 ; vid. 
 NenniuS; p. 39.
 
 1U8 I'ELAGI.UsIbM IX BllITAlN. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Pelagianisni in Brita'm. 
 
 "We must now pass on to consider the state of the 
 British Church in the fifth century with that signal 
 departure from its purity in the heresy of Pelagianism. 
 What the consequences of the cessation of Diocle- 
 tian's persecution proved to be to the British Church, as 
 well as to the rest of Christendom, are explained in the 
 following words of Gildas : " The Britons raised again 
 their Churches Avhich had been levelled to the soil ; 
 they laid the foundations of sacred edifices in honour 
 of the holy martyrs, constructed, achieved and exhibited 
 them in every quarter as trophies of victoiy. They 
 celebrated the days of Festivals, and with pure hearts 
 and mouths received and administered the sacrameMs ; 
 as cliildren at the breast of their mother, so did all the 
 sons of the Church exult in her bosom." ^ It is well 
 known that under the government of Constantius, the 
 father of Constantine the Great, Britain and the western 
 provinces in general sufi"ered much less than the eastern 
 empire from the Edicts of persecution. ^ But it was 
 some time before the clemency of that prince found 
 occasion to exert itself. AVliile IMaximian, the col- 
 league of Diocletian, reigned in the west, the fire of 
 persecution raged vehemently in the provinces of his 
 administration. The cruel minister of the t}Tant's fury, 
 Rictiovai'us, ^ filled Gaul with the blood of INIartyrs ; 
 
 ' P. 19. - Vid. Euscbius ad fin. Hist. 
 
 ^ Vid. Anquetil, torn. i.
 
 PELAGIANISM IN BRITAIN. 109 
 
 Bale and Treves were amongst the most suffering cities ; 
 in the latter town so many were put to death, that they 
 ever after went by the name of the Innumerable. We 
 have had occasion already to advert to this persecution 
 in the case of the youth St. Justinus, whose death by 
 some mistake apparently has been coupled with the 
 names of both Rictiovarus and St. Amator, the former 
 of which lived nearly a hundred years before Amator. 
 It was in this persecution that St. Alban also received 
 the crown of martja-dom in Britain. Under Constan- 
 tius, whose wife, Helena, was a Christian, the Church 
 enjoyed peace. This prince having come to the dignity 
 of Augustus, was enabled to desist from all harsh mea- 
 sures enjoined by the decrees of the other Emperors ; 
 and favour took the place of toleration which he had 
 always shown. However, it was not tiU the edicts of 
 persecution were repealed, that Britain, like other parts 
 of the empire, fully recognized the claims of the Chris- 
 tian religion. Before that time, says Gildas, " the pre- 
 cepts of Christ were but lukewarmly espoused by the 
 inhabitants, though some accepted them in their entire- 
 ness, and others gave their assent less strongly."^ But 
 an important accession to the triumph of the Church 
 took place in the elevation of Constantine to the empire, 
 and in Britain, as elsewhere, the conquering Labarum 
 brought over the world to the spouse of Christ. 
 
 As a general fact the Arian heresy received less en- 
 couragement in the Latin Church than in the Greek, and 
 though many barbarian nations introduced it in the fifth 
 century, yet it was never long supported by the lawful 
 Roman governors of the west, and uniformly repudiated 
 by the ancient population. ^ Still it had its votaries in 
 
 ' P. 16. 2 Vid. Salvian Gub, Dei.
 
 110 PELAGIANISM IN BRITAIX. 
 
 every country, and Britain did not altojrether escape 
 the infection. ^ But a more i)ernicious influence was in 
 reserve for this land, which began to be felt in the be- 
 ginning of the fifth century in the propagation of 
 Pelagius' principles. In the meantime the external as- 
 pect of tlie British Church might on the whole answer 
 to the following biassed description : " The British 
 Church, says Gibbon with his usual irony, might be com- 
 posed of thirty or forty Bishops, with an adequate pro- 
 portion of the inferior clergy ; and the want of riches 
 (for they seem to have been poor) would compel them 
 to deserve the public esteem, by a decent and exemplary 
 behaviour. The interest as well as the temper of the 
 clergy was favourable to the peace and union of their 
 distracted country : those salutary lessons might be 
 frequently inculcated in their popular discourses ; and 
 the episcopal synods were the only counsels that could 
 pretend to the weight and authority of a national as- 
 sembly. In such councils, where the princes and ma- 
 gistrates sat promiscuously with the Bishops, the im- 
 portant affairs of the State, as well as of the Church, 
 might be freely debated, diifcrences reconciled, alliances 
 formed, contributions imposed, wise resolutions often 
 concerted, and sometimes executed ; and there is reason 
 to believe, that in moments of extreme danger, a Pen- 
 dragon or Dictator was elected by the general consent 
 of the Britons. These pastoral cai'es, so worthy of the 
 episcopal character, were interrupted however by zeal 
 and superstition, and the British clergy incessantly 
 laboured to eradicate the Pelagian heresy which they 
 abhorred as the peculiar disgrace of their native coun- 
 try."2 This political as well as ecclesiastical importance 
 
 ' See Bede Lib. i. c. 8. and Gildas 19. - Vol. Iv. p. 154.
 
 PELAGIANISM IN BRITAIN. Ill 
 
 of the clergy in the fifth century, wliich was indeed a 
 prominent feature in the condition of Britain, resembled 
 in many respects that which was afterwards witnessed 
 in Spain ;^ and about the time that St. German flou- 
 rished at Auxerre, it was frequently brought into notice 
 by the repeated synods which were convened to stop 
 the progress of Pelagianism. 
 
 There has been much discussion about the birth-place 
 of Pelagius. Yet it seems pretty clearly established 
 that he was a Briton. Bede has expressly declared 
 this, and he is supported by St. Jerome, St. Augustine 
 and St. Prosper, contemporary writers. ^ But from 
 which of the British provinces he came is not so cer- 
 tain. The early historians of monasteries make him 
 Abbot of Bangor, in Wales ; and his original name is 
 supposed to have been Morgan, which signifies Sea 
 Born, and which he dropped for that of Pelagius an- 
 swering to it,^ when he went to Rome. There is like- 
 Avise some uncertainty with regard to the exact date of 
 his birth. Probably he went abroad early in life, after 
 having for some time studied in the retirement of Ban- 
 gor ; for he undoubtedly was reputed a Monk in his 
 own time.* Enquiring and ingenious men generally 
 went to Rome to sharpen their natural talents ; and 
 Pelagius, among the number, repaired tliither. He 
 lived a long time in comparative obsem'ity, though ac- 
 quainted with St. Augustine. For many years he ad- 
 
 ' See Guizot's Europe, 6ieme Le90n, p. 116, &c. 
 2 Bed. Lib. i. c. 10. August. Ep. 106, ad Paulam Hier ad 
 Ctesiph. p. 256, torn. ii. See Alford. ad an. 404. 
 " Stillingfl. Orig. 187. 
 * Bede. Lib. i. ch. 10. Isidore of Pelusium wrote to Pelagius 
 the Monk, and St. Chrys. called him Monachus. Cellier, Stil- 
 lingfleet and Collier.
 
 112 PELAGlA^nSM IN BRITAIN. 
 
 hered with zeal to the Orthodox Faith. Had this not 
 been the case, St. Augustine would not have written to 
 him in the following manner : " I return you many- 
 thanks for endeavouring to please me with your corres- 
 pondence, and for conveying to me such certain proof 
 of your somidness in doctrine. May the Lord reward 
 you. Ever remain the same. And live with Him to 
 eternity, beloved and longed-for brother, &c."^ 
 
 Wliile at Rome, Pelagius superintended the studies 
 of several young men, among whom were Celestius and 
 Julianus, who afterwards became conspicuous as leaders 
 of the new Sect. Jacobus and Timasius were also his 
 disciples and subsequently were restored to the Church. 
 During this residence, Pelagius wrote his short Com- 
 mentaries on St. Paul's Epistles and Letters to Melania 
 and Demetrias. He was still considered orthodox, and 
 his reputation was now rapidly increasing. " A man of 
 learning and sense, and what is more, a very pious man 
 and a Cliristian of no ordinaiy rank :" — such are the 
 epithets which were applied to him.- But we may 
 question the foundation, or rather sincerity of his pro- 
 fession of piety, when we consider that he is repre- 
 sented on other occasions as a sensual and voluptuous 
 man.' 
 
 Prosper Aquitanus determines the year 413 as the 
 time when he first gave publicity to his errors, about 
 five years before German was elected Bishop. Hono- 
 rius and Ai-cadius then divided the empire between 
 them. " Pelagius, says Bede,* was seconded by Julia- 
 
 » August, in Gestis Palaestinae in causa Pelag. 
 2 Aug. de Gest. Palest. Collier, B. i. 
 
 » Isid. Pelus Orosius Apol. c. 27. Apud Stilling. 
 
 •• Collier's transl.
 
 PELAGIANISM IN BRITAIN. 113 
 
 nus of Campania, an ambitious man, and who thought 
 himself mortally disobliged by the loss of a Bishopric. 
 St. Augustine, and the rest of the Catholic Fathers, 
 appeared vigorously against this dangerous novelty. 
 However, their answers were not successful enough to 
 silence Pelagius and his adherents ; but on the other 
 hand, the distraction seemed to rise upon opposition, 
 and gain ground by being confuted and exposed." 
 
 Such Avere the general features of Pelagianism abroad, 
 but the promulgators of it in Britain come more within 
 the present purpose. Neither Pelagius nor Celestius vis- 
 ited Britain after they had obtained notoriety. This at 
 least is the general opinion. Pelagius, it is said, was 
 an old man before he became famous. However, that 
 his heresy spread far and wide in the island is positively 
 asserted by Constantius and Bede, two good authori- 
 ties.^ Agricola, son of Severianus, a Pelagian Bishop, 
 was the first public advocate of it in Britain. ^ About 
 the time when he spread his tenets, edicts had been 
 issued, first by Honorius in 418, and afterwards by 
 Valentinian in 425, proscribing the Pelagian heresy, 
 and they had been carried into execution with great 
 severity in Gaul.^ Popes Zozimus and Bonifacius had 
 armed the secular power ; they are not however respon- 
 sible for the excesses committed. It was in consequence 
 of these edicts that Agricola fled from Gaul and came 
 over into Britain.* He did not obtain a hearing at 
 
 ' Bede, Lib. i. ch. 7- Constant, ad locum. Prosper Chron. 
 2 Usher. Primord. 319. Carte's Hist. p. 182. vol. i. Ed. Fol. 
 3 Stillingfl. 190. Alford. annos. 418-19. (The latter date is 
 uncertain.) 
 
 ■• Agricola has been confounded erroneously with a certain 
 Leporius who was in Gaul in the South. See Alford. Usher. 
 Still. Collier. 
 
 I
 
 114 PELAGIANISM IN BRITAIN. 
 
 first. The Britons were ever good Catholics. Little 
 encouragement had been given to Arianism ; and now 
 Pelagianisni met with no ordinary difficulties. But so 
 subtle and plausible were the arts emjjloyed, that by 
 degrees tliey succeeded in si)i'eading it almost over the 
 whole island. 1 Whether it was received by so great a 
 number of persons as might correspond with the extent 
 of country it occupied is not jierfectly clear. On one 
 hand it Avas much countenanced, on the other it was 
 vigorously opposed. One may safely affirm tlie Bishops 
 in general fought against it ; and conjecture that many 
 of the rich and of the enterprizing youth undertook its 
 defence.^ Several synods were convened to stop the 
 progress of the disease. But there was need of some 
 special instrument to reach the roots of the canker. 
 Against common and temporary heterodoxy the Church 
 could find resources in lier mere constitutions and tra- 
 ditions ; but for deep and philosophic heresy she re- 
 quired the aid of those doctors and shining lights which 
 are raised up for one special purpose and perhaps for 
 that only. Pelagianism in its gi'osser form would at 
 once revolt serious and religious minds. But Semi- 
 Pelagianism, which approached nearer to the language 
 of the Church, though it concealed a dangerous mean- 
 ing, naturally imposed upon many and perplexed some 
 of the most zealous and eminent men in Christendom. 
 Its success, which was extensive, was moreover due in 
 a great measure to the extravagant opinions of the Pre- 
 destinarians, wlio, apparently snatcliing up hastily some 
 
 ' " Totam fere Britanniam Pclagianam pcsteni occupavisse." 
 St. Lupi. Vit. apud Bolland. ct Usserium, 319. See Tillem. 
 torn. XV. 16. 
 
 - Compare Constantius's remarks, and Bede Lib. i. c. 17.
 
 PELAGIAKIS3I IN BRITAIN. 115 
 
 principles of St. Augustine without observing their con- 
 nexion with others of the same Father, built up a struc- 
 ture of Fatalism very opposite to the intention and dis- 
 tinct statements of the Bishop of Hippo. ^ 
 
 As the limits of a heresy can seldom be defined, and 
 one runs into another when fully drawn out, and none 
 has any absolute existence, as being founded solely 
 upon a negative of the truth, the clearest notion which 
 can be given of the outward character of Pelagianism 
 in the world, will be derived from the language of 
 those who represent the general impression it pro- 
 duced. Sigebert, the historian, who compiled from 
 early sources, tells us that Pelagius asserted, " That 
 every man, by his own merits, can be saved without 
 grace ; every one is directed to righteousness by his 
 own will ; infants are born without original sin, and 
 are as guiltless as Adam was before his fall ; therefore, 
 they are to be baptized, not in order to be loosed from 
 sin, but to be admitted by adoption into the kingdom 
 of God ; and should they not be baptized, still they 
 will obtain a blessed eternity, apart from the kingdom 
 of God."2 St. Prosper, who was a theologian as well 
 as a historian, confirms this view as a whole. " Pela- 
 gius the Briton," he says, "published the doctrine 
 which goes by his name, against the grace of Christ, 
 teaching that every one is directed to rigliteousness by 
 his own will ; and receives grace in proportion to his 
 merits ; that Adam's sin hurt himself but did not bind 
 his posterity ; that those who will may be free from 
 all sin ; that all little children are born as innocent as 
 the first man was befoi-e his transgression, and are to 
 
 ' Consult Guiz. France, Stillingfleet Orig. 
 - Sigebert. Chron. ad an. 404, apud Alford.
 
 116 PELAGIANISM IN URITAIN. 
 
 be baptized, not in order to be delivered from sin, but 
 to be honoured with the siierament of adoption." ^ 
 
 The necessity of grace, then, was the leading point 
 concerning which Pelagius erred. Accordingly, Bede, 
 describing the heresy by its prominent feature, ob- 
 serves, that tlie author of it began to spread his tenets 
 " against the assistance of grace." These short state- 
 ments are sufficient to show that other important errors 
 might flow from the same source. Thus, the trans- 
 mission of original guilt from Adam to all his pos- 
 terity, the efficacy of baptism, the weakness of human 
 nature, were in one sense consequences of the denial 
 of grace, and in another were the same thing, inasmuch 
 as what is virtually contained in any thing, is one and 
 the same with it. Which opinion was the father of the 
 rest, if such distinction may be made, need not perhaps 
 be asked, as no thought has any proper existence apart 
 from its relation with others ; and what poor abstrac- 
 tions men make, are best understood by the concrete 
 ideas or systems to which they relate.^ 
 
 One more author shall be cited, whose testimony on 
 the subject of Pelagianism cannot well be passed over.' 
 
 " The Heresy," says St. Augustine, " of the Pela- 
 gians, the most recent of all at present, sprung from 
 Pelagius the monk. His disciple, Celestius, followed 
 him so closely, that the partisans of both are also 
 called Celestians. These men showed such enmity to 
 the grace of God — " by which we are predestinated unto 
 
 ' In Prosper Chron. ad an. 414, apiid Alford. 
 2 For more details, vid. Usher, p. 218, Prim. Ed. 4to. et 
 Collier, p. 96, torn. i. from St. Aug. Gcstis Pal. ct Pecato. 
 Ori-. 
 3 From St. Augustine's work upon the Heresies. Heresies, 88.
 
 PELAGIANISM IN BRITAIN. 117 
 
 the adoption of children, by Jesus Christ to Himself,"^ 
 " and by which we are delivered from the power of 
 darkness, that we might believe in Him, and be trans- 
 lated into His kingdom,"^ to which purpose it is said, 
 " No one coraeth to me, unless it be given unto him of 
 my Father ;"^ and " by which love is shed abroad in our 
 hearts,"'^ " that faith may work by love"^ — that without 
 tliis grace they believe man can accomplish all the 
 divine commands. Now if this were true, in vain 
 would the Lord seem to have said, " Without me ye 
 can do nothing." ° However, Pelagius being blamed by 
 the brethren for assigning nothing to the aid of divine 
 grace in the performance of God's precepts, yielded so 
 far to their reproaches as was compatible with not 
 placing grace before (prcaponeret) free-will, while, 
 with faithless craftiness, he lowered the former, (stip- 
 poneretj saying that grace was given to men, that by 
 means of it the things which were ordered to be done 
 by free-will might be more easily fulfilled. And by 
 the words, ' might be more easily fulfilled,' he meant, 
 of course, to imply, that though the difficulty would be 
 greater, yet men might, without divine grace, obey the 
 divine commands. Moreover, the same grace of God, 
 without which we can do nothing good, they say exists 
 only in the free-will, which our natin-e, without any 
 previous merits received from Him, inasmuch as God 
 only assists us so far by His laws and doctrine, as to 
 teach us what we ought to do, and what to hope for ; 
 and not, forsooth, through the gift of His Spirit to 
 enable us to do what we have learnt to do. And by 
 this gift they allow, indeed, that knowledge is granted 
 
 ' Eph. i. 5. - Coloss. i. 13. ^ John vi. 65, 
 
 ♦ Rom. vi. 5. * Gal. v. G. « John xv. 5.
 
 118 rELAGIAXISM IX BRITAIN. 
 
 to US of God, whereby our ignorance is dispelled, but 
 deny tliat love is friven, whereby we live piously ; as 
 if knowledge, which without love puffeth up, might 
 be called tlie gift of God, and love itself, which so edi- 
 fieth that knowledge puff not up, were not the gift of 
 God. Tliey make void also the prayers which the 
 Chui'ch offers up, wliether for infidels and those who 
 resist the teaching of God, to obtain their conversion 
 to God, or for the faithful, to procure increase of faith 
 to them, and perseverance in the faith. For these 
 things, they affii-m men do not receive from God, but 
 have thcni from themselves, since they say that the 
 grace wliich delivers us from impiety, is given accord- 
 ing to our merits. This doctrine, indeed, Pelagius, 
 from fear of being himself condemned by the episcopal 
 tribunal in Palestine, was forced to condemn ; how- 
 ever, in liis later works, we find him teaching it. To 
 this extent even do they go, that they say that the life 
 of the just in this world is free from all sin ; and 
 consequently, that the Church of Christ is perfected in 
 this mortal state, so as to be without spot or wrinkle ;^ 
 as if she were not Christ's Church who cries to God 
 all over the earth, ' Forgive us our trespasses.'* They 
 also deny that children born of Adam, according to the 
 flesh, (secundum Adam carnaViter natos) contract 
 by their first birth the infection of tlie old death. For 
 they assert that tliey ai-e born without any bond of 
 original sin, inasmuch that there is nothing whatever 
 that needs being remitted to them by a second birth ; 
 but that they are baptized, in order that being adopted 
 by regeneration, they may be admitted into the king- 
 dom of God, tliat is, transferred from what is good to 
 
 ' Eph. V. 27. = Matt. vi. 12.
 
 pelagianis:m in Britain. 119 
 
 what is better, and not by this renewal absolved from 
 the evil of any ancient bond. For even should they 
 not be baptized, they promise to them, out indeed of 
 the kingdom of God, a life of their own devising, 
 fmtam siiamj which shall nevertheless be eternal and 
 blessed. They also say that Adam himself, even if he 
 had not sinned, would have died in the body, and that 
 he did not die, as it happened, by the just effects of 
 guilt, but by the condition of nature. Some other 
 things also are imputed to them ; but these are they 
 chiefly on which the rest, either all, or nearly all, seem 
 to depend." 
 
 Those who have paid attention to the controversies 
 which have divided the world concerning Grace and 
 Free-will, will not be surprised that men of learning 
 and real holiness should have been over-reached at 
 times by the subtleties of Semi-Pelagianism, without 
 internally assenting to its perversions. St. Jerome we 
 know imposed a lasting silence on his tongue, for 
 having once given too favourable an ear to Pelagius 
 himself. And other good men might occasionally use 
 language which was offensive to dogmatic accuracy, 
 and yet was innocent in them. Of this class, as it is 
 said, was Fastidius the Briton, who lived at the time 
 we are considering. He was sixrnamed Priscus, and 
 was Bishop of London, the oldest see probably of 
 England. Some who have strained a little the exclu- 
 siveness of the Augustinian theology, as Cardinal Nor- 
 ris and TiUemont, use harsh terms with regard to the 
 work of Fastidius which has come down to us, and is 
 entitled "A Treatise of Christian Life.^ But our 
 
 ' See this work, in vi. vol. August. Opera, ad finem, Alford, 
 Cressy, Usher, Stillingfleet, Collier, Cede, Pitts.
 
 120 PELAGIANISiM IN BRITAIN. 
 
 Englisli writers of different schools, are nearly all 
 agreed in defending him. Gennadius, a v(;ry early 
 writer,^ has bestovvcid great praise on Fastidius, and is 
 followed by Trithemius, a writer prior to the schism of 
 the sixteenth century. He calls him " a man learned 
 in the Holy Scriptures, distinguished for his life and 
 manners, and eminent for liis eloquence and talents." 
 
 Faustus, another Briton of the same time, who be- 
 came in process of time Abbot of Lerins, and Bisho|) 
 of Riez in France, has been also thought to entertain 
 Semi-Pelagian views. Yet even Cardinal Norris, before 
 mentioned, admits that he was revered as a Saint in 
 the church of Riez, and his name was preserved in the 
 calendar of the Galilean Church. It was struck out 
 long after by Molanus, and Baronius the great annalist 
 followed him, but upon admonition restored it.^ One 
 Martyrology observes that " his books are piously and 
 learnedly written, and that miracles are said to have 
 been wrought by hini."^ However Faustus is no ob- 
 scure character in history, for he took a prominent part 
 in the controversies of the time, and had the charge of 
 drawing up the Acts of a Council assembled on the 
 subject of heresy."* 
 
 On the whole, it is certain that the Bishops in 
 Britain opposed Agricola and his follow(irs by the most 
 strenuous measures.^ But though they assembled 
 synod after synod, tliey were unable to suppress the 
 heresy, and finally resolved to apply to foreign assis- 
 tance. 
 
 ' Gcnnad. Catalog. -^ Hist. Pelajr. lib. ii. p. -297. 
 
 ' Vid. Holland. Acta. Sanct. Ifith Jan. 
 
 * Comp. Sidon. Apol. Lit. is. Ep. 3-9. Ruric. Epis. 2. lib. i. 
 
 s Alford, ad. an. 420. Bcde, lib. i. c. 17.
 
 THE COUNCIL OF TROTES. 121 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 The Council of Troyes. 
 
 Such were the events which preceded the mission 
 of German to England. But we have, hxstly, to state 
 what was the nature of the authority he I'eceived, and 
 what is known concerning the synod to which Con- 
 stantius, our original informer, refers. Much discus- 
 sion has been raised about this very point. It has 
 been thought by many, that the question whether the 
 Bi'itish Churches were dependent upon the Roman See 
 or were not, rests, in a great measure, upon the evi- 
 dence relating to this circumstance. We shall first put 
 before the reader that account which will here be con- 
 sidered genuine, and then state some of the objections. 
 
 Before the English Bishops applied for help abroad, 
 Palladius, the Apostle of the Scots, had been over to 
 Britain, apparently not having, as yet, received his 
 regular commission of Converter of the heathen in the 
 north of the Island, ^ and while he was yet Deacon. 
 
 Palladius was a Grreek by birth, ^ and attached to the 
 Roman See. When he returned to Rome, he carried 
 with him the news of the danger to which the Church 
 was exposed from the growing evil of Pelagianism, and 
 possibly was the bearer of the intelligence to the Galil- 
 ean clergy on the part of the Britons. When he arrived 
 
 ' Vid. apud Alford Annal. 429. 
 - Usher thinks he was not a Greek, but this is of no im- 
 portance.
 
 122 THE COUNCIL OF TROI'ES. 
 
 at Kome, he represented to Celestine, ^vlio was then 
 Pope, the state of that part of Britain wliich is now 
 (•ailed England and Wales, as well as of those districts 
 which he had purposely visited, ^ Urged by his coun- 
 sels, Celestine communicated his own intentions to the 
 Gallican Bishops, who either, upon tlie strength of the 
 message, immediately convoked a synod ; or when the 
 communication came, were already assembled, in order 
 not to lose time in succouring their Christian brethren 
 in Britain. This synod was held at Troyes, in Cham- 
 pagne, where St. Lupus was Bishop, in the autumn of 
 429, and the Gallican Prelates, after due consideration, 
 elected German of Auxerre to go over to Britain as 
 Apostle, with the authority of the Roman See, and 
 joined to him Lupus, the Bishop of Troyes. ^^ "Whether 
 Celestine proposed German for the examination of the 
 Council, in accordance with the information he had 
 obtained of his signal piety and wisdom, or whether he 
 left free choice to the assembled Bishops to elect 
 whomsoever they chose, we are not strictly told. But 
 the first hypothesis is probably the true one, and agrees 
 well with the unanimous consent of the bishops in ap- 
 pointing him.^ It will be seen, by reference to the 
 passage of Constantius given at the beginning of a 
 former chapter, that there is nothing in the view here 
 taken which offers violence to his expressions, though 
 there are some things which, in the brief description 
 
 ' Vid. Prosper Chron. ad an. 429, and Contra Collatorcm, 
 ch. 41, 42. 
 
 - Vice sua, i e. Caelestini. 
 
 ^ It is impossible to say whether Lupus had the same direct 
 authority from the Pope. Prosper does not mention him in this 
 connexion. More probably, he was the proper appointment of 
 the Synod.
 
 THE COUNCIL OF TROYES. 123 
 
 he lias given, are not mentioned by bim. On tbe 
 otber hand, his omissions have been supplied from the 
 authority of St. Prosper of Aquitain, ^ himself a wit- 
 ness even nearer to the times than Constantius, a more 
 precise and less poetical writer, inasmuch as he was 
 composing a chronology, and one who had closer con- 
 nexion with the Bishop of Rome than any other Galil- 
 ean author, at the same time that he was necessarily 
 conversant with the affairs of his own country. 
 
 The objections to the account here given, and which 
 have been urged Avith the greatest force by Bishop 
 Stillingfleet, - are drawn up concisely by Collier^ in his 
 Ecclesiastical History in the following manner. " I 
 have observed," he says, "that the orthodox Britons 
 applied to the Galilean Bishops to reinforce them 
 against the Pelagians, and that Germanus and Lupus 
 Avere sent by a deputation of a synod in Gaul ; but it 
 is objected on the other side that Celestine, Bishop of 
 Rome, sent Germanus as his legate hither, and for this 
 the testimony of Prosper is alleged. But this assertion 
 seems sufficiently overthrown by the authorities of 
 Constantius, Bede, Paulus Diaconus, Freculphus, Er- 
 ricus of Auxerre, and Ado of Vienne, who all agree 
 that Germanus and Lupus received their commission 
 for this employment from the Bishops of Gaul. Baro- 
 nius, who is always careful to set the Pope at the head 
 of Church business, endeavours to reconcile this mat- 
 ter, and offers to make Prosper's testimony consistent 
 with the rest. To this purpose, he tells us, ' that the 
 
 ' Tillemont says, " II parait que St. Prosper a travaille trois 
 fois a sa chronique et en a fait, pour ainsi dire, trois editions en 
 433 en 445 & en 455. 
 
 = Stillingfleet, Orig. 192. ^ Collier, p. 103. torn. i.
 
 124 THE COUNCIL OF TROYES. 
 
 Pope might approve of the choice of the synod, or 
 might leave the nomination of hU representative to the 
 liisJiops of Gaul.' But neither of these pretences will 
 hold ; for Prosper affirms Celestine sent him, vice sua, 
 in his own stead, which is very different from appoint- 
 ing a council to choose one to be sent. And Constan- 
 tius affirms, ' that Ciermanus and Lupus undertook their 
 voyage immediately,' which is a tign they did not stay 
 for the Pope's instructions and approbation. Besides, 
 the Gallican Bishops and Celestine had no good un- 
 derstanding at this time of day, they being looked upon 
 at Home as somewhat inclined to Semi-Pelagianism. 
 This makes it highly improbable, that either Celestine 
 should refer the choice of his legate to these prelates, 
 or that they should wait for his direction. There are 
 likewise some dilferent accounts in chronology, hardly 
 to be reconciled. As to the testimony of Prosper, about 
 Celestine's sending St. German, it may be answered ; 
 first, that the Prosper published by Pithoeus, never 
 mentions it. Secondly, Prosper in his tract against 
 Cassian, which undoubtedly belongs to him, does not 
 affirm it. For there he only declares that Celestine 
 took care to disengage Britain from Pelagianism. To 
 this we may add, that supposing Pi'osper's testimony is 
 not interpolated, yet Constantius's authority is prefer- 
 able to Prosper's in this matter : for Constantius was 
 not only in a manner contemporary with St. German, 
 but likewise a person of great eminency, as appears by 
 Sidonius ApoUinaris's Letters, and wrote with great 
 exactness even by the confession of Baronius. Neither 
 does Constantius stand single in this point, but the 
 author of the Life of St. Lupus gives account, and so 
 does Bede, and the rest of the historians above men- 
 tioned."
 
 THE COUNCIL OF TROYES. 125 
 
 Having given Collier's words, let iis see whether 
 they have in reality that weight wliieh at first sight 
 they appear to have, with an especial reference to the 
 more laboured dissertation of Stillingfleet, to whom 
 Collier is chiefly indebted. 
 
 The authorities of Constantius, Bede, Paulus Dia- 
 conus, Freculphus, Erricus of Auxerre, and Ado of 
 Vienne, are opposed to Prosper. Now it so happens 
 that Constantius is the only one of these that can be 
 cited as an original testimony, for all have borrowed 
 from hiin even his very expressions, and all lived long 
 after the events they commemorate. Bede wrote 
 nearly three centuries after ; and Paulus Diaconus, 
 Freculphus, Ado of Vienne, and Erricus of Auxerre, 
 flourished about a century later than Bede. ^ It would 
 have been desirable that Usher, Stillingfleet, and Col- 
 lier had given distinct references to these authors 
 whom they cite among the other testimonies which 
 they likewise appeal to, but with greater precision. 
 If we except Bede, their writings are not very gene- 
 rally known, and are found in few collections. ^ 
 
 With regard to Bede, any one who will take the 
 trouble to inspect his account of German's mission to 
 Britain in all its circumstances will at once perceive 
 that Bede has closely followed Constantius through 
 several successive pages, so as to make it unquestionable 
 that he was guided by Constantius alone in his relation 
 
 ' Bede was born 673, and died 735, or later. Collier 294 
 Paulus Diaconus, called Warnefrid, born 740. Freculphus born 
 at the end of the eighth century. Bishop of Lisieus. Ado, 
 Archbishop of Vienne, born about SOO. Vid. B'log. Univer. 
 Erricus of Auxerre dedicated his book to Charles le Chauve, 
 in 876. Vid. Boll. Commen. Praev. 
 
 2 Vid. Eccl. Hist. eh. xvii.
 
 126 THE COUNCIL OF TROYES. 
 
 of those circumstances which ai'e mentioned by this 
 author. Constantius had said nothing about the origi- 
 nators of the heresy in Britain ; this Bede first sujjplies 
 apparently from Prosper. He says, "The Pelagian 
 heresy introduced by Agi'icola, the son of Severianus, a 
 Pelagian Bishop, had infected the faith of the Britons. 
 But when the nation refused to accept this perverse 
 doctrine and blaspheme in any way against the grace of 
 Christ, and yet were not able to refute the deceits of 
 these impious tenets, they adopted the salutary course of 
 applying to the Galilean Bishops for assistance in their 
 religious contest." He then falls into the narrative of 
 Constantius, in which he continues for five chapters, 
 deviating little from his authority. He describes the 
 synod mentioned by Constantius with no other differ- 
 ence than what the explanation of one or two words 
 required ; while on the other hand, some of the very 
 same expressions are used. As Constantius gave no 
 hint of the part Celestine the Pope had taken, neither 
 does Bede. He says a council was assembled, enquiry 
 into the emergency was instituted, German of Auxerre 
 and Lupus of Troyes were elected, and the two Apostles 
 and Bishops lost no time in setting ofi" for Britain. 
 But he says nothing about the manner in which the sy- 
 nod was convened, or the reasons that prevailed, or the 
 persons who directed the deliberations. On the other 
 hand, Bede supports the view here adopted by placing 
 the mission of Palladius to the Scots at an earlier date^ 
 than that of German, and he distinctly says with Pros- 
 per, that Pelagius the Bishop was sent by Celestine the 
 Pontiff of Rome to the Scots, who believed in Christ. ^ 
 
 ' 430, A. D. 
 2 Eccl. Hist. ch. xiil., and also De sex tEtatibus mundi. ad 
 annum 4376 and 4402.
 
 THE COU>'CIL OF TROYES. 127 
 
 This accounts therefore for the part which Prosper as- 
 signs to Palladius in turning the attention of Celestine 
 towards Britain and the Pelagian heresy. On the 
 wliole, Bede gives nothing i-elative to the mission of 
 German but what is found in Coustantius and Prosper ; 
 while he omits to mention a fact which we shall see 
 Prosper in two different works asserts. 
 
 Paulus Diaconus is the first in order of time among 
 the other authors quoted by Collier. There are three 
 historical works of his in the Bibliotheca Patrum ;^ in 
 none of them can we find any statement concerning the 
 subject in question. In his Historia ]\Escella, (p. 265, 
 p. 2G6, p. 2G8,) during the period Avhich extends from 
 Constantine's usurpation in Britain, A. D. 407, to 511, 
 there are indeed three notices of the civil affairs of 
 Britain, but nothing is to be found concerning the 
 ecclesiastical condition of that country. His work, de 
 Episcopis Metensibus, is alike destitute of information 
 to the point. And his history of the Lombards fur- 
 nishes a mere view of the origin of that nation, and its 
 fortunes from Justinian's time. 
 
 In the works of Freculphus and Ado we have some- 
 thing more to om* purpose.^ But then they are the 
 mere copyists of Bede ;^ and their clu'onology is evi- 
 dently false, for they make German and Lupus visit 
 Britain for the first time, after the Anglo and Saxons 
 
 ' Tom. xiii. Bibl. Patrum. Luyduni. 
 
 = See Bibl. Patr. torn. 14. p. 1 189 and ] ]90.tom. xvi. p. 796-7. 
 
 =• Usher p. 335, admits that all these writers have disregarded 
 Prosper's chronology and followed Bede. Bede himself gene- 
 rally follows Prosper, and the reason for his departing in this 
 instance, is probably that he had one of the early and imperfect 
 copies of Prosper's Chronicon, which seems to have been three 
 times written.
 
 128 
 
 THE COUNCIL OF TROYES. 
 
 had taken possession of Britain. But let the reader 
 convince himself of the little corroboration they supply 
 to Bede's account, by comparing the following passages, 
 the similarity of which requires not any scholarship to 
 observe. 
 
 BeDE DE sex iETAT. 
 
 AD AN. 4376. 
 
 Ad Scofos in Chris- 
 tum credentes, ordi- 
 natus a Papa Ca^ies- 
 tino, Palladius 1., 
 Episcopus mittitur. 
 
 AD. AN. 4402. 
 
 Haerosis Pelagiana 
 Britannorum tui'bat 
 fidem, qui a Galli- 
 canis Episcopis aux- 
 iiium quaerentes, 
 Germanum Altissio- 
 dorensis Ecclcsiae 
 Episcopum et Lu- 
 pum Trecassenum 
 anque Apostolica? 
 gratiae antistitem 
 fidei defensores ac- 
 cipiunt, &c. 
 
 FliECULPHUS, 
 
 Chuon. 
 
 Ado. Chron. 
 
 (Tunc equidcm) Scotis in Christum 
 
 ad Scofos in Chris- credentibus, ordina- 
 
 tum credentes or- tus a Papa Caeles- 
 
 dinatus a Papa tino Palladius pri- 
 
 Caelestino Palla- mus Episcopus mit- 
 
 dius I. Episcopo titur. 
 mittitur. 
 
 (Tunc) haeresis 
 Pclagiana Britan- 
 norum turbat fi- 
 dem, qui a Galli- 
 canis Episcopis 
 auxilium quaeren- 
 tes, Germanum 
 Altissiodorensis 
 Ecclesiae Episco- 
 pum et Lupum 
 'J'recassinum aeque 
 Apostolicae gratiae 
 antistitem fidei de- 
 fensores accipiunt, 
 &c. 
 
 Haeresis Pelagiana 
 Britannorum tur- 
 bat fidem, qui a 
 Gallicanis Episco- 
 pis auxilia quaG- 
 rentes Germanum 
 Altissiodorensis Ec- 
 clesiae Episcopum 
 et Lupum Tricas- 
 sinum aaque Apos- 
 tolicae gratiaG antis- 
 tites fidei defensores 
 accipiunt. 
 
 Surely these writers, distinguished as they were, can- 
 not be considered as independent testimonies even if we 
 overlook the late date to which they belong. Nor has 
 Erricus of Auxerre left any passage which might shake 
 Prosper's testimony. Though somewhat farther removed
 
 THE COUNCIL OF TROYES. 129 
 
 from the age of German, yet as a Monk of Auxerre, 
 and a special enquirer into the life and miracles of our 
 Saint, he might be expected to throw some fresh light 
 on the point we are considering. But any one who will 
 be at the pains to peruse the poetical version he has 
 given of Constantius, will be surprised to find how very 
 little real matter he has added to his model. In his 
 account of the synod he merely paraphrases Constantius 
 without any appearance of having consulted other testi- 
 mony.^ This author is more worthy of attention in 
 what regards the circumstances which followed German's 
 death, than for any information strictly biographical. 
 
 To conclude what may be said respecting these au- 
 thorities quoted by Collier and Stillingfleet, with some 
 remarks upon Constantius himself : it is asked, why did 
 this writer omit all indication of Celestine's part in the 
 transactions under enquiry if there were gi'ounds for 
 believing it. The answer is, first that Constantius is a 
 very unequal writer as regards plan and method ; he 
 sometimes gives long details about one event, and passes 
 cursorily over others of equal importance ; nay, he is 
 silent on subjects which are of great interest. Thus, 
 German's education and early life, his political career, 
 the Bishops who consecrated him, the rule and customs 
 of his monastery, (to mention a few instances), are left 
 in great obscurity by him. His object was, in the 
 main, plainly to give a narrative of the mii-acles and 
 distinguished actions of German, in compliance with 
 the taste of the day. ^ There is little or nothing about 
 
 ' Moreover, often what he did not learn from Constantius, 
 like the rest, he took from Bede — Vid. De Mirac. 24. Boll. 
 
 -■ Hence the expression, " vitara gestaque, in connexion with 
 ' pro miraculorum numerositate,' innumerabilium miraculorum 
 exempla." — Prolog. Const. 
 
 K
 
 130 THE COUNCIL OF TROYKS. 
 
 Church matters, theological questions, and the like, 
 altliougli his great eminence in the literary world was 
 noted in liis own time. ^ In fact, they were not to his 
 purpose. Again, Constantius may liimself liave been 
 ignorant of the circumstances of the synod. Let it be 
 remembered that he wrote sixty years after it was 
 held ; and though, as a youth, contemporary with the 
 latter years of German, yet he was probably quite a 
 child when the mission of German and Lupus took 
 place. ^ Councils were very numerous at that time, 
 and especially in Gaul, where one every year was 
 gathered, as any person may see by referring to Gui- 
 zot's France, in wliicli a list of those only, that are re- 
 corded, is to be found. It is not then to be wondered, 
 if the Acta of this one should have escaped his ob- 
 servation, supposing them even to have existed at that 
 time, and not to have been lost in the desolation which 
 the barbarians, for the space of ten years, spread over 
 the country, after German's death. ^ On the whole, 
 Constantius has ti-ansmitted next to nothing concerning 
 the fact, which he just mentions ; for where it was held, 
 and what Bishops attended, and at what time it took 
 
 ' Vid. Sidon. Epist. 
 
 •-■ Compare his own words in the Prologue. " Tanta enim 
 jam temporuni fluxere curricula, ut obscurata per silentium vix 
 colligatur a^nitio." Compare also what Dubos says, torn. i. 
 387. " Si le PrC'tre Constantius avait pnvii la perte dcs livres 
 qu'on avait de son temps, Sf qu'on n' a plus aujourd'hui il aurait 
 cti plus exact dans sa tiarration. — Mais cet auteur qui comptait 
 sur ces livres a ivitc les details qui s'y trouvaient Sf nous soinines 
 ainsi rcduits u conjecturer." 
 
 •■' See Hericus Prol. ad Miracula Germ. Gamier, in his 
 Marius Mcrcator, hints that these acts do still exist, but they 
 have not been forthcoming, and he does not say where they are 
 supposed to be. xxi. Synod.
 
 THE COUNCIL OF TROYES. 131 
 
 place, he lias not told us, any more than by what 
 authority it was called together. 
 
 What sanction have we then for asserting, that Pope 
 Celestine appointed German his Legate to Britain, (as 
 Baronius expresses it) with the understanding of the 
 Gallican Bishops assembled at Troyes ? We have seen 
 it is that of St. Prosper Aquitanus. In the Chronicon 
 Integrum of that author, published by Roncallius in 
 1787, and in Bouquet's Eecueil des Historiens, torn. i. 
 p. 630, we find the following passage, placed under the 
 year when Florentius and Dionysius were consuls, that 
 is in 429. 
 
 " Agricola Pelagianus, Severiani Episcopi filius, ec- 
 clesias Britannice dogmatis sui insinuatione corrupit 
 sed ad actionem (or actione^) Palladii Diaconi Papa 
 Cielestinus Germanum Antisiodorensem Episcopum 
 vice sua mittit, ut (or et) deturbatis ha^reticis Britannos 
 ad Catholicam fidem dirigat (or dirigit.)" 
 
 " Agricola the Pelagian, the son of Severianus the 
 Bishop, corrupted the Churches of Britain, by insinua- 
 ting his doctrines ; but by the advice of Palladius the 
 Deacon, Pope Celestine sent German, Bishoj) of Aus- 
 erre, as his representative, in order that, after defeating 
 the heretics, he might restore the Britons to the Cath- 
 olic Faith." 
 
 This chronicle, say the editors referred to, is now 
 considered the authentic production of Prosper by all 
 the learned. But it has been objected, that it differs 
 from another published by Pithoeus in the sixteenth 
 century, which does not contain the passage just 
 quoted. Now in truth, the tAvo works are altogether 
 diiferent compositions ; and though they may each be 
 
 ^ Bouquet.
 
 132 THE COUNCIL OF TROVES. 
 
 brought as witnesses to Aviiat they each state, yet the 
 silence of one cannot invalidate the testimony of the 
 other. The Pithoean edition reckons the years by the 
 Emperors, the other by the Consuls ;^ the former is 
 very much the sliorter of the two, and the style of 
 both is different ; nay, there is a passage in the 
 Pithoean Ed. relating to the Predestinarians,^ which, 
 as Stillingfleot himself confesses, could not have been 
 written by Prosper Aquitanus. 
 
 There is then no reason why the Pithoean Chronicle 
 of Prosper, on the ground of mere silence, should in- 
 terfere with the passage given above, as the genuine 
 words of Prosper Aquitanus, which few contest at 
 present.' With regard to their respective notices of 
 St. German, they are widely diftereut. The Pithoean 
 Edit, has : — 
 
 " Germanus Episcopus Antissiodori virtutibus et vit* 
 districtione clarescit." " German, the Bishop of Aux- 
 erre, flourishes, endued with great gifts, and eminent 
 for strictness of life." This sentence is manifestly 
 very different from the former, and it matters little 
 whether it is by the same author or a different one. 
 
 liut there is another work of Prospei*, which, though 
 less explicit, is yet as satisfactory as can be desired, 
 without being liable to the same objections of authen- 
 ticity. We there find the following woi'ds : — 
 
 " Venerabilis memorite Pontifex Caelestinus,'* nee 
 
 ' Sec Recueil, Bouquet, 635. 
 
 -■ At lt'a^t in the Editions of Labb. and Mang, though Ron- 
 callius corrects it with the note (alia manu.) 
 
 ■■' Conf. apud Roncallium, Chronic. Prosp. ex iVIS. Augus- 
 tano, p. 691, et Chronic. Vatican, p. 715, ad marg — Tille- 
 mont. Art. St. Prosper. 
 
 •* Prosper contra Collat. in fine, apud Alford. 419. ct in torn. 
 X. Appendix August. Opera liened.
 
 THE COUNCIL OP TROYES. 133 
 
 vero segniore cura, ab hoc eodem morbo (i. e. Pela- 
 gianismd) Britannias liberavit : quando quosdam inimi- 
 cos gratise solum suse originis occupantes, etiam ab illo 
 secreto excludit Oceani : et ordiuato Scotis Episcopo, 
 dum Romanam insulam studet servare CathoUcam, 
 fecit etiam barbaram Christiauam." 
 
 "Pope Celestine of revered memory, with no less 
 diligence and care, delivered Britain from the same 
 disease ; for he banished from those remote and sea-girt 
 provinces certain adversaries of Divine Grace, who were 
 taking possession of the soil whence they had origi- 
 nated ; and having ordained a Bishop for the Scots, 
 {Palladius) while he endeavoured to preserve that part 
 of the island Avhich was Roman, in the Catholic faith, 
 {i. e. through St. German) he also made that part 
 which was barbarian. Christian {by means of Palla- 
 dius.)" 
 
 Prosper here assigns to Pope Celestine the office of 
 removing Pelagianism from Britain. Now there are 
 only two occasions on record when that heresy, after 
 disturbing the country, was extirpated by foreign as- 
 sistance, namely, when German came over for the first 
 and second times. And it is agreed on all sides that 
 the second time was long after Celestine's death. ^ It 
 remains, therefore, that when German came to Britain 
 the first time, then Celestine might rightly be said to de- 
 liver this island from the heresy ; that is, German acted 
 as his representative or Legate.^ It is not intended that 
 these titles signified precisely what they did in subse- 
 ([uent ages, nor that they excluded the idea of the 
 
 ' Celestine died 432. German was in Britain the second 
 
 time in 446 or 447 Boll, et Usher. 
 
 - Vice sufl.
 
 134 THE COUNCIL OF TROVES. 
 
 autliority of the Galilean synod being conjoined to 
 that of Celestine. This fact Is elsewhere proved. 
 However the two passages of Prosper, talcen together, 
 establish one another so clearly, that they seem to 
 place the matter beyond qnestion. 
 
 The chronological difficulties to which Collier al- 
 ludes, are certainly more easily resolvable, by assigning 
 the first mission to 429, instead of 446. Spelman and 
 others, who have adhered to Bede's uncertain chrono- 
 logy, have involved their dates in the same confusion 
 as that writer. And had Collier rather followed Usher 
 than Stilliugfleet, (who, it must be confessed, causes 
 perplexities by attempting to overthrow what after all 
 he admits,) he would have seen that Usher calls it a 
 plain anachronism to postpone the journey of German 
 and Lupus to 446.^ 
 
 The date here recognized has been adopted by the 
 majority of the learned ; the authors of I'Art de veri- 
 fier les Dates, Bouquet, Tillemont, Usher, Fleury, 
 Carte, Lingard, Guizot, &c.^ K Celestine had any 
 part in the matter, it must have been before 432, since 
 he died in that year. And the writer of the life of St. 
 Lupus is so far from authorizing a date subsequent to 
 this Pope's death, that he is one of those by whose tes- 
 timony the chronology of Prosper is established. For, 
 as Usher observes,^ St. Lupus is said to have been 
 joined with St. German two years after he had been 
 made Bishop of Troyes, which event had taken place a 
 year after he entered the INIonastery of Lerins. Now 
 the latest period to which the arrival of St. Lupus at 
 
 • Conf. lioll. Com. Prsev. § vi. 
 Carte, in a note, expresses a doubt, p. 182, v, i. 
 ■■' P. 325, Ed. 4to.
 
 THE COUXCIL OF TKOYES. 135 
 
 Lerins can be assigned is 426, and consequently, the 
 mission to Britain, which was three years after, must 
 have been, at the farthest, in 429, and in this inference 
 he is supported by Garnier and the Bollandists. ^ 
 
 It appears then that StiUingfleet, who urges the mis- 
 understanding of the Galilean Bishops with the See of 
 Rome, is tacitly begging the question. The Deposition 
 of Chehdonius, in which St. German took part, and 
 which is supposed to have u-ritated against him the 
 Pope, occurred in 444. And if tliis misunderstanding 
 arose from the Semi-Pelagianism of some GalUcan 
 Bishops, it is not necessary, in the first place, that it 
 should have infected all, including St. German ; — in the 
 second, in 429 Semi-Pelagianism had but just appeared 
 in Gaul, and was, as yet, scairely recognized or con- 
 victed ; — in the third place, though Aries, to which St. 
 Hilary belonged, might be obnoxious to Rome, (a mere 
 conjecture) yet there is no reason why a Council at 
 Troyes, in Champagne, must share in the displeasure ; — 
 fourthly, the names of none of the assembled Bishops 
 are given, except those of German and Lupus, and why 
 those, who ai'e not so much as named, must be guilty at 
 Rome, is stiU to be shown ; — lastly, it is going too 
 much out of the way, to imply that St. German was 
 Semi-Pelagian, because St. German was friend of St. 
 Lupus, and St. Lupus was brother of Yincentius Lu-i- 
 neusis, and Yincentius Lirinensis was supposed to be 
 infected with some errors of the kind. The answer to 
 this is, that brothers do not always hold the same 
 opinions, and friends do not necessarily agree with 
 friends' brothers ; and Yincentius, who is supposed 
 without satisfactory foundation to have written in fa- 
 
 - Diss. 2. ch. 22 Comm. in Vitam Lupi.
 
 136 THE couxcn. of troyes. 
 
 vour of the Semi-Pelagians, is allowed, even by his 
 accusers, to have written only in 430, that is, after the 
 Council of Troyes ; while other authors deny that he 
 ever composed the heretical work imputed to him. 
 Nay, Ceillier, a high authority, thinks it is altogether 
 very doubtful whether Vincentius Lirinensis was bro- 
 ther of St. Lupus, and he notices the silence of Genna- 
 dius, a writer near to the times in question. ^ And if 
 it be urged that St. Lupus was commissioned to go to 
 Britain, as well as St. German, which brings the last 
 objection a step nearer, it is replied that St. Lupus 
 also was appointed by the Galilean Bishops, and there 
 is no authority for supposing the Pope to have nomi- 
 nated him, whereas there is in the case of St. German. 
 K, then, the Galilean Bishops and St. Lupus were all 
 Semi-Pelagians, it is not surprising, forsooth, that the 
 Delegate should have resembled the Commissioners. 
 But let us not imagine, unnecessarily, schism in Chris- 
 tian Bishops, heresy in Saints. 
 
 The I'ecent editor of the very ancient Life of St. 
 Lupus seems to have shown satisfactorily that Troyes 
 was the place where the Council was held.^ 
 
 From this last source, then, we learn, as well as may 
 be, the place of the Council ; from Prosper, the inter- 
 vention of the Pope Celestine and the date ; and from 
 Constantius, the enquiry and decision of the Synod. ^ 
 
 It need only be added, that circumstantial evidence 
 is in favour of the general view here taken. It was 
 
 ' Vid. Ceillier, torn. xiii. p. 583 ; et Tillemont. Art. Vin- 
 cent Petavius says the Commonitorium was written in 434 
 
 Doct. Temp. vol. ii. ad Annum. 
 
 - Boll. Tom. vii. Julii. 
 ^ Comp. Usher, Index. Chron. p. 1097.
 
 THE COUNCIL OF TROYES. 137 
 
 by the advice of St. Germali, that St. Patrick, the 
 Apostle of Ireland, went to Rome to get his commis- 
 sion, according to Hericus of Auxerre, whom Usher, 
 who well knew St. Patrick's history, approves. ^ His 
 words are as follows : " Patrick, the special Apostle of 
 Ireland, during eighteen years^ {autlwrs differ about 
 the time) remained under his tuition, and received 
 great knowledge in the Scriptures from his instructions. 
 Whereupon the Bishop, (German) seeing how great a 
 divine Patrick had become, how excellent in his con- 
 duct, and sound in his opinions, and wishing a labourer 
 so vigorous might not remain idle in the Lord's vine- 
 yard, sent him, together with his presbyter, Segetius, 
 to St. Celestine, Bishop of Rome, that Segetius might 
 bear witness to the merits of Patrick before the Apos- 
 tolical See. Approved by the judgment of the Pope, 
 supported by his authority and strengthened with his 
 blessing, Patrick went to the regions of Hibernia, as 
 the Apostle of that nation."^ 
 
 Again, there is no doubt that St. Palladius, the 
 Apostle of the Scots, was sent by Celestine. Both 
 Prosper and Bede agree in this. 
 
 There is a probability that the title of " Apostolici 
 Sacerdotes," which Constantius gives to German and 
 Lupus, might denote that they were authorized by the 
 one Apostolical See of the West. But the context 
 seems scarcely to warrant this conjecture of Alford, 
 and the frequent use of the word in contemporaiy 
 writers, in the sense of Holy, and as we should say, 
 Primitive, makes the other sense, which is indeed also 
 found, the less probable in this instance. 
 
 1 Usher, p. llOO. = De Mir. Lib. i. ch. xxi. 
 
 3 So Jocelin. Vid. Alford, an. 431. Stillingfleet 211.
 
 i;38 ST. gkkjiaa's riiiST yi.-5iT to duitalx. 
 
 But a better argument is deduced from the circum- 
 stances of 8t. German's journey to Ai-les after his mis- 
 sion, to which there will soon be occasion more fully to 
 ad\ert again. Auxiliaris was then Prefect, and he 
 was no longer Prefect in 444 ; consequently, German 
 must have been in Britain before 446. Again, if 8t. 
 Eucher had been Bishop of Lyons when German 
 passed thi'ough that town, in going to Ai-les, Constan- 
 tius would have mentioned it, for vSt. Eucher was one 
 of the most eminent men of his time, and Constantius 
 was Priest in that very town. But »St. Eucher was 
 Bishop in 444, for he then joined Hilary and German 
 in deposing Chelidonius, Bishop of Besancon. There- 
 fore, Avhen German passed by, it was befoi-e 444. 
 Therefore, he was in Britain before 446. But of this 
 more hereafter. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 St. Germcm'sjirst visit to Britain. 
 
 St. Lupus, who was chosen to be the colleague of St. 
 German, was one of the most eminent men of his time. 
 His Life, which is still existing, and is almost as an- 
 cient as the Saint himself, informs us that he was bom at 
 Toul, in Loi-raine, of a noble family, A. D. 383. ^ His 
 father was called Epirichius, who died early, and left 
 the care of Lupus to his brother Listicius, which latter 
 bestowed great pains on his education. "When he grew 
 up he married Pimeniola, the sister of St. Hilary of 
 
 * Bolland. xxix. Jul. — Vid. Ceillier, torn. xv. 40.
 
 ST. GERJIAn's FLRST visit to BRITAIN. 139 
 
 Ai'les. After they had been married seven years, by 
 mutual consent they parted from each other, and Lupus 
 retu'ed to the Monastery of Lerins, in the south of 
 France, where Honoratus was tlien Abbot. There he 
 lived a year, after which, as he was returning to 
 Macon to give away all his fortune to the poor, he was 
 suddenly carried off to Troyes in Champagne, and with 
 miiversal approbation instituted Bishop of that place. 
 His learning, his ardour, his eloquence, his holiness, 
 ranked him among the most distinguished Bishops of 
 Gaul. He was an intimate friend of St. Sidonius Apol- 
 linaris, with whom some fragments of his correspond- 
 ence remain. He is there called by Sidonius a Father 
 of Fathers, a Bishop of Bishops, a second St. James, ^ 
 in allusion to a similar expi'ession of St. Clement con- 
 cerning St. James the Less. He had been only two 
 years at Troyes, when the synod which was held there 
 nominated him Apostle to Britain in conjunction with 
 St. German. The date of his birth will show that he 
 was junior to German by at least five years. He was 
 at this time forty-six years of age ; German was in his 
 fifty-first year. This dictinction of age may account 
 for the somewhat subordinate capacity in wliich he is 
 represented with regard to German in the following 
 account of their joint mission. 
 
 The two Apostles, for such they are always called by 
 contemporary writers, lost no time in doing the work 
 which was committed to them. They directed their 
 course towards Paris, through Sens and Melun, which, 
 as we all know, is the straight road to England, and 
 stopped at Metrodorum, now called Nantei're, about 
 two leagues from the present capital of France. The 
 
 1 Lib. vi. Ep. i. Et Notas.
 
 140 ST. German's fiust visit to uhitain. 
 
 inhabitants of the place came out to receive them on 
 their arrival, and obtain their blessing. AVhile German 
 was talking to the people, he perceived in the midst of 
 them a little girl about six years old,^ who appeared to 
 him to have the railiance of an angel on her counte- 
 nance. He desired that she might be brought nearer 
 to him. He then embraced the child, and asked who 
 she was. Genevieve he was told was her name ; her 
 father was Severus and her mother Gerontia. The 
 parents, who seem to have been persons of conside- 
 ration, were then called to answer the enquiries of 
 German. When they arrived, endued with a prophet- 
 ical spirit, he congratulated them on having such a 
 daughter, pronouncing her to be a chosen vessel of 
 God, and one who would hereafter become a bright 
 example to all. 
 
 He then requested Genevieve (who was no other than 
 the illustrious patron Saint of Paris) to open her mind 
 to him, and confess whether she intended to adopt the 
 holy life of a Virgin, and become one of the Spouses of 
 Christ. She declared that such was her desire, and 
 that she had cherished it for some time, and entreated 
 him to add his sanction and benediction. Having ex- 
 horted her to persevere in her purpose, he led her with 
 him to the Chui'ch of Nanterre, accompanied by all the 
 people. The Divine Service then began. The two 
 offices of nones and vespers were united, during which 
 a long series of psalms were sung, and protracted 
 prayers offered up.^ All the while Geniian continued 
 to hold his hand upon the head of the girl. The office 
 ended, and they retired for refreshment. 
 
 ' 423, A. D., is assigned as the year of her birth. 
 -' Nonam et Duodecimam celebrant. Vit. Genov. Jan. iii. 
 Bolland.
 
 ST. GERBIA^ S FIRST VISIT TO BRITAIN. 141 
 
 The following day German enquired of Genevieve 
 whether she was mindful of her late profession. ^ Upon 
 which, as if full of the Divine Spirit, she expressed her 
 determination to act up to it, and desired he would 
 always remember her in his prayers. While they were 
 conversing, German beheld on the ground a copper 
 coin with the impression of the cross upon it. The 
 interposition of God was deemed manifest. Accord- 
 ingly taking up the coin, he presented it to Genevieve, 
 and charged her to hang it to her neck, and always 
 carry it about with her in remembrance of him. Other 
 ornaments, such as the world offers, gold and precious 
 stones, she was enjoined to renounce. "Let them, he 
 said, who live for this life have these ; do thou, who 
 art become the S^jouse of Chi-ist, desire spiritual adorn- 
 ing." He then took leave of her, recommended her to 
 the special attention of her parents, and resumed Ms 
 journey with Lupus. Li remembrance of this present 
 of German to Genevieve, there long remained among 
 the Canons of St. Genevieve at Pai-is, the custom of 
 distributing annually on her festival a piece of bread 
 blessed, with an image of the coin impressed upon it. 
 We may remark moreover how early the practice pre- 
 vailed among Christians of carrying at their necks 
 some token of the mysteries of their religion ; and also, 
 that the profession of a religious life was a formal act, 
 not merely an internal resolution of the soul. 
 
 The two Bishops soon arrived at the sea-shore. 
 The winter months had now set in. But regardless 
 of the weather, they embarked, says Constantius, upon 
 the ocean with Christ for their leader. ^ The ship at 
 
 1 This seems decided proof that the child was very young. 
 - Vid. Vita St. Lupi. " Temporibus hybernis mari se com- 
 mittente."
 
 142 ST. ger^ian's first \asiT to britaix, 
 
 fii'st was carried out from the harbour of Gaul by soft 
 gale.^, till it reached the middle of the Channel, and 
 lost all sight of the land. Shortly after, the power of 
 demons seemed to be roused over the wide expanse. 
 Filled, as it were, with Avicked and malicious envy 
 towards the holy men who undertook to restore a 
 nation to the paths of salvation, they immediately be- 
 gan to excite the storms, and cover the sky with thick 
 clouds, which spread gloom and darkness over the 
 horizon. The sails were unable to resist the fury of 
 the winds, and the vessel began to yield to the weight 
 of the waves. The sailors at last relinquished their 
 post, and the ship was left to the sole aid of prayer. 
 Wliile these things were passing, the chief person in 
 the expedition, wearied with previous fatigues, had 
 fallen asleep. He was stiU in this state, when the 
 tempest broke tlirough aU obstacles, and the ship began 
 to sink. Then Lupus and the whole crew rushed in 
 great alarm to their venerable brother and awoke him, 
 hoping to oppose effectually his strength to the ele- 
 ments. In the midst of the danger, German remained 
 perfectly calm, and calling upon the name of Christ, 
 rebuked the raging of the sea. At the same time 
 taking oil, he sprinkled some over the waves, in the 
 name of the Blessed Trinity.^ Immediately they be- 
 gan to subside. Afterwards German, with the same 
 composm*e, addi'cssed words of encouragement to Lupus 
 and his fellow-travellers. They then prayed aU to- 
 gether. In the mean time, the last efforts of the evil 
 
 ' Alford, in this connexion, observes with Baronius, that this 
 sprinkling of oil does not relate to the sacramental ordinance 
 mentioned by St. James, but is to be referred to the example 
 proposed in St. Mark.
 
 ST. GER:MA]N- S FIRST \aSIT TO BRITAIN. 143 
 
 spirits were subdued, and tranquillity was restored to 
 the sea and to the air. The winds changed their 
 direction, and cai'ried the vessel safely towards the 
 British shore. 
 
 We are not told precisely where German landed in 
 Britain ; but, as Whitaker says, the harbour of Rhu- 
 tupia?, or Eichborough, between the mouth of the 
 Thames and Dover, was the great entrance from Gaul 
 to this island. It was there St. Augustine subse- 
 quently landed, and the Eomau troops generally were 
 disembarked at this spot, as the Antonine Itinerary 
 testifies. When German and Lupixs set foot on shore, 
 they were received by a multitude of people, who had 
 come from all sides to greet them. It appears the evil 
 spirits, by means of the projihetic exclamations of some 
 possessed persons, had given notice of theu' approach. 
 
 The fame of the two Apostolical envoys soon spread 
 all over the country. Their preaching and signs at- 
 tracted crowds to the Churches they visited. On their 
 jom-ney, also, they were accompanied by a large con- 
 course of people. And such was the zeal everywhere 
 displayed, that they Avere forced to stop and address 
 the multitudes in the fields and highways. On all 
 these occasions, they endeavoured to eradicate the 
 seeds of Pelagianism from the hearts of theii* hearers. 
 Nor did the event disappoint their expectations. Their 
 boldness and conscious strength, their learning, ortho- 
 dox teaching and sanctity, carried the feelings of all 
 with them ; insomuch that the authors of the Pelagian 
 leaven were obliged to remain hid, and mourn in 
 silence the defection of their disciples. At last, they 
 gathered their forces and resolved to encounter the two 
 Bishops. Like the Arian faction at Constantinople, 
 they trusted the display of worldly importance would
 
 144 ST. German's first AasiT to Britain. 
 
 prevail over the unassisted appeals of truth. They 
 came to the Conference with a s])lendi(l train. Riches 
 and glittering garments distinguished their party ; a 
 body of complaisant followers was ready to support 
 their assertions. The Synod (for such appears to have 
 been the nature of the assembly where the two parties 
 met) was attended by great numbers. Many Bishops 
 and Priests, doubtless, were there, anxious to see what 
 foreign assistance might eiFect for the destruction of a 
 heresy which they had in vain endeavoured to stifle. 
 At the same time, a number of the laity were allowed 
 to assist, with their wives and children. It should 
 seem some vast and open place w^as selected for the 
 reception of all who were interested in the issue ; and 
 the publicity of the Conference in itself was desirable, 
 as a means of disabusing the people. 
 
 In all respects the contrast between the parties was 
 striking. The language of the Pelagians, says Con- 
 stantius, presented more of empty verboseness than 
 forcible argument. And, indeed, the general effect of 
 their harangues may have been such. But when we 
 reflect upon the maturity to which the heresy had 
 arrived, the acuteuess which ever characterized its 
 maintainers, the deep root it had taken in Britain, and 
 the difliculty which the Catholic Clergy had expe- 
 rienced in their struggle against it, we cannot but 
 modify the import of his expressions by the nature of 
 the circumstances. The most elaborate and subtle dis- 
 cussions of heretics may sometimes, to orthodox ears, 
 who do not perceive the drift of them, have the ap- 
 pearance of shallowness and iiTclevancy. Again, any 
 thing, in one sense, may be considered as unphilosoph- 
 ical and superficial which is not true. And after all, 
 it was the popular impression which Constantius was
 
 ST. GERMAJs's FIRST \aSIT TO BRITAIN. 145 
 
 concerned to transmit. On the other hand, he says 
 German and Lupus, who were profoundly versed in 
 the Scriptures and theological learning, and hy nature 
 eloquent, were able to support the arguments which 
 reason and conscience dictated to them, by the most 
 convincing appeals to authority and tradition. The 
 truth of this assertion is abundantly shown by the 
 result ; for their adversaries were completely silenced 
 by the answers they received, and even confessed their 
 own errors ; while the people, astonished at their sig- 
 nal discomfiture, were ready to lay violent hands upon 
 them. 
 
 Some suppose this Council, which historically de- 
 serves an importance apart from the scanty records 
 which notice it, to have taken place at London, others 
 at Verulam or St. Alban's. The latter opinion, which 
 is the most favoiu'ed by critics, is derived from Mat- 
 thaeus Florilegus, who. wrote in 1307, a. d., and is, 
 therefore, no very safe authority. Camden tells us 
 that some old parchments of the Church of St. Alban's 
 bear witness that St. German went up to the pulpit, 
 and harangued the people, in the place Av^here there is 
 still a small chapel dedicated to him, Spelman and 
 Alford, who are followed by Colliex', incline to this 
 view.^ However, as German harangued the people 
 wherever he went, nothing can be inferred fi'om the 
 parchments of St. Alban's, as to this particular Synod. 
 And Constantius would rather lead us to suppose that 
 German removed from the place where it was held, to 
 go to St. Alban's, which could hardly be said had he 
 
 ' See also Clutterbuck's Hertfordshire. He makes the odd 
 mistake of assigning this circumstance to 401, t. i. p. 6. Collier, 
 p. 103. i, Spelman Concilia. Alford, 429. 
 L
 
 146 ST. German's first visit to Britain. 
 
 been in the. town. We are informed that the Acta, or 
 account of the proceedings, are still in existence,^ as 
 well as those of the Gallican Synod before mentioned ; 
 but in whose possession they are, is a mystery. Boe- 
 thius, a late writer, in his History of the Scotch, seems 
 indeed, to be the only authoi-ity for assigning the pre- 
 sent Council to London ; and yet it is the opinion 
 which tallies best with the probabilities of circum- 
 stances. London was at this time the most important 
 town in the south ; a Bishop resided there, who must 
 have been the Metropolitan, if not of the whole pro- 
 vince, yet of a great part of it. Besides, London was 
 in the way to St. Alban's. 
 
 Scarcely had the Conference ended, when an officer 
 in the Roman service, accompanied by his wife, ad- 
 vanced towards German and Lupus. He was a Tri- 
 bune, and at that time his office was one of great im- 
 portance, as it ranked next to that of Count or Duke. 
 In all great cities, there was a Tribune, who had both 
 the command of the troops and the superintendence of 
 the civil affairs, and was responsible only to the gover- 
 nor or Duke of the Province.'' The Tribune pre- 
 sented to the two Bishops his little daughter, who was 
 blind, and requested them to bestow such relief as lay 
 in their power. But he was desired to tiy first the 
 skill of their Pelagian adversaries, miracles having 
 always been considered by the Church the proper evi- 
 dence of true doctrine. But they who had now learnt 
 to think more humbly of themselves, united in demand- 
 ing her cure at the hands of German and Lupus. A 
 short prayer was then offered up, and German, full of 
 
 ' Vid. Boll. Comm. Prsev. § 59. Tillemont, t. xv. 
 ^ Dubos, torn. i. p. 80.
 
 ST. German's first visit to Britain. 147 
 
 the Holy Ghost, called upon the Blessed Trinity, 
 pulled from his breast the little box of relics, which he 
 ever carried about him, and applied it to the eyes of 
 the girl. Her sight was restored at once. This mira- 
 cle, perfoi'med in the presence of so great a multitude, 
 gave the finishing stroke to Pelagianism. In those 
 parts the heretics were totally suppressed, and the 
 people restored to purity of faith. If we might credit 
 the assertion of the author quoted above, Boethius, 
 there were some who refused to renounce their false 
 tenets, and who were burnt at the stake by the civil 
 magistrates. It is true, the secular power had been 
 armed against the heresy, and some severities had been 
 exercised in Gaul through the imperial edicts ; but 
 that a deed of this magnitude should have been left 
 unnoticed by Constantius, when the context Avould 
 have required at least some allusion to it, seems suffi- 
 cient to disprove the supposed fact ; add to which, the 
 cruelty which half a century before had been dis2:)layed 
 against the Priscillianists, and had been so earnestly 
 deprecated by St. Martin, would have left an impres- 
 sion calculated to avert any unnecessary retui-n of it. 
 
 However, German and Lupus having concluded the 
 conference, proceeded to St. Alban's tomb at Verulam, 
 in order to retui-n thanks to God. In this they did but 
 comply with the custom of the country, in the veneration 
 of which St. Alban held the rank of Patron Saint. His 
 name is still familiar to most Englishmen, though his 
 history is involved in much obscurity. He has deserved 
 the honour of being called the first British Mai-tyr, and 
 was probably put to death in the persecution of Max- 
 imian, the colleague of Diocletian, the fury of which has 
 already been adverted to. The famous Abbey which 
 stiU stands over his relics, was not built till the year
 
 148 ST. German's first visit to Britain. 
 
 700, by Offa, king of Mercia, consequently long after 
 German's visit. ^ But there was a Church or Basilica 
 already there at this time. 
 
 "Wlien German arrived, public prayers were per- 
 formed ; after which, he caused the tomb of the Saint 
 to be opened and deposited within some of the relics of 
 the Apostles and IVIartyrs which lie carried with him, 
 under the sense, says Constantiu.^, that there was a pro- 
 priety in joining in one receptacle the bones of those 
 who at the most distant parts of the world had exhi- 
 bited the same virtues. At the same time he took up 
 from the very spot where the blood of the Martyr had 
 been shed a handful of dust, which by the red stain it 
 still preserved, bore witness to the fury of persecution. ^ 
 Tliis he subsequently took to Auxerre, where he built 
 a Church in honour of St. Alban, which, says Hericus, 
 was held in the highest veneration. It was such actions 
 as that just related, which excited the indignation of 
 the heretic Vigilantius, not long before the events under 
 consideration, when he exclaimed : " We have now to 
 see almost the rites of the Gentiles introduced under 
 pretence of religion, a little dust forsooth, enveloped in 
 a precious cloth and placed in a convenient vessel, which 
 men kiss and worship." In answer to which St. Jerome 
 said : " We do not adore even the Sun or tlie Moon, or 
 the Angels, much less the relics of Martyrs ; but we 
 do honour the relics of Martyrs in order to adore Him 
 for whom they are Martyrs. We honour the servants, 
 that their honour may redound unto that of their 
 Lord."^ But to return. 
 
 ' See Moreri Diet, ad vocem. Bosch. Not. ad Const 
 
 -• Hericus Vita Mctr. B. iv. § 94. and De Mir. § 7. 
 
 ' Vid. Apud Thorn. Aquin. Qu. xxv. Ast. 2.
 
 ST. German's first visit to Britain. 149 
 
 Three centuries after, we are told, that king Offa 
 found at Verulam the coffin of St. Alban, Avhich had 
 been hidden, for fear of the barbarians, together with 
 these same relics of the Apostles and Martyrs which 
 German had there deposited. ^ On which occasion, the 
 people that were present, both clergy and laymen, were 
 so moved at the sight, that they shed tears of joy and 
 thanksgiving. 
 
 There is little or no credit to be attached to the story 
 of the Monks of Cologne, who in the middle ages as- 
 serted that German had carried the remains of St. Al- 
 ban to Rome, and that at a future tilne they were 
 brought to their city. The body in fact i-emained en- 
 tire at Verulam, where a chapel was afterwards built 
 in honour of St. German and his visit to the Martyr's 
 remains. This chapel in process of time formed a part 
 of the great Abbey of St. Albans. ^ 
 
 After German had visited the shrine of St. Alban, 
 he met with an accident (the only one which is recorded 
 in his long life) which though not of a very serious 
 nature, yet impeded his progress. Having bruised his 
 foot, he was obliged to stop, and take up his abode in a 
 cottage. During his stay, a fire broke out in the neigh- 
 bourhood, which spread with so much the more rapid- 
 ity as the roofing of the houses was of thatch, a circum- 
 stance not unimportant in these days of antiquarian 
 research.^ Men from all sides came to warn him of the 
 danger, but he remained perfectly composed, and would 
 
 ' Matt. Floril. apud Usseri. 329. 
 
 ' Vid. Dugdalc, and a quotation from Matt. Paris, in Alford 
 ad an. 441. 
 
 ^ Comp. Hallam Middle Ages, and an article in No. 3, Archse- 
 ologieal Journal.
 
 150 ST. German's Frasx visit to Britain. 
 
 not suffer himself to be removed. All tlie buildings 
 around were burnt to the ground, while tliat in which 
 he was detained, as if by miracle, escaped the flames. 
 
 In the meantime, German continued to endure the 
 pain wliicli liis accident liad produced without accept- 
 ing any remedy. One night a person clad in white 
 garments appeared to him and raised him up. At that 
 instant he recovered the use of his leg, and prepared to 
 resume his journey. The reader will be reminded of 
 the angel who appeared to St. Peter. 
 
 About this time it is supposed St. Patrick, the future 
 Apostle of Ireland, came to visit St. German, and con- 
 sult him about his studies and the means of converting 
 men. This does not appear to have been the first in- 
 terview of these Saints. St. Patrick was probably under 
 the care and tuition of St. German several years before. 
 There are few things better attested than their friend 
 ship and intercourse, and in all the accounts of St. 
 Patrick's life, it is believed the names of both are united. 
 Yet the exact circumstances of their connexion are 
 seemingly uncertain and confused from the very variety 
 of the witnesses. William of Malmesbury dates their 
 intimacy from this journey of German to Britain ; and 
 a few years after, supposes German to have obtained 
 the sanction of Pope Celestine for sending St. Patrick 
 as Apostle to L-eland. ^ These events, however, belong 
 rather to a Life of St. Patrick. It is sufficient here to 
 commemorate that union Avhich existed between two 
 such eminent men ; and it may afford a further proof 
 of the holiness of both, that German was the friend of 
 Patrick, Patrick of German. Constantius says nothing 
 
 ' Vid. Usher, p. 840. Bede and Capgrave apud Alford. 429.
 
 THE ALLELUIATIC VICTORY. 151 
 
 about it, but his commentator, Hericus of Auxerre, 
 supplies the omission. 
 
 While German was detained by his accident, a great 
 number of sick persons came to see him to be cured of 
 their respective diseases. Others came to desire spiri= 
 tual instruction. German healed the first, and enlight- 
 ened the latter. The miraculous power which is as- 
 signed to him in healing sick people, can only be 
 compared with that which St. Peter and St. Paul pos- 
 sessed, concerning whom it is said, that by them, " they 
 were healed every one" whosoever had any disease. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 The Alleluiatw Victory. 
 
 With the names of the Picts and Scots, who, it has 
 been seen, infested Britain during the early part of the 
 fifth century, that of the Saxons has been mentioned in 
 a previous chapter ; which the reader may either not 
 have observed, or may have looked upon as an ana- 
 chronism. According to the chronology that has been 
 adopted, the Invasion, properly so called, of the Saxons 
 and Angles took place nearly twenty years after the 
 first visit of German, that is, in 448, A. d., if we follow 
 Alford, or in 450 if Usher be heard. But it has been 
 proved beyond question, from contemjiorary writers, 
 that the Saxons made occasional descents uj)on the 
 island long before their final settlement. So early as 
 the beginning of the reign of Yalentinian I., that is, 
 about 364, the Britons were attacked by them. And 
 to secure them from the insults of this foreign enemv,
 
 152 THE ALLELUIATIC YICTOaV. 
 
 a subsequent emperor appointed a Comes Littoris Sax- 
 onici, that is, a Commanding Officer, to guard the coasts 
 of Britain which were most exposed to their assaults. ^ 
 Nay, earlier even than this, in 28G, during the reign of 
 Diocletian, Entropius tells us that the Saxons, with the 
 Franks, infested the Districts of Belgica and Armorica, 
 the latter of which faces the southern coast of Britain, 
 which consequently must have shared in the calamity. ^ 
 For all contemporary writers bear witness to the bold- 
 ness and extent of their piratical exploits. " The Saxons, 
 says Orosius the historian, Avho dwell on the shores of 
 the Atlantic (what we should call the North Sea), in 
 the midst of impassable marshes, are a nation terrible 
 for their coui-age and activity, and highly formidable to 
 the Roman power."^ "It is a mere amusement, says 
 Sidonius Apollinaris, for the pirate Saxon to cut tlirough 
 the British Sea in his pinnace of osier and skins."* 
 And in fact the Saxons in these light skiffs, similar in 
 materials to those described by Herodotus with regard 
 to the Armenians, used to undertake very distant expe- 
 ditions. They were known to have penetrated as far 
 as the Columns of Hercules at the extremity of Spain, 
 and Britain which lay foremost in their way naturally 
 became the object of continual aggression. What was 
 the precise situation of tlieir own country is not very 
 clear. The words of Orosius, just quoted, seem to show 
 that they occupied the coast of Germany which extends 
 
 ' Ammian. Marcellin. Hist. Lib. 26. apud Usserium — Notit. 
 Imper — Collier. 
 
 - Dubos, torn. i. p. 75. 
 ' Ibid. 169. 
 " Sid. Apoll. Paneg. Aviti. See also Hegesippus Eccl. Hist. 
 Lib. V. Pliny. Hist. Lib. iv. ch. 16. Lucan Pharsal. Lib. iv. 
 Caesar. Comment. Lib. 1. Bell. Civ. Herod Clio. 194. ch.
 
 THE ALLELUIATIC VICTORY. 153 
 
 between the Rhine and the Weser, known by the name 
 of Frieslancl. And such is the opinion of a, writer of 
 those parts, Bei'nardus Fiu'nerius, in his Annals of the 
 Frisian people.^ 
 
 While German and Lupus were in Britain, one of 
 these plundering expeditions of the Saxons took place. 
 They joined their forces to those of the Picts, the eter- 
 nal enemies of the Britons, and made a descent upon 
 the coasts of North Wales, in Flintshire. They chose 
 a favourable spot for their attack, having rowed or 
 towed their boats up the river Dee, and landed under 
 the Welsh hills, near Mold. The Britons, who had as- 
 sembled to oppose them, found themselves unable to 
 cope with the peculiar tactics of their enemy, and were 
 constrained to remain within their own entrenchments. 
 The descriptions which have been left of the mode of 
 attack practised by the Saxons, wiU best explain the 
 reasons of their embarrassment. 
 
 In their light vessels, which they were careful to fill 
 with expert and resolute men, the Saxons never used 
 to lose sight of the land, if possible ; and indeed the 
 nature of their boats required but little depth of water. 
 When a storm came on, they took refuge in some creek, 
 or beneath the cliffs on the coast. At the return of the 
 fair weather, they again left their place of refuge, and 
 directing their course fx'om cape to cape, they stopped 
 wherever any occasion of plunder offered. The want 
 of our modern resources of artillery rendered all offen- 
 sive measures against these invaders quite useless. It 
 was a frequent custom with them, as in the present oc- 
 casion, to navigate up the rivers which came in their 
 way ; and sometimes they might have been found at 
 
 ' Ed. 1609. Franecarse.
 
 154 THE ALLELUIATIC VICTORY. 
 
 the distance of fifty leagues from the sea, like the Nor- 
 mans in the ninth century, whose predatory fleets were 
 seen in the Seine under the walls of Paris. When they 
 had advanced so for into the land as to begin to lack 
 depth of water, the men got ashore to lighten the boats 
 which they towed along. A whole army of them thus 
 used to descend upon those defenceless tracts of country 
 where the vigilance of the Maritime Commanders had 
 not prevented their progress. The chief means which 
 were employed to resist them consisted in the use of 
 a number of flat boats which the Roman Government 
 had stationed in the rivers, and bridges thrown across 
 the stream near the walls of cities to obstruct the pas- 
 sage of the enemy. ^ An extract from a letter of Sido- 
 nius Apollinaris will show how difficult it was to repel 
 them, and will illustrate some characteristics of their 
 manners as well as those of their allies the Picts and 
 Scots. He writes thus to a friend : 
 
 " I have been informed that you have given the sig- 
 nal of departure to your fleet, and are performing the 
 parts of both sailor and soldier, wandering along the 
 tortuous coasts of the sea in pursuit of those long 
 curved skiflTs of the Saxons. ^ Of course as many of 
 them as you perceive at the oar, you may reckon to be 
 so many arch-pirates ; for indeed all at once command, 
 obey, instruct, and learn to plunder. I have great 
 reason then in recommending precaution to you. 
 These of all our enemies are the most fierce. They 
 attack by surprise, and escape when discovered. They 
 despise your preparations, and yet, if you do not take 
 measures, they are instantly upon you. They never 
 
 ' Vid. Dubos, p. 175 and 75. 
 - " Pandos myoparones."
 
 THE ALLELUIATIC VICTORY. 155 
 
 pui'sue without success, never make away without im- 
 punity. Shipwrecks instead of alai'ming them, are a 
 mere exercise. With the perils of the sea they are 
 more than acquainted, they are familiar. If a tempest 
 supervene, they know this, that their designed victims 
 will be off their guard, and that they will escape no- 
 tice out at sea. And in the midst of the waves and 
 the rocks, there they play with danger, expecting shortly 
 a successfid descent. If, when about to set sail for 
 their own country, they weigh anchor before their 
 enemy's coast, they have this preliminary custom. Just 
 before they start, they decimate their captives for 
 cruel tortures, wliich are the more horrid from the 
 superstition that dictates them. They think that chance 
 which presides at the drawing of lots is of that equita- 
 ble nature, that all the iniquity which might be im- 
 puted to such frightful slaughter is as a matter of 
 course removed. And as if purified by these saci'ifices, 
 not rather polluted by the sacrilege, the perpetrators of 
 this bloody deed make it a point of religion to prefer 
 the death of their captives to any proffered ransom." 
 
 It was this last practice mentioned by Sidonius, 
 which made probably Salvian some years before call 
 the Saxons emphatically the savage Saxons.^ It does 
 not appear the Picts and Scots were less cruel under 
 the similar influence of Paganism and superstition. 
 The two Apostles of those nations, St. Palladius and 
 St. Patrick, had not yet set out to convert them. 
 
 The combined forces of these nations were laying 
 waste the country of Flintshire, and forcing the Britons 
 who had assembled to oppose them, to remain within 
 their entrenchments, when a deputation arrived in the 
 
 ' " Ferus Saxon," De Gubern.
 
 156 THE ALLELUIATIC AaCTOKY, 
 
 parts Avhere German and Lupus were preaching, and 
 requested them as a last resource to come to the assist- 
 ance of the exposed army. They readily complied, 
 and hastening their progress, soon arrived near Mold, 
 in Flintshire, or as the Welsh call it, Guid-cruc, where 
 they found the Britons collected. Their arrival infused 
 at once joy and confidence into all hearts, as if holiness, 
 we are told, had been in itself an equivalent to a large 
 army. The two Prelates were then constituted Gene- 
 rals of the British Forces, one of the earliest instances 
 in which ecclesiastical rulers are known to have taken 
 the lead in military exploits. 
 
 It was now the season of Lent, that is, the spring of 
 the year 430. The Britons were wont to observe the 
 Forty Days with particular solemnity ; and the pre- 
 sence of German and Lupus now added to the strict- 
 ness of their observance. Every day the two Bishops 
 preached to the soldiers ; insomuch, says Constantius, 
 that there was a general wish to receive the grace of 
 Baptism ; and a great number were initiated into the 
 Church at the river Alen which ran beside the camp,^ 
 By this we are to understand that there were as yet 
 many Pagans in Bi-itain, which the analogy of other 
 countries would confirm, or that there were many per- 
 sons, who, though professing the Clu-istian reUgion, 
 deferred their baptism till the last, according to a cor- 
 rupt custom very prevalent in all Christendom, which 
 was frequently reprobated from the pulpit, and of 
 which Constantine the Great had been a striking ex- 
 ample.® But this last cause, which has escaped the at- 
 
 ' Alen is called Strat-Alen by the Welsh. See Camden. 
 - Vid. St. Chrys. ad Acta Apost. Horn. I., and Bingham, who 
 has explained the various reasons of the practice.
 
 THE ALLELUIATIC VICTORY. 157 
 
 tentioii of critics, need not be taken alone. Probably 
 the Catechumens were a mixed number of both 
 classes. 
 
 The Saturday night, called the Great Sabbath, and 
 the following morning of Easter Day were the times 
 appointed in the Church for Baptism ; and apparently 
 were devoted to this purpose in the army of the 
 Britons. On Easter Day, which this year fell on the 
 30th of March, a temporary Church was erected with 
 the branches of trees, and adapted to the offices of 
 religion like churches in towns. ^ Hither the people 
 fresh from the waters of Baptism thronged to celebrate 
 the Resurrection of our Lord. "V^liile they were thus 
 employed, the enemy who received intelligence of what 
 was going on in the British army immediately seized 
 the opportunity, and advanced towards the camp. 
 Their march was announced just as the Solemnities 
 of Easter were concluded. The neophyte army filled 
 with extraordinary ardour prepared for battle. German 
 acted the part of commander. With some light troops 
 he proceeded to survey the country ; and fovxnd in the 
 direction which the enemy would necessarily take, a 
 valley surrounded with high hills. Here he posted the 
 body of his army. Soon after the Saxons and the Picts 
 arrived at the entrance of the valley, secure of victory, 
 and vmconscious of any ambuscade. Suddenly a loud 
 shout of Alleluia resounded in the mountains, and Al- 
 leluia passed from hill to hill, gathering strength as it 
 was re-echoed on all sides. Consternation filled them 
 at once ; and as if the rocks were ready to fall and 
 crush them, seized with a general panic they imme- 
 diately took to flight, leaving their arms, baggage, and 
 
 ' Tillemont xv. 18.
 
 158 THE ALLELUIATIC \nCTORY. 
 
 even clothes behind them. A large number perished 
 in the river. The Britons who had remained motion- 
 less, and were bj order of German the authors of 
 the cry of Alleluia, now came forth to collect the spoils 
 of a victory which all acknowledged the gift of Heaven. 
 Thus says Constantius, did Faith obtain a triumph, 
 without slaughter, with two Bishops for leaders. Thus 
 might it be said with a modern writer, does the Church 
 conquer. " Not by strength of arm, by a soldiery, im- 
 plements of war, strong holds, silver and gold ; for of 
 these she has none ; but by the visible tokens of a 
 Divine ministry ; by the weapons of God."^ 
 
 The memory of this battle is still preserved by the 
 inhabitants of Flintshire ; and the place where the 
 armies were situated, bears even now the name of 
 Maes Garmon, or the Field of German. It is about a 
 mile from Mold. A glance at the map will show 
 that the mountainous natiu-e of the country aiforded 
 both scope for an ambuscade and a convenient locality 
 for the landing of the Barbarians. To this event, which 
 goes in history by the name of the Alleluiatic Victory, 
 Gregory the Great three hundred years after seems to 
 have alluded, in his Commentary on the Book of Job : 
 " The Faith of the Lord," he says, " has now found 
 entrance into the hearts of almost all people •,^ and has 
 united in one bond the Eastern and Western regions. 
 Behold the tongue of the Briton, once wont to howl in 
 barbarous sounds, has since learnt to resound the He- 
 brew Alleluia in praise to God. The ocean once so 
 boisterous is become subservient to the will of Saints ; 
 
 ' Sermons on Subjects of the Day, p. 274. 
 "■ Vid. apud Usserium, p. 333., and Alford, an. 429.
 
 THE ALLELCIATIG VICTORT. 159 
 
 and its rage, which the ami of princes is unable to 
 tame, is fettered by the simple word of God's Priests." 
 
 It may seem somewhat strange to the student that 
 Gildas should not have made mention of this signal 
 event, in his History of Britain, previous to the Saxon 
 Conquest. In that work the name of St. German is 
 not once mentioned. It may be answered that Gildas, 
 in another work which, according to the earliest tra- 
 dition, he was supposed to have written, did probably 
 give a special notice of St. German and his deeds. 
 Walfrid of Monmouth tells us that through St. Ger- 
 man and St. Lupus, God manifested many miracles, 
 which Gildas in his Treatise had clearly set forth. 
 And we learn that besides his History and Epistle, 
 Gildas wrote an account of the victory of Aurelius 
 Ambrosius who lived about this time. ^ And though 
 it may be said that the History of Nennius is often 
 attributed to Gildas by early writers, yet we have no 
 proof that this particular work was the same as the 
 History which now is given to Nennius ; besides wliich 
 Nennius himself in many parts of his book may be 
 looked upon as the Transcriber of Gildas. But fur- 
 thermore in Gildas's acknoAvledged history, he is any 
 thing but circumstantial, and he confesses himself that 
 he wrote from foreign report, and not from the records 
 of native writers, ^ adding that pi'ecision in that account 
 was not always to be expected of him. And in truth 
 much of his history is vague and applicable to any 
 revolution caused by foes from without and dissensions 
 within. Again Gildas was further removed from the 
 times he describes than Constantius, and even sup- 
 
 ' See Usher, 335 and 101. 
 ^ Transmarinu relatione, p. 13.
 
 160 THE ALLELUIATIC VICTORY. 
 
 posing he had nowhere commemorated St. German's 
 great deeds, the contrary of which is more probable, 
 yet the confusion which the Saxon Conquest had 
 thrown over the past, and the straits to which Gildas 
 was exposed through emigration, might accovmt for 
 important omissions. But there is more than this, it is 
 believed that in one of his indefinite descriptions of the 
 state of the Britons he has expressly alluded to the 
 Alleluiatic Victory, when he says, " Then for the first 
 time the Britons obtained a victory over the enemy 
 who for many years had occupied their land, because 
 they confided not in man hut in God, according to the 
 saying of Philo : ' when human aid fails, one must have 
 recourse to Divine assistance.' Then the daring ene- 
 mies rested for a season ; but the corruption of the 
 Britons afterwai'd returned ; the public foes retired 
 from the land, but not the nation from their crimes." 
 
 Now the great objection to this view is, that Gildas 
 assigns the event in question to a time subsequent to 
 the embassy of the Britons to Aetius, which took place 
 in 446. Therefore, it may be said, it could not coin- 
 cide with St. German's first mission, tvhich we have 
 assigned to 429, though it might if the chronology of 
 Bede and others be preferred to that of Prosper. But 
 without making this any ground for delaying St. Ger- 
 man's first mission, for the authority of Gildas in this 
 point w^ould be next to none, still it is very conceivable 
 that Gildas may have referred the victory against the 
 barbarians to his second mission,^ which in fact did 
 take place after the embassy to Aetius, that is, in 447 ; 
 or may altogether have confounded the two visits of 
 the Saint to this Island, which is the more probable, as 
 
 ' The learned Carte in a note inclines to this also, p. 182.
 
 THE ALLELUIATIC VICTORY. 161 
 
 his imitator, Nennius, wlio is so full about St. German, 
 does not seem to have been aware of them, and Gildas 
 aiFords no trace of having been acquainted with Con- 
 stantius's work ; both he and Nennius following autho- 
 rities of their own. The learned moreover are agreed 
 that the chronology and precision of Gildas are by no 
 means to be pressed without examination. Yet as there 
 is reason also to think he would not have mentioned 
 a fact without foundation for it, the passage above 
 quoted is conceived to be a real and distinct reference 
 to the Alleluiatic Victory, which was so especially the 
 gift of Heaven. 
 
 Lastly, if a conjecture may be hazarded, the very in- 
 distinctness in which Bede has involved his chronology 
 of this period, may have arisen from the confusion of 
 the two visits of St. German by Gildas, or at least by 
 his having postponed the Alleluiatic Victory. Induced 
 by Constantius, his chief authority on one hand, he 
 preserved the connexion between the first overthrow of 
 Pelagianism and the Victory, while on the other fol- 
 lowing Gildas as to the probable date of the latter, be- 
 cause Constantius had assigned none, he transferred 
 the combined circumstances to the late epoch of 449. ^ 
 And this may account in some measure for his seemino- 
 neglect of St. Prosper's authority, (if indeed he was 
 acquainted with the copy of that writer's Chronicon 
 which has here been considered genuine,) namely, that 
 Gildas had referred the Alleluiatic Victory to a period 
 about twenty years later than that to which St. Pros- 
 per assigns the first overthrow of Pelagianism, and 
 Bede did not think himself justified in breaking the 
 connexion which Constantius had observed, a connexion 
 
 ' See Epit. Eccl. Hist, et Sex ^Etat. Mundi. 
 M
 
 162 ENGLISH TRADITIONS. 
 
 which after all Constantius himself may (not impossi- 
 bly) have been misinlbrmed in. 
 
 CHAPTER XV, 
 
 English Traditions. 
 
 German and Lupus remained less than a year in Bri- 
 tain, but during that short time they rendered invalua- 
 ble services to the people. There are many difficulties 
 connected with this part of their history, as regards 
 those facts which are not specified by Constantius. 
 But it is manifest from numerous and circumstantial 
 traditions that they effected a reform in many ways in 
 the political constitution as well as in the Church. 
 Those changes which relate to the former wiU be re- 
 served for a subsequent consideration, since they pro- 
 perly belong to St. German's second visit to Britain, 
 during which he was brought more directly into inter- 
 course with king Vortigeini. The following few tradi- 
 tions, out of many, will illustrate the ecclesiastical and 
 moral improvements which are attributed to the sojourn 
 of German and Lupus in this country. 
 
 " The two Bishops," says an ancient record of high 
 authority, " after having extirpated the Pelagian her- 
 esy,^ consecrated Bishops in many places, but chiefly 
 among the Britons of the Eastern provinces (the 
 Welsh.) Foremost among these was the blessed Du- 
 bricius, a doctor of great learning, whom they conse- 
 
 ' Apud Usserium, 79, and Stillingfleet, 207.
 
 ENGLISH TRADITIONS. 163 
 
 crated Archbishop, as elected by the king and the 
 whole diocese. When German had conferred this dig- 
 nity upon him, they appointed him his Episcopal See, 
 with the consent of Mouricus the king, the princes, the 
 clergy and the people, at Landaff, and dedicated the 
 place to St. Peter the Apostle." 
 
 From this centre issued many other distinguished 
 Bishops. Daniel was made Bishop of Bangor, and 
 Btutus Bishop of Llan Iltut. The whole island in 
 short was filled with the disciples of German. ^ Besides 
 St. Dubricius, St. Iltutus, we hear of St. Tlieliaus, St. 
 Sampson, St. Aidanus, St. David, St. Paulinus, St. 
 Cadocus, sm-named Sophus, or the Wise, (who went to 
 Eome and became Bishop of Beneventum in Italy, 
 where he was murdered before the altar,) St. Bi-iocus, 
 since first Bishop of St. Brieux in Brittany, St. Patrick, 
 St. German (called after St. German of Auxerre,) who 
 went to Scotland, and others. ^ 
 
 Another tradition informs us that " when almost all 
 the inhabitants of Cambridge (which Usher will not 
 allow to be the Cambridge) had been endangered by 
 the adversaries of God (the Pelagians,) Vortimer, the 
 son of Vortigern, defended the students with a powerful 
 hand. From their body, it is added, the holy doctors, 
 German and Lupus, selected assistants to help them in 
 expelling the heresy and other errors while they pro- 
 claimed the way of God in various parts of the king- 
 dom. By God's aid they came to Caer Leon in Gla- 
 morganshire, where they not only taught the Sacred 
 Scriptures, but also instructed the youth in other liberal 
 sciences, wherein reason is the guide and nature the 
 
 ' Collier, torn. i. p. 111. Alford an. 437. 
 Bosch. Comm. Praev. vii. Bolland. Usher 339.
 
 104 ENGLISH TRADITIONS. 
 
 study. And thus some became profound in astronomy 
 and other learning, and were able to observe the course 
 of the stars with success ; others foretold prodigies 
 which were to occur about that time among the Britons ; 
 while others despising the world and its enjoyments, 
 from love of a heavenly life cleaving to God alone, 
 turned their devout thoughts to the contemplation of 
 Holy Scripture and to Prayer ; among whom were 
 Tremerinus, Dubricius, Theonotus, Eldadus, David, 
 Swithunus, Dumianus, who laboured with constancy 
 and proficiency in the exposition of the Scriptures," 
 
 Such accounts, while they illustrate the great activity 
 of German and Lupus, are also the foundation some- 
 what uncertain of the antiquity claimed for the imi- 
 versity of Cambridge. There may be some partiality 
 in prefen-ing the claims of Oxford as better supported, 
 but it is rather with a view to show the far spreading 
 influence of our Saints' fame, that the following inter- 
 esting circumstances are here produced. 
 
 " Li 88G, A. D., we are told, a fierce contention arose 
 in Oxford between GrjTnbald with the learned men he 
 brought with him and the old students whom he found 
 in that city. These last refused altogether to admit 
 the laws, forms and usages, which Grymbald introduced 
 into the Public Lectures. For the three first years the 
 open dissension was but small, and animosity remained 
 concealed. But afterwards it broke out with great 
 fury. To appease the disturbance, Alfred, that invin- 
 cible king, says the record, having through Grymbald 
 made himself acquainted with the causes, came to Ox- 
 ford to put an end to the controversy. Here he under- 
 went much labour in hearing and judging the disputes 
 of the parties. The sum of tlieir quarrel was as follows : 
 The old students afiirmed that before Grymbald came
 
 ENGLISH TRADITIOKS. 165 
 
 to Oxford, letters had been in a flourishing condition 
 there ; although the numbers of the students had di- 
 minished of late from the tyranny of the Pagan con- 
 querors. Moreover they clearly proved by the au- 
 thority of the Ancient Annals, that the statutes and 
 regulations had been established by men of great piety 
 and learning, such as St. Gildas, Melkinus, Nennius, 
 Kentigern and others, who all grew old in Oxford in 
 the study of letters, and governed with peace and con- 
 cord. Furthermore that St. German also had come to 
 Oxford and spent half a year there, at the time when 
 he travelled through Britain to oppose the Pelagians ; 
 and he expressed, they affirmed, his admiration dis- 
 tinctly for the statutes of the place. King Alfred 
 having heard both sides, (we do not learn what the op- 
 posite school urged in their favour), exerted his au- 
 thority in recommending unanimity. He then de- 
 parted, charging them to follow each their respective 
 customs with mutual forbearance. But Grymbald 
 highly displeased at this arbitration, immediately left 
 Oxford for the Monastery of Winchester, which Alfred 
 had recently founded. Afterwards he caused his re- 
 mains to be buried in the vaults of the Church of St. 
 Peter at Oxford, which Grymbald had erected from 
 the very foundations with carefully polished stone P 
 
 Without pronouncing upon the authenticity of such 
 evidence, which Camden is more disposed to receive 
 than Usher, there is one circumstance relating to the 
 subject-matter which has not often been noticed, and 
 yet is of some importance. Li every large town, it has 
 already been remarked, public schools had been estab- 
 lished by the Roman government ; and, after the pat- 
 tern of Gaul and other provinces of the empire, Pro- 
 fessors of Letters, Science, and Philosophy, were main-
 
 IGG ENGLISH TRADITIONS. 
 
 tained at the public expense. K, then, Oxford and 
 Cambridge existed in these early times, as chief towns, 
 (and it is probable they did) they would, as a matter 
 of course, have had their schools and literary appoint- 
 ments. The question then is, whether they were de- 
 stroyed by the Saxon invaders and only restored at a 
 later period, or whether, amid the general havoc occa- 
 sioned by the invasion, they alone survived, and trans- 
 mitted their learning and statutes to future generations. 
 Until this matter be settled, it is useless to seek for 
 Universities in Roman times, for all great towns then 
 were privileged with them. The doubt is, whether 
 the connexion remained unbroken, for which the above 
 evidence in favour of Oxford, seems to be in point. 
 Sed mdehunt alii. 
 
 On the whole, says Carte, there is no room to doubt 
 of the institution of schools of learning by St. Ger- 
 man, Avhich are attested by many ancient wi-iters, and 
 universally admitted by the learned critics and anti- 
 quarians of later ages. ^ 
 
 But to advert, lastly, to another class of services 
 which German and Lupus are said to have rendered to 
 Britain, a document of the seventh century asserts 
 that they introduced the Galilean Liturgy into the 
 British Church. " The Blessed Cassian" it says, " who 
 lived in the IMonastery of Lerins with the blessed Hon- 
 oratus, and afterwards Honoratus the first Abbot, and 
 St. Cesarius, Bishop of Aries, and St. Porcarius, Abbot 
 also of Lerins, observed this Liturgical Use (the Gal- 
 ilean.) And in the same monastery with them were 
 the blessed German and Lupus as monks, and they 
 also followed the same Rule and the same Use in divine 
 
 ' T. i. p. 182.
 
 ENGLISH TRADITIONS. 167 
 
 service. They, in process of time, obtained the dig- 
 nity due to their sanctity, and subsequently, in Britain 
 and in the regions of the Scots, came and taught, as 
 we read in the lives of the two Saints." 
 
 This statement, of course, is faulty in many respects. 
 We do not hear of Cassian having lived at Lerins. 
 St. Victor, at Marseilles, was his monastery. Though 
 St. Lupus was monk at Lerins, St. German is nowhere 
 else said to have resided there, and the circumstances 
 of his life would not well admit of it. The main in- 
 formation, however, which the author intended to con- 
 vey, namely, that German and Lupus introduced the 
 Liturgical Use of Gaul into Britain, may nevertheless 
 be authentic. The Public Service of the Church at 
 that time was not so universally settled as to make this 
 introduction an irregularity, even supposing there were 
 no adequate sanction for it. Nor is tliis the place to 
 draw invidious distinctions between the Roman and 
 the Galilean Liturgy, as Stillingfleet and Collier are 
 pleased to do ;i we must beware of carrying modern 
 prejudices and controversies into the study of the 
 ancients, just as (to borrow an illustration from a re- 
 cent writer) we may not seek Calvinism in St. Augus- 
 tine, or Arminianism in St. Chrysostom. 
 
 1 Still. Orior. 221. Collier i. 112.
 
 168 ST. GERaiAN's RETURN TO GAUL. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Si. German's Return to Gaul. 
 
 The two Bisliops, having accomplislied the object of 
 their journey, by suppressing the heresy of the Pela- 
 gians, and done other great deeds for the Britons, after 
 the lapse of about a year, embarked again for Gaul, 
 amid the acclamations of an immense multitude as- 
 sembled to see them off. They carried with them the 
 sacx'ed dust from St. Alban's tomb, and arrived safe at 
 the opposite coast. They afterwards parted company, 
 and returned to their respective Sees. 
 
 St. Lupus, of whom we must now take a final leave, 
 governed the Church of Troyes for many years, during 
 which he saved that city from the fury of Attila, king 
 of the Huns, and distinguished himself by his learning, 
 wisdom, and heroic sanctity. Notwithstanding a life 
 of excessive austerity, he protracted his existence to 
 the great age of ninety-six, and died in 470, in the 
 fifty-second year of his Episcopate, about twenty years 
 after the death of his old companion German. This 
 is one of those instances, among many others, which 
 made Lord Bacon wonder that the ancient Saints, with 
 their rigid asceticism, should have lived so long. 
 
 St. German was accompanied on his return by one 
 of his new disciples, St. Briocus, before mentioned. 
 St. Briocus was a Briton of a noble family. St. Ger- 
 man instructed him in the science of holiness, and 
 Briocus greatly profited by his precepts. After he had
 
 ST. German's return to gaul. 169 
 
 drunk deep, says history, at the fountains of sound doc- 
 trine, he returned from Gaul to his country ; and there 
 taught his parents the true faith, and went about 
 preaching everywhere. Being desirous, howevei', of 
 improving more abundantly the talent of the Lord, he 
 retired to Ai'morica, or Brittany, in Gaul. Here he 
 effected the conversion of Count Conan, and baptized 
 him. Then collecting some persons anxious to lead a 
 religious life, he erected a Monastery at St. Brieux, so 
 called after himself, on the foundations granted by 
 Conan. He then received the Episcopal consecration, 
 from the Metropolitan of Tours, and presided over his 
 diocese with great honour for nearly thirty years. 
 Finally, having gone to Angers on ecclesiastical busi- 
 ness, he there breathed his last.^ St. Briocus may 
 be taken as a specimen of St. German's missionary 
 success. 
 
 ' Usher 997. Alford an. 437.
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 Page 61, lines 25 and 30, for Marmontier read MarmoMtier. 
 Page 119, line 18, for St. Jerome read St. Sulpitius.
 
 TWELVE YEARS. 171 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Twelve Years. 
 
 A GREAT work accomplished, a great event brought to 
 pass through him or before his eyes, a man's character 
 is at once altered ; he is suddenly raised in the scale of 
 being. The change is not merely outward, it is not a 
 mere shifting of position ; for though all before was in 
 preparation, and the materials were in readiness, yet 
 the corabinating power of one action seems to bring 
 out of them a new nature — a new life. Those elements 
 which were either disjoined or connected without unity, 
 now become one, and assume a shape and permanent 
 consistency. Moreover as all true knowledge resides 
 in the relation of ideas, and knowledge has a tendency 
 to produce confidence, when circumstances throw a 
 fresh light upon this relation, man seems to acquire a 
 further insight into his own character and condition, 
 and his confidence, whether in himself or in Him whose 
 instrument he is, is proportionably increased. We 
 have but to consider what the feelings are of a warrior 
 who has just gained his first great battle — what he was 
 yesterday, what to-day ; or again, the emotions and 
 thoughts of one who has escaped from the grasp of 
 death and been restored to health and powers of reflec- 
 tion ; or the ideas which unexpected preservation from 
 the terrors of the sea excite in the breast of those who 
 are safely landed ; and we shall understand something 
 of that mysterious change which one action, one event 
 can effect in man. 
 
 St. German's victory over the Pelagians is an in- 
 stance of such a change. His original Biographer is 
 
 N
 
 172 TWELVE YEARS. 
 
 indeed silent on the subject. Near in time to the cir- 
 cumstances of his life, Coustantius sees the Saint from 
 beginning to end ; and in one sense he may be right. 
 No one is chosen to be general who has not given proof 
 of his skill. St. German was doubtless well suited to 
 the great work he accomplished in Britain. Yet on 
 attentive reflection we cannot help looking upon him 
 as a higher being after than before. His pi-evious aus- 
 terities, prayers, acts of mercy, deeds of power and 
 energy were exercises and tokens of the same charac- 
 ter — but here is the sacrament, here God's seal and 
 justification. This is strengthened by a further consi- 
 deration. 
 
 As great actions are made the occasion of God's ap- 
 proval, so they are a kind of signal to men in general 
 to determine their appreciation of an individual charac- 
 ter. Whether it be from some vicious infirmity in the 
 large body of mankind, or from some wise provision of 
 Almighty God, so it is, that the greatest excellences 
 may fail to attract that notice which they ought, unless 
 some definite and producible object of men's ideas and 
 language be brought out by new circumstances. It is 
 surprising how general opinion changes by a new 
 phasis of the same qualities and powers. What before 
 was a timid and half-recognized regard becomes at 
 once avowed and ardent admii'ation. 
 
 Something of this kind is perceptible in St. German's 
 life. On the one hand he seems to be really a more ex- 
 alted being after his mission to Britain ; on the other he 
 is the object of an universal enthusiasm out of propor- 
 tion, as it were, with the natui'e of the change. It is 
 subsequently to that period, that we hear of multitudes 
 thronging from all quarters to obtain a sight of him, to 
 get his blessing, to try his miraculous gifts ; and that
 
 TWELVE YEARS. 173 
 
 the welfare of Gaul is sujjposed to be endangered if he 
 be not enlisted in its service, political as well as eccle- 
 siastical. What death accomplishes for other Saints, 
 stamping their virtues and achievements with a sure 
 seal, this was done for St. German, (it may be said 
 without partiality) by his Apostolic ministry in our 
 Island. Contrast with his the lives of other eminent 
 Saints. St. Chrysostom or St. Jerome, for instance, 
 were, if any, illustrious servants of Christ ; yet before 
 their death we can hardly say that they obtained that 
 acknowledged and unqualilied reverence which par- 
 takes of the honour paid to Canonized Saints. In the 
 case however of the tirst Apostles we think we discern 
 from the very beginning those tokens of a veneration, 
 ever after to belong to them. " The sick were brought 
 forth into the streets, and laid on beds and couches, 
 that at the least the shadow ol Peter passing by might 
 overshadow some of them."^ " From the body of Paul 
 were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, 
 and the diseases departed from them, and the evil 
 spirits went out of them."^ Let the reader judge by 
 the history of St. German's life subsequent to his re- 
 turn from Britain, whether he did not obtain after the 
 first twelve years of his ministry a considerable portion 
 of that outward honour, which the immediate Ajjostles 
 of Christ owned from the beginning at Pentecost. It 
 is usually said that eveiy one Saint is exalted above all 
 others, according as he is made the object of particular 
 attention, or has local and accidental claims upon our 
 regard. But this can never serve as a test. A case 
 given, it cannot antecedently be pronounced of inferior 
 
 ' Acts V. 15. 2 Acts xix. 12.
 
 174 XnE TOAVNS OF GAUL. 
 
 merits on a principle so vague as this. After all, the 
 facts which constitute the case must first be examined, 
 and to these in the present instance the reader is re- 
 ferred. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 The Towns of Gaul. 
 
 The return of St. German to Auxcrre was in the year 
 430. About a year had elapsed since his departure. 
 His absence had been much felt. For while he on one 
 hand raised the Church to a condition of great hon- 
 our in Gaul, on the other^he was called upon to act the 
 part of magistrate ; and his conduct showed that lie 
 knew how to defend the interests of his fellow-citizens. 
 Auxerre, as we have observed before, though impli- 
 cated in the general devastations of the Goths, did not 
 till a later period remain long in the possession of any 
 barbarian people. The Burgundians, who occujned a 
 large district of Gaul to the south-east, had stretched 
 their boundaries to the neighbourhood of Auxerre, but 
 the city itself and its dependent territories did not then, 
 or indeed ever, belong to them, as some liave supposed.^ 
 The Franks who at a subsequent period, about 482, 
 extended their kingdom over this part of Gaul, were, 
 at the time of St. German's return, shut up in a small 
 district to the north of Gaul.^ And the Goths had 
 
 ' Vid. D'AnvIUe. Descript. France. Thierry Lettres. Bou- 
 quet, torn. i. 805, ad notas Tillemont, x%-. 838. 
 2 Gibbon, torn. iv. 277-283.
 
 THE TOWNS OF GAUL. 175 
 
 passed on to the south-west, where thej had estab- 
 lished a large pi'incipality, which was every day in- 
 creasing. But that long strip of land, which follows 
 the course of the Saone and then the Rhone down to 
 the sea, still belonged to the Romalis, who also were 
 masters of the whole of the northern j)rovinces. 
 
 During German's absence an unusual tribute had 
 been laid by these last authorities upon the inhabitants 
 of Auxei're, the burden of which excited the most bit- 
 ter complaints. This town however was but a single 
 example of a general system of oppression which then 
 prevailed, and was one of the jjrominent characteristics 
 of the age. Among other various reasons for it, the 
 Roman government had daily become more urgent in 
 its demands for supplies ; and the provinces of Gaul as 
 being in the centre of war, were the special victims of 
 all kinds of exaction. Up to this time Aetius, the 
 chief defence of the Empire since the death of Stilicho, 
 had been at the head of the Roman armies in Gaul. 
 He was opposing at once the Burgundians in one' quar- 
 ter, the Franks in another, the Goths in another, and 
 the Insurgents^ in a fourth. To enable him to maintain 
 sufficient troops, the Government drained the land of 
 men and money. In fact, as Salvian says, " the Roman 
 Republic was either entirely extinct in Gaul, or in those 
 parts where it seemed to be still breathing, the heavy fet- 
 ters of tribute were fast suffocating its dying energies."'^ 
 
 What these impositions were, may best be conceived 
 from the same author's language of grief. The burden 
 of them fell on the poor and middle classes, while the 
 powerful took occasion of them to augment their own 
 wealth. " The Prefecture, which was the highest civil 
 
 ' Bacaudse. ^ p. 75.
 
 1 76 THE TO^\^^'S of GAUL, 
 
 office of the province, was too often, lie says, but an 
 excuse for plunder ; the dignity of the imperial magis- 
 trates^ a mere field for the pillage of towns."'^ The 
 methods resorted to were of the following nature. J'irst 
 there was a general heavy task laid upon every city, 
 " the effects of which however severe and cruel, would at 
 least have been tolerable, if all had shared them equally ; 
 but what made them the more invidious, the indigent 
 had to bear all the imposts, the rich were exempt."-'' 
 
 Furthermore there were often laid on individual 
 cities, besides the general assessment, extraordinary 
 taxes.* "This was the way, he continues ; new mes- 
 sengers arrived, secretaries and bearers of letters sent 
 from the chief officers of the crown. They were intro- 
 duced to the nobles of the city, and with them decreed 
 the ruin of the people ; new taxes were forthwith re- 
 solved and published, and the poor had to pay."^ The 
 nobles, who assisted the extortions of the governors, 
 might pretend to submit to the public tribute, but they 
 always left the discharge of it to the people. And not 
 content with this, contrived to increase their own pri- 
 vate exactions under colour of public demands ; the 
 consequences of which seem to have been the most 
 grievous calamity of the time. 
 
 To all the severe and even unnecessary measures 
 which the administration enforced, the people might 
 cheerfully have acceded, and accepted the emergencies 
 of war as an excuse, though often unjust, if they had 
 met with kindness and equity among their own rich 
 citizens and nobles. Nothing can exceed the picture 
 which has been left of the barbarity of the nobles to- 
 
 ' Sublimium. - p. 72. ' p. HO. 
 
 ■* Adjectiones fribularias. * p. 110.
 
 THE TOWNS OF GAUL. 177 
 
 w-ards the poor. We might be at a loss among so many- 
 proofs to select any in preference, but the following 
 fact, related by the same contemporary author, will 
 sei've at least to indicate the spirit of the times. Sal- 
 vian is intending to illustrate the facility with which 
 men forswore themselves and took Christ's name in 
 vain. " A short time ago," he says, " at the earnest 
 request of a certain poor man, I went to intercede with 
 a powerful nobleman, I entreated him not to rob an 
 indigent and wretched person of his small substance ; 
 not to take away the poor pittance which supported his 
 need. The nobleman, who had coveted his little pro- 
 perty with a rabid desire, and was already devouring in 
 expectation his spoils, turned his fierce eyes towards 
 me, with frightful expression, as if he thought I wished 
 to take away from him that which he was only desired 
 not take away himself. ' He could by no means comply 
 with my request,' he answered, and seemed to imply 
 that some sacred order or deed bound him to refuse me. 
 I asked the cause of his denial. ' A most urgent cause,' 
 he replied. ' I have sworn, by the name of Christ, that 
 I will take away this property ; and you see, he con- 
 tinued, that I can not, may not, refrain from Avhat I 
 have thus pledged myself to.' The crime which could 
 claim religion for its excuse silenced me. What could 
 I do when such a theory of justice and religion was 
 propounded ? I therefore departed." ^ 
 
 The consequence of these multiplied miseries was a 
 threefold political evil. The poor, and in general those 
 who happened to be infeinors to the nobles, or the pro- 
 vincial senatorial class of men which then occupied an 
 important station, were at last forced " to deliver them- 
 
 1 p. 91.
 
 178 THE TOWNS OF GAUL. 
 
 selves up to the more powerful citizens ; they became 
 the Dedititii of the rich, that is, neither more nor less 
 than their slaves : their very property and right." ^ 
 The important class of the Ciiriales, or those Burghers 
 who had enjoyed many privileges and offices within 
 their towns, was now fast disappearing. Every where 
 men were selling their patrimony and themselves, for a 
 temporary support and defence. " These poor sufferers, 
 who might seem to be gaining a pi-otection, first gave 
 up almest their whole substance to their protectors ; 
 whereby the fathers were indeed protected, but the 
 sons lost their inheritance : the price of protection to 
 the one was mendicity to the others."- The immense 
 accession of numbers which thus accrued to the afflicted 
 class of the Coloni, or Tenants, and Slaves can hardly 
 be calculated. " When men have lost their houses and 
 are expelled their estates, by unjust appropriation, or 
 by extortion, they then betake themselves to the farms 
 of the powerful ; they become in short the Coloni, the 
 Tenants of the rich."^ Many who were thus degraded 
 were persons who had pi'evious wealth and respectabil- 
 ity to boast of " No longer able to keep the mansion 
 or tlie dignity of their birthright, they were obliged to 
 submit to the abject yoke of a Tenant."^ 
 
 On the other hand many abandoned their own coun- 
 try, gave up the name and ties of Romans, which 
 formerly were deemed an htmour to Gaul, and went 
 over to the barbarians, the Visigoths, the Burgundians, 
 and the Franks. It was a sad sight to see " many who 
 were born of respectable families, and had received a 
 liberal education, flee for safety to the enemy, to escape 
 the death of a public persecution at home, and seek 
 
 ' p. 113. "- p. 113. ^ p. 114. - p. 115,
 
 THE TOWNS OF GAUL. 179 
 
 among barbarians those humane feelings whicjji were 
 thought to belong only to the Romati world." ^ Here of 
 course they were captives ; but it is remarked that 
 such captivity was preferable to liberty at home ; those 
 titles of franchise which were so long the glory of the 
 municipal city, were now but empty rights. " The 
 Roman name was becoming vile, nay even abhorred."^ 
 
 Lastly, the oppression of the inferior classes in Gaul 
 produced an extensive and alarming rebellion ; and a 
 vast confederacy of Insurgents, who went by the name 
 of Bacaudte, gradually was formed within the Roman 
 dominions. Their chief seat was in those maritime 
 provinces, which border the English channel, and went 
 by the generic name of Armorica. Here they seem to 
 have settled into a kind of Republic, which gave con- 
 stant exercise to the Roman Generals, who endea- 
 voured to suppress it, and bring back the seceding 
 counti-ies to the empire. An occasion will present 
 itself hereafter of considering more at length this Ar- 
 morican confederacy, or Bacaudte, as they furnished 
 the last field for St. German's untiring exertions. It 
 is sufficient here to mark this fact which by contempo- 
 rary authors was declared to be the express result of 
 the oppression of the poor in the Roman provinces. 
 " We call them rebels, says Salvian, and abandoned 
 men ; yet we are they who have compelled them to be 
 such. For what is the cause of their becoming Bacaudse, 
 unless it be our injustices, the iniquities of our magis- 
 trates, the proscription and pillage exercised upon 
 them . . . the tributary extortion practised with regard 
 to them ?"' 
 
 To relieve his people at Auxerre, who were now 
 
 ■ p. 107. - p. 108. ^ p. 108.
 
 180 ST. GERMAX AT ARLES. 
 
 suffering from these evilr?, was the immediate pur- 
 pose of German. When extraordinary taxes were 
 laid upon a city too poor to answer the demand, 
 there were such things as remedies in use at the 
 time. These remedies,^ as the expression was, were 
 simply dispensations granted by the Prefect, the first 
 magistrate ; and though such dispensations, in many 
 cases, were perverted by the nobles to the grossest ex- 
 cesses of private extortion, yet if German could but 
 provide one for his people, he might in a great measure 
 secure it from abuses elsewhere prevalent. Bishops 
 in the fifth century were the stay of the people — the 
 only one ; and Bishops at that time were Saints and 
 heroes. Careless, therefore, of fatigue, though he had 
 undergone so much of late, he immediately prepared 
 for another journey. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 St. German at Aries. 
 
 The seat of government was then at Aries, as it has 
 been remarked, and there the Prefect of all Gaul re- 
 sidecV It is necessary to be precise in all these par- 
 ticulars, since serious chronological mistakes, for want 
 of distinctness, seem to have here been made by many 
 writers. Auxiliaris was the name of the Prefect, as 
 Constantius plainly says ; from which circumstance 
 many have thought the date of this extraordinary 
 taxing which German found on his return, was as late 
 
 ' Bemedia.
 
 ST. GERMAN AT ARLES. 181 
 
 as 444, A. D., if not later, because there is a famous 
 letter of Auxiliaris to St. Hilary, ^ of Aries, written in 
 444, wherein the former endeavours to reconcile Hilary 
 with Pope Leo, and which he wrote, we learn, when 
 he was Prefect ; and they have urged this as a reason 
 for postponing German's visit to Britain. But the dili- 
 gence of the Bollandists has shown that Auxiliaris was 
 no longer Prefect of Gaul when he wrote this, but 
 Prefect of Rome or Itah^ ; which assertion is supported 
 by the learned Bouquet, Pagi, Baluzius, and Quesnel ;^ 
 and moreover, an inscription which is still to be seen 
 at Narbonne, seems to prove that Marcellus, not Aux- 
 iliaris, was Prefect of Gaul between 441 and 445. So 
 far, therefore, from anything in this circumstance in- 
 validating the date we have assigned to German's 
 return from Britain, (i. e. the year 430) if the fact be 
 true that Auxiliaris had ceased to be Prefect of Gaul 
 in 444, this is in itself a satisfactory reason for placing 
 the mission of St. German to our island in 429. 
 
 German set off then to Ai4es, with a very small 
 company, and with a scanty supply of provisions. 
 Christ, says C'onstantius, was gold and silver to him. 
 The great Roman road to Aries would pass through 
 Autun, Chalons, Tornus, Macon, Belleville, Anse, 
 Lyon, Vienne, St. Rambert, St. Vallier, Tliain, Val- 
 ence, Le Begude, Ancoune, St. Pol Tricartin, Orange, 
 A.vignon, and St. Gabriel,^ the whole of which was 
 signalized by some token of his Apostolical gifts. 
 
 The day was a rainy one when he left Auxerre ; 
 towai'ds the evening, as he had passed the boundaries 
 
 1 Vid. Laccary Hist. Gall. sub. Praef. 137. 
 2 Historiens de la Gaule, t. i. p. 643. Quesnel. Diss. t. ii. p. 
 784. Biogr. Univ. Art. Hilaire. 
 
 ^ Itin. Anton, in Descrip. de Gaule, B. 40, Bodl. Libr.
 
 182 ST. GERMAN AT ARLES. 
 
 of liis diocese, he was overtaken by a traveller who 
 had neither shoes nor coat. Grieved to see his naked- 
 ness, German suffered him to lodge under the same 
 roof at night. But while he and his attendants were 
 employed in their devotions, the stranger carried off 
 by stealth the horse on which the Bishop rode. The 
 next morning the theft was discovered. One of the 
 clerical attendants offered las horse to German. They 
 then proceeded on their way, not without the surprise 
 of all in witnessing the unwonted serenity which ap- 
 peared in his countenance. One of them asked the 
 reason. " Let us wait a while," he said, " for we shall 
 see that the action of that unfortunate man ha^^been of 
 little benefit to him ; he will soon be coming up out of 
 breath." They then halted, and shortly after beheld 
 the thief advancing on foot, and leading after him the 
 horse he had taken. When he arrived, he fell down at 
 German's feet and confessed his crime, adding, that 
 during the whole night he had found himself unable to 
 get away or move one step, until he had resolved to 
 restore the animal. German answered ; " If yesterday 
 I had given thee a cloak, there had been no need of 
 stealing. Receive, therefore, this one as a supply for 
 thy wants, and restore that vv^hich is my property." 
 The stranger then departed with the garment, in ad- 
 dition to the pardon of his offence. 
 
 German wished not to make his journey public, but 
 to reach the object of it with as little display as he 
 could. But his character was now too well known, and 
 his virtues like a city built on a hill could not escape 
 the view of men. While on one hand he abstained 
 from all the so called comforts of life, he avoided on the 
 other the officious attention and concourse of strangers. 
 There was not, however, a village or town in his Avay,
 
 ST. GERMAN AT ARLES. 183 
 
 but all the inhabitants came out by multitudes to await 
 his passage, and follow his steps. Men with their wives 
 and children came flocking around him, and left him 
 only when a fresh escort arrived to relieve them. 
 
 The first district he travelled through was that of 
 Auxois, Avhere there lived a Presbyter called Senator, 
 conspicuous for his birth as well as his piety. German 
 had been long acquainted with him, as well as his wife 
 Nectariola, who, according to the tolerated custom of 
 the time, continued in the same house in the capacity 
 of sister.^ He accordingly accepted the hospitality they 
 offered him. There indeed was not much to offer ; but 
 one peculiar circumstance occurred. Nectariola, un- 
 seen, placed some straw in the bed which was prepared 
 for him, and German unconsciously slept upon it during 
 the intervals which he reserved from his nightly pray- 
 ers and psalmody. 2 When day returned he departed ; 
 Nectariola then took up the straw in which he had lain, 
 and concealed it. Some days after, one Agrestius, a 
 person of considerable birth, who was married and had 
 children, fell a victim to the influence of an Evil Spirit. 
 His relations grieved that German was no longer pre- 
 sent to relieve him. As it was, there appeared no 
 remedy, till the wife of Senator, Nectariola, having 
 brought forth the straw she had treasured up, enve- 
 loped the afilicted man with it. In tliis state he re- 
 mained a whole night, calling the while upon the name 
 of German. The next morning he was delivered of the 
 Evil Spirit and never after visited by it. 
 
 ' Conf. L'Art de Verifier les Dates, torn. i. p. 152, ubi Ca- 
 nons of the Council of Tours, 567, a. d. Ibid. p. 137. Dupin 
 Eccl. Hist. torn. ii. 3rd Canon of the Council of Nice. Bing- 
 ham, B. II. Ch. xxii. p. 101 and 155. 
 
 ^ Vid. Baillet Vie de Saints, xxxi. Jul.
 
 184 ST. GERILUV AT AIILES. 
 
 In the meantime, German was continuing Iiis jour- 
 ney. Arrived at Macon, on the banks of the Saone, a 
 river noted for its slow course, which gave it the Celtic 
 name of Arar in antiquity, ^ he left the high-road and 
 advanced by the water towards Lyons. Lyons was 
 one of the ]n-iucipal towns of Gaul in the early ages 
 of Christianity. The church established there we are 
 told was of Greek institution, as its origin, rites and 
 bishops indicated. Nearly two centuries before this 
 time it had been the scene of one of the most dreadful 
 persecutions, and illustrious both for the glory of its 
 martyrs and the holiness of its bishops, among whom 
 was St. Irena^us.*^ It is situated at the conflux of the 
 Rhone and the Saone. Some have thought that St. 
 Eucher was at this time Bishop of Lyons ; but evidence 
 seems to be against the supposition. Constantius, who 
 was a priest in that church, would scarcely have omit- 
 ted this occasion of introducing him to the reader.^ 
 Senator, his predecessor, apparently governed the 
 church when German arrived there. The traveller 
 was received by a large concourse of people of all rank 
 and age. Every one endeavoured to come near to him. 
 Some demanded his blessing ; others were content with 
 touching him ; and others again rejoiced if they could 
 but get a sight of him. Here he performed many mi- 
 raculous cures upon sick persons ; and preached to the 
 multitude who thronged to hear him. Kot being able, 
 however, to stay as long as they wished, he hastened 
 to proceed to Aides. But his sojourn at Lyons, short 
 
 ' Sidon. Apoll. not. ad Lib. ii. p. 237, Recens. Edit. D'Anville 
 says it was called the Sacconna from the time of Ammianus 
 Marcellinus, yet after bim Constantius calls it Arar, and so Si- 
 don. Apoll. 
 - Vid. Euscbius. ^ See Tillcmont, torn. xv. Vie de St. Eucher.
 
 ST. GERMAJ^ AT ARLES. 185 
 
 as it was, left a deep and lasting impression upon the 
 minds of the inhabitants, and was the original occasion 
 of the biography of St. German, which Constantius the 
 Presbyter of Lyons wrote at the request of his Bishop, 
 St. Patiens. The letter in which he expressed liis com- 
 pliance with the desire of St, Patiens is still in existence. 
 " Constantius the sinner, sendeth greeting to his 
 blessed and Apostolical Lord and ever revered Patron 
 Patiens. It is with reason that among the virtues obe- 
 dience claims the highest rank. By it many attempt 
 at least Avhat they feel unequal to. And therefore they 
 must be considered worthy of the praise due to devo- 
 tedness, who, regardless of their own inability, submit 
 to those that order. Tliis being the case, since you de- 
 sire, most revered Pontiff, ^ to have the wondi'ous 
 gifts of a holy man set forth conspicuously, and to 
 propose the example of his miracles as an instructive 
 lesson to all ; and have frequently enjoined me to 
 transmit, as weU as I could, to the present and future 
 generations, the Life of that great Saint, German the Bi- 
 shop, too much obscured by silence ; I therefore accede 
 to the work with boldness, though, at the same time, I 
 feel conscious of presumption. Do you grant the par- 
 don ; for I might perhaps allege that some guilt at- 
 taches to your own judgment ; you ought to have cho- 
 sen a better workman for such high materials. How- 
 ever, we are both acting up to the principle of Love ; 
 you think me capable when I am not, I obey readily 
 your authoritative injunction. Pray, therefore, for me, 
 that my labour may, through your intercession, obtain 
 that favour which it lays no claim to on the score of 
 desert. Farewell ! long days in Christ to thee, blessed 
 
 ' Papa venerabilis.
 
 186 ST. GERMAN AT ARLES. 
 
 prelate. Ever remember me." Thus early were Saints' 
 Lives composed for the edification of" the Christian 
 people. 
 
 There Avere two ways from Lyons to Aries, either 
 by water down the Rhone, as the custoni till very late 
 has continued, ^ or by the great Roman road which had 
 been constructed as far as Narbonne, and which was 
 one of the four Vije Agrippina3 ; and perhaps to this 
 two-fold way of travelling, an allusion is made by Sido- 
 nius Apollinaris in tlie following verses. 
 
 " Hinc agger sonat, hinc Arar resultat, 
 Hinc sese pedes atque eques reflpctit 
 Stridentum et moderator essedortim, 
 Curvorum hinc chorus helciarioriim 
 Responsantibus alleluia ripis 
 Ad Christum levat amnicum celeusma. 
 Sic, sic psallite, nauta vel viator ; 
 Namque iste est locus omnibus petendus, 
 Omnes quo via ducit ad sajutem."^ 
 
 It is conjectured by those that live on the spot, that 
 the former way would most naturally be taken by the 
 traveller. German, however, soon reached the term of 
 his journey. As in other places, he was received at 
 Aries amid tlie congratulations of the whole city. St. 
 Hilary had lately succeeded to St. Honoratus in the Bi- 
 shopric, or rather Archbishopric, of Aries. This town 
 was then the first in Gaul. "It is an acknowledged 
 fact, said the Bishops of the province in a letter to St. 
 Leo, among all the people of Gaul and also in the holy 
 church of Rome, that the city of Aries was the first 
 which received St. Trophimus, sent by tlie blessed 
 
 ' Lcttres de Madame de S^vign^. 
 2 Vid. Epis. X. Lib. ii. et Notes. Ed. 1836.
 
 ST. GERMAN AT ARLES. 187 
 
 Apostle Peter (that is apparently one of his successors) 
 and that the gift of the Faith was conveyed to tlie rest 
 of Gaul through this channel... therefore it is by right 
 and justice that Aries has always had the chief rank in 
 this church."^ It was not till some time after the pe- 
 riod under consideration, that the church of Vienne 
 claimed the precedency, owing to the dispute of St. 
 Leo and St. Hilary. ^ At Aries, moreover, was fixed 
 the residence of the Prefect of Gaul ; it had succeeded 
 to Treves in political importance, and had been parti- 
 cularly favoured by Constantine the Great, who had 
 given it the name of Constantia, Here also tyrants 
 had fixed their abode and dealt out the honours of the 
 Empire. The advantages of its situation are thus de- 
 scribed in an imperial rescript :' 
 
 " The city of Aries is so conveniently situated, 
 strangers resort to it in such great numbers, its com- 
 merce is so extensive, that whatever is of foreign 
 growth or manufacture, is to be found there. The 
 wealth of the opulent East, of perfumed Arabia, luxu- 
 rious Syria, fertile Africa, beautiful Spain and hardy 
 Gaul, abounds in this place to such a degree, that every 
 thing magnificent to be seen in other parts of the 
 world, seems here to be the very produce of the soil. 
 The union of the Rhine and the Mediterranean brings 
 together the territories which they respectively water ; 
 and the whole earth seems to contribute its stores to 
 the advantage of the town : by land and by sea and by 
 river, carts, ships, barges, are continually carrying into 
 its bosom the riches they have amassed." 
 
 ' Epist. Leon. Ed. Quesnel, p. 539, Vol. I. 
 
 - Alford ad an. 440. 
 
 = See Bouquet, torn. i. 766. and notes. Guizot, Europe. 
 
 O
 
 188 ST. GER>L4>I AT ARLES. 
 
 But the cliicf pride of this second Tyx'e was its great 
 Bishops. Holiness seemed to be the lieritage of that 
 church. St. Hilary who was then presiding over it, 
 was, says Constantius, a man endowed with every vir- 
 tue, a burning torrent of divine eloquence, an indefati- 
 gable labourer in the duties of his office, who alone 
 spread a lustre over the diocese he governed. The re- 
 ception he gave to German corresponded with the cha- 
 racter he held. Though a metropolitan Bishop, he 
 was much the younger of the two, having lately left 
 the monastery of Lerins at the age of twenty-nine.^ 
 On the present occasion, we are told, his demeanour 
 towards the more aged Prelate who came to visit him 
 was that of a son to his father, and his respect like that 
 due to an Apostle. From this tune perhaps may be 
 dated the intimacy which arose between these two emi- 
 nent Saints, although there is nothing to prevent it 
 having had an earlier origin. ^ 
 
 However, Auxiliaris the Prefect did not allow his 
 friend Hilary to outstrip hiiu in attentions to their dis- 
 tinguished guest. Unlike many who had filled the 
 same high office, Auxiliaris was a faithful servant of the 
 Church and its ministers, as he well proved afterwards 
 in his endeavours to reconcile St. Leo with St. Hilary. 
 He had long been desirous to know German, of whom 
 he had heard much ; and the tidings of liis arrival were 
 hio-hly acceptable to him. Another cause contributed 
 to this satisfaction ; his wife had been for some time 
 afflicted with a severe ague, and lie expected German 
 could afford relief Before, therefore, he had entered 
 the city, he went out to meet him. His surprise was 
 
 ' Biog. Uni. ad voccm Hil. 
 - Vid. Tillcm. xv. 64.
 
 ST. GERMAN AT ARLES. 189 
 
 not small to find German superior to the fame he had 
 acquired : the dignity of his countenance, his learning, 
 his authoritative manner of speaking, filled the prefect 
 with admiration. He offered presents, and pressed the 
 acceptance of them. Then he acquainted him with the 
 sickness of his wife, upon which German, without 
 delay, accompanied him to his residence. Here he found 
 the sufferer, and immediately healed her. The relater 
 of this miracle is careful to attribute the departui-e 
 of her fever and shiverings to the joint power of Ger- 
 man and the faith of the lady. 
 
 Having explained the object of his journey, he easily 
 obtained the desu-ed remedium, or exemption from 
 tribute, for the people of Auxerre. He then hastened 
 to carry back the joyful intelligence. His presence, 
 however, was best able to infuse true pleasure into their 
 hearts : when he was with them, they could be content 
 under all circumstances. 
 
 German seems occasionally to have taken long jour- 
 neys thi-ough different parts of Gaul for the purpose of 
 reviving the religious spirit of his countrymen. At 
 this time the intei'ference of one bishop with another in 
 the administration of their dioceses, might not under 
 some circumstances be deemed obtrusive. The inva- 
 sion of the Barbarians had spread so great an appear- 
 ance of anarchy over the country, that the Bishops 
 might in some sense consider themselves appointed col- 
 lectively over the whole country, as one diocese, to re- 
 store discipline and kindle religion wherever they could. 
 The zeal and holiness which distinguished the Bishops 
 of the time, would also naturally encourage tliis under- 
 standing between them, and supersede any regular dis- 
 pensation. It is perhaps on this principle that we find 
 German, on one occasion, preaching within the diocese
 
 190 ST. GERJIAN AT ARLES. 
 
 of Auvergno, wliicli had Bishops of its own, one of 
 whom, several years after, Avas tlie illustrious Sidonius 
 Apollinai'is. Some have tliouglit German came to 
 Brioude, in Auvcrgne, on his way back from Aries to 
 Auxerre, just after his interview with Auxiliaris ;^ but 
 though it would not have taken him much out of his 
 way to pass by Auvergne, yet his anxiety to reach his 
 native country would scai'cely have allowed him to take 
 a circuitous course, especially over a hilly country ; and 
 Constantius seems to mark distinctly his return to 
 Auxerre before his expedition to Auvergne, Avliich he 
 does not assign to any particular time.^ Wlien he 
 came to Brioude, he found the inlialntants perplexed to 
 know on what day they ought to celebrate the raartyr- 
 dom of St. Julian. St. Julian is one of the most fa- 
 mous martyrs of the French church. He was a native 
 of Vienne, and of noble birth, who suffered in the Dio- 
 cletian persecution while ]\Iaximian governed the 
 Western Empire.^ At the advice of his friend Ferre- 
 olus the Tribune, he had retired to Brioude, in Au- 
 vergne, where the messengers of Crispinus the governor, 
 found him and beheaded him. His body was interred 
 at Brioude, and his head carried to Vienne. Gregory 
 of Tours, who has written a special book about this 
 martyr, tells us that many miracles were performed at 
 his tomb ; and the same Gregory considered himself 
 imder the immediate protection of St. Julian.* Sido- 
 nius Apollinaris also before him, remarks, in a letter to 
 Mamertus, Bishop of Vienne, (an eminent Saint of the 
 fifth century,^ who instituted the Days of Rogation,) 
 
 ' Baillet Vic dcs Saints, xxviii. August. 
 
 2 Sidon. Apoll. Lib. LI. Lett. ix. p. 1G8, and not. p. 221. 
 
 ^ Baillet, xxviii. Aug. 
 
 •• De Gloria Martyr. ^ Epis. i. lib. vi. p. 158.
 
 ST. GEKJIAN AT ARLES. 191 
 
 the great honour in which St. Julian's remains Avere 
 held ; and it was, in all probability, to the tomb of St. 
 Julian that a pilgrimage was prepared by the relations 
 of Sidonius. He describes it as full of danger, on 
 account of the distressed state of the country from the 
 outrages of the barbarians, ^ and at the same time com- 
 mends their piety, for the design they had conceived. 
 
 When German perceived the cause of the people's 
 grief, he said to them, " Let us pray to God. Perhaps 
 he will reveal to us the day." When evening came, 
 and all had retired, German, according to his custom, 
 passed the whole night in prayer. On the following 
 morning, he called together the chief persons of the 
 town, and enquired whether they had liad any revela- 
 tion. When they answered in the negative, " Well 
 then," said he, " know that the 28th of August is to be 
 celebrated as St. Jidian's Festival ; for I have learnt, by 
 divine intimation, that on that day the blessed Martyr 
 was murdered by the Pagans." When he had said 
 this, the people present were filled with joy, and re- 
 turned thanks to the Bishop for his services. It will 
 be seen trom this instance, how early importance was 
 attached to the particular day of a Saint's death, in 
 order to determine the Festival in his honour. No 
 ordinary day would satisfy the people of Auvergne, 
 and a general gloom had spread over them. 
 
 Few of the events of German's life, between his 
 return from Britain to his second journey thither, 
 which occupied a period of above sixteen years, have 
 been transmitted to us by Coustantius, and we have no 
 means of supplying the deficiency from other sources, 
 with the exception of one or two circumstances. St. 
 
 ' Epist. vi. lib. iv. p. 337.
 
 192 ST. GERaiAN AT ARLES. 
 
 Hilary, wc have seen, had contracted a great friend- 
 sliip with German, 1 which some carry up to an earlier 
 period than the visit to Ai'les just related. It has 
 been thought that Hilary was present at the Council 
 which chose German and Lupus to go over to Britain, 
 which is described as having been a very numerous 
 one ; and certain it is, that could it be proved that 
 it was held at Aries, according to Garnier's con- 
 jecture, Hilary must have been present. But with- 
 out hazarding guesses, it appears tliat Hilary went 
 often to see German, at Auxerre, although this town 
 was out of his diocese, and the Bishop of Sens was 
 German's metropolitan ; and he consulted him, we 
 learn, upon all the questions relating to Cliurch mat- 
 ters, that is, according to Honoratus of Marseilles, in 
 his life of Hilary, " concerning the mode of government, 
 and conduct of the diiferent Bishops, whether their 
 virtues or their faults."*^ It was this very vigilance 
 which occasioned him trouble. The Archbishop of 
 Aries assumed the superintendence of all the Churches 
 of Gaul, which did not a little displease the See of 
 Rome. About the year 4-44, Hilary paid a visit to 
 German. As soon as his arrival was made known, 
 divers persons of importance and many others, came 
 to the two Bishops, and brought complaints of Cheli- 
 donius. Bishop of Besan^on, saying that he had in 
 former times married a widow, and when entrusted 
 with an office in the civil govenuuent, had condemned 
 some jicrsons to death ;^ both whicli things were ac- 
 counted an obstacle to the elevation of any one to a 
 
 ' Tillcmont, t. xv. p. 64. 
 
 ■-' p. 743. t. i. Qupsncl, and Holland, ad v. Maii. 
 
 ^ Tillemont, xv. 71.
 
 ST. GERMAN AT ARLES. 193 
 
 Bishopric. Hilary and German then ordered the 
 proofs to be produced. Many great Bishops assembled 
 to be present at the discussion, among whom was St. 
 Eucher of Lyons. It is believed that this Council was 
 held at Besangon, at which, also, Hilary presided, not 
 Eucher of Lyons, as being a junior Bishop. There 
 the question was maturely weighed, and it was proved 
 that Chelidonius had in fact married a widow ; Conse- 
 quently, he was called on to resign his episcopal office, 
 and another was elected in his place. The decree of 
 the Council was supported by the Patrician Aetius and 
 the Prefect Marcellus. This sentence led to serious 
 results. Chelidonius went to Rome and laid his cause 
 at the feet of St. Leo, the Pope, who, notAvithstanding 
 Hilary's explanations, espoused the cause of the former, 
 and re-established him in his See. Hilary, who had 
 also gone to Rome, became the object of Leo's resent- 
 ment, which, to all appearances, was anything but just, 
 and did not even end with the death of the holy Bishop 
 of Ai'les. It is supposed by Stillingfleet that German 
 also was involved in the disgrace which Hilary then 
 suffered with respect to the See of Rome. This, in- 
 deed, may be partly granted ; yet there is no reason to 
 suppose him to have forfeited the estimation of Pope 
 Leo in 444, except so far as related to this deposition 
 of Chelidonius. But it would be absurd to infer with 
 him, that this circumstance, which occurred in 444, 
 must have made German obnoxious to Pope Celestine 
 fifteen years before. At tliat time, Hilary was quite a 
 young man, and just elected to Aries, and an intimacy 
 with him was not in such abhorrence at Rome, as to 
 injure German's character. On the other hand, there 
 is no sufficient reason to suppose German, in his second 
 voyage to Britain, which took place in 446, to have
 
 194 ST. GERJIAN AT ARLES. 
 
 acted against Leo's wishes ; it would be lending unjust 
 motives to one who had the virtues of a Saint, and 
 who must have been acquainted with the services 
 which German had rendered to the Britons, services 
 wliich few, perhaps none other, could confer. 
 
 The other circumstance not mentioned by Constan- 
 tius, but by Hericus, the monk of Auxerre, (who, 
 though a w^riter of the ninth century, may, as far as 
 the general fact is concerned, be considered a sufficient 
 authority,) relates to the meeting of German and St. 
 Anian, the famous Bishop of Orleans. This was the 
 St. Anian who not long after, by his prayers, saved 
 the town of Orleans from the fury of Attila, who was 
 besieging it, and to whom the sceptic Gibbon lias not 
 disdained to pay the tribute of admiration. Had Heri- 
 cus not mentioned his interview with St. German, we 
 might infer it from the mere probabilities. Their 
 Sees were near, they were within the same civil juris- 
 diction, they were contemporaries, they were the same 
 in life, doctrine, holiness. The traditions which re- 
 cord it are such as the following. There was a Church 
 dedicated to St. German, in the time of Hericus, in 
 one of the suburbs ^f Orleans. Here it was said St. 
 Anian had met St. German. A peal of bells, which 
 had suddenly been rung Avithout any human assistance, 
 had announced to him the arrival of his brother of 
 Auxerre. He had collected a great number of his 
 Clergy, and coming out to receive him, had advanced 
 to this spot. "When the time came for German to re- 
 turn, St. Anian accompanied him out of Orleans. They 
 were met by a bier, on which was laid the corpse of an 
 only son ; the mother was walking beside it. The two 
 Saints demurred for a short time which should have the 
 honour of restoring the child of this second widow of
 
 HIS SECOND VISIT TO BRITAIN. 195 
 
 Nain. St. German consented at last ; and brought 
 again the dead son to life. The subject of this great 
 miracle lived to an old age, says the repeater of the 
 tradition ; and there is no doubt that a Church was 
 dedicated to St. German, at the place where it occurred. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 His Second P^isit to Britain. 
 
 German was now advanced in age ; he had governed 
 the diocese of Auxerre for twenty-nine years, and had 
 obtained the highest reputation over all Gaul for his 
 miracles, holiness, and learning. His advice was 
 sought by the whole Chiu'ch on important matters, and 
 distinguished men came to hear him discourse, and 
 profit by his instructions. In the year 447, the intel- 
 ligence was again brought to Gaul from Britain, of a 
 revival of the Pelagian heresy in the latter country. 
 There were few, it was said, who disturbed the peace 
 of the nation, but the danger was every day increasing. 
 German was again called to restore the doctrine which 
 he before so signally had defended. As on the occa- 
 sion of his previous mission he was requested by all 
 to undertake the ofiice of Apostle, so he was on this ; 
 yet we are not able to determine whether any Council 
 was assembled, or any peculiar authority, over and 
 above the original commission which he had received, 
 was I'equired.^ There is reason, however, to conjectui'e 
 
 ' Const, had said, " Preces omnium ad virum beatissimum 
 deferuntur." Bede adds to omnium the word sacerdotum.
 
 196 HIS SECOND \aSIT TO BRITAIN. 
 
 that a Synod was held at Treves, ^ and that in conse- 
 quence, Severus, the Bishop of that town, whose exer- 
 tions in the north of Gaul for the promotion of religion 
 had made him renowned, was elected to accompany 
 German on his second voyage. Severus was the dis- 
 ciple, says Bede, of St. Lupus. ^ 
 
 During the interval which had elapsed from Ger- 
 man's first journey to Britain to his second, the con- 
 dition of this island had been anything but peaceful. 
 Vortigern, to whom the reader has already been intro- 
 duced, had by this time been elected king of the 
 Britons. This event some assign to the year 438 ; but 
 very little chronological certainty can here be expected. 
 The character of Vortigern has come down to posterity 
 with all the colours applied to unpopular tjTants. That 
 his reign was compassed with more than ordinary diffi- 
 culties cannot be denied. " Wlien he was king," says 
 Nennius,' "he was kept in suspense by continual ap- 
 prehensions of danger from the Picts and Scots, from 
 the remnant of the Romans ready to attack, and the 
 exploits of Ambrosius ;" while the Saxons who sur- 
 rounded the country with their piratical skiffs were 
 ever waiting to profit by his vaccillations and impru- 
 dences. Still the most charitable interpretation can- 
 not rescue him from very serious charges, namely, of 
 gross immorality and irreligion. It is probably to this 
 time that the pathetic declamations of the historian 
 Gildas about the sins of the nation are to be ascribed.* 
 The temporary return to religion and good manners 
 
 ■ Not in 449, according to Mansi Concilia, for German was 
 then dead, and the Saxons had invaded Britain. 
 - Bed. lib. i. ch. 81. ^ p. 24. 
 
 - Collier, p. 108.
 
 HIS SECOND ^^SIT TO BPJTAIK, 197 
 
 occasioned by the distress which the invaders had 
 produced, and by the visit of German and Lupus, had 
 been followed by a different course of life so soon 
 as the bai'barians were defeated.^ The orthodoxy of 
 the nation indeed remained comparatively pure, but 
 peace brought plenty, and plenty produced luxury 
 and libertinism. 2 The principles of the people degen- 
 erated daily, and defied the coercion of all Ecclesiastical 
 discipline. " When the aggressions of the enemy had 
 ceased," says Bede after Gildas, " there was an abun- 
 dance of provisions in the island such as had never 
 been known ; but with them flowed in scandalous lux- 
 ury ; and every vice soon followed in the train, espe- 
 cially cruelty and hatred of truth Avith love of false- 
 hood ; insomuch, that if any one appeared somewhat 
 more humane or sincere than the rest, the odium and 
 sarcasms of all Avere directed against him, as if he were 
 the subverter of Britain. And this was the condition 
 not of the laity alone, but even of the flock of the Lord 
 and of his Pastors. They cast away the light yoke of 
 the Lord and gave themselves up to drunkenness, ani- 
 mosities, litigiousness, contention, envy and the like. 
 However, while they were in this state a pestilence 
 broke out, which carried off such numbers, that the 
 living were not able to bury their dead. Still, neither 
 the death of their kinsmen, nor the fear of their own, 
 could recall those who survived from the death of sin. 
 Therefore soon after, a more severe pvmishment fell 
 
 ' Bede, ch. xiv. He does not connect the cessation of hos- 
 tilities with the coming of German, but dates seem to imply as 
 much, and it is hard to conceive the invaders settling down ex- 
 cept after defeat. Compare also the extract from Giraldus 
 Cambrensis below. 
 
 - Alford.
 
 1 98 HIS SECOND \1Sn TO BRITAIN. 
 
 upon the wretched nation. To repel and keep off the 
 continued iiTuption of the northern nations, a public 
 council was held, and it was debated where assistance 
 should be sought. All decreed together with their 
 king Vortigern that the Saxons should be called over 
 from the opposite shores to assist them. A measure 
 which the Lord undoubtedly brought about to punish 
 the sins of the Britons, as the event showed." 
 
 Tills invitation addressed to the Saxons is assigned 
 to the year 440 by Bede. Not long before, in 447, 
 while the nation was in the state just described, Ger- 
 man came over with Severus of Treves. He had lost 
 no time in setting off from Auxerre. His way again 
 lay in the direction of Nanterre and Paris, as on his 
 first jom-ney. Here he was received by the congratu- 
 lations of all. His blessing was demanded on every 
 side. And while he was complying with the wishes of 
 the inhabitants, he enquired earnestly after the virgin 
 Genevieve. Genevieve was by this time grown up, for 
 eighteen years had elapsed since German had passed 
 through before. He was not altogether ignorant of 
 what she had undergone since his departure.^ The 
 fact was that slie had from the first led a life of exem- 
 plary holiness and mortification. At the age of fifteen, 
 when confirmed in her vocation, she received the vir- 
 gin's veil from the hands of Velicus, Bishop of Char- 
 tres.* At the death of her parents she removed from 
 Nanterre to Paris, where she lived with her god- 
 mother. Notwithstanding the sanctity of her life, she 
 
 ' Biogr. Un. 
 - It is evident from this incidental passage that some time 
 had elapsed between German's two voyages, contrary to the 
 anachronism of some who assign them to years near each other.
 
 HIS SECOND VISIT TO BRITAIN. 199 
 
 could not escape calumny and persecution ; and her 
 pious practices were looked upon as hypocritical arts. 
 However German, regardless of the imputations which 
 were cast upon her by her enemies, betook himself to 
 the abode of the virgin Genevieve, and to the great 
 surprise of all saluted her on entering in the most re- 
 spectful manner, " as if he looked upon her as the temple 
 in which the Divine presence was manifested."' The 
 visit of so great a personage as German was alone a 
 high commendation of her character ; but not content 
 with this, he addressed a discourse to the assembled 
 multitude, in which he declared the early events of her 
 religious life, ^ and her high price in the sight of God ; 
 and as a proof of her sincerity, showed to the people the 
 ground on which she used to lie, moistened by her con- 
 tinual tears. For the present the outcries of her ene- 
 mies were totally suppressed ; and German was able to 
 proceed on his road. As it is not to the purpose of 
 this narrative to describe the whole history of this 
 great Saint, the reader is referred to those who have 
 collected what is known of her.^ It is sufficient here 
 to say that her deeds were committed to wi'iting eigh- 
 teen years after her death, in 530. Her feast is on 
 the 3rd of January. 
 
 German and Sevei'us met with no obstacle this time 
 in their passage across the channel. Swift as their 
 progress was, yet the evil spirits managed to spread the 
 fame of their arrival througliout the island, before, says 
 
 ' Constantius. 
 
 - This also shows that time sufficient had elapsed for his first 
 journey to have been forgotten in its details. 
 
 ^ Vid. Boll, ad iii. Jan. Vita cum commentariis, p. 137 In 
 
 modern languages, see her Life in Butler and Baillet, Vie des 
 Saints, and Biogr. Uni.
 
 200 HIS SECOND VISIT TO ERir.^IN. 
 
 Constantius, they were in sight. Among the first who 
 came to meet German was Elaphius, one of the chief 
 men of the country. He brought witli him his son, 
 who from childhood had been a cripple. The whole 
 province, of which he apparently was sovereign, fol- 
 lowed Elaphius. When the two Bishops had landed, 
 the multitude thronged to get their blessing. German 
 then learnt that the people had not yet departed from 
 the faith in which he had previously established them ; 
 and that the Pelagian leaven had infected a few only. 
 
 In the meantime, Elaphius tlu'ew himself down be- 
 fore German and Severus, and entreated them to have 
 compassion upon his afflicted son. All united in ex- 
 pressing their commiseration for him. Then German 
 having desired the young man to sit down, laid hold of 
 liis crooked legs, and passed his hand gently over the 
 distorted parts. His touch produced an instantaneous 
 cure ; the circulation returned to the withered joints, 
 and the nerves resumed their strength. In the presence 
 of all, the young man was restored to his father in per- 
 fect soundness. The people tilled with amazement at 
 the miracle, were confirmed in the Faith by which so 
 great a deed had been performed. In some sense they 
 resembled the Samaritans, who said unto the woman 
 that conversed with our Lord at Jacob's well, " Now 
 do we beheve, not because of thy saying, for we have 
 heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the 
 Christ the Saviour of the world." ^ 
 
 The two Bishops then proceeded to take measures 
 for the total extirpation of the Pelagian heresy. They 
 preached everywhere with such efficacy, that the nation 
 unanimously agreed to have the propagators of the 
 
 ' St. John iv. 42.
 
 HIS SECOND VISIT TO BRITAIN. 201 
 
 error arrested and brought to the Bishops, to be car- 
 ried away from the island into foreign parts. Some 
 have thought they were sent to Rome, others that they 
 were taken only to Gaul.^ Constantius seems to af- 
 firm, that while care was taken to deliver Britain from 
 their pi-esence, hopes were entertained that they might 
 elsewhere be brought round to orthodoxy. ^ The event 
 fully showed the expediency of a measure, which might 
 be looked upon now as an act of persecution ; for hence- 
 forth the Catholic faith remained entire in Britain up 
 to the time when Constantius wrote, that is, about forty 
 years after the journey of German. 
 
 With this last assertion Constantius concludes his 
 narrative of German's second visit to Britain ; and 
 as it is an important one, before the accounts of other 
 authors are produced, it may be as well to notice 
 some few observations to which it leads. A decided 
 proof seems here to be given that the invasion of 
 the Saxons and Angles did not extinguish the Chris- 
 tian religion in Britain to the degree which is gene- 
 rally supposed, -and has been maintained by some wri- 
 ters. Constantius speaks of what existed in his 
 own time, after the Saxons had been for nearly forty 
 years settled in Britain. It would appear then, that 
 whatever error there may be in that theory wliich rests 
 the doctrines and discipline of the Church of England 
 upon its original state under the Britons, in contradis- 
 tion to the arrangements introduced by St. Austin, yet 
 there is a great appearance of truth in the reason which 
 
 ' Hist. Ep. Antiss. c. vii. apud Boll. Tillemont torn. xv. p. 19. 
 - " Ut regio absolutione et illi emendatione fruerentur." 
 Perhaps, however, the illi refers to the natives, as Constantius 
 is not afraid of tautology.
 
 202 HIS SECOND VISIT TO BRITAIN. 
 
 is adduced to support it, viz. that the Christian religion 
 was not utterly destroyed in Britain by the arrival of 
 the Saxons. The analogy of other countries alone 
 would lead to the belief that the Saxons, like other 
 barbarians, would rather adopt the faith of the van- 
 quished than impose their own ; and the language of 
 Constantius is too strong to suppose the faith shut up 
 in one corner of the island, Wales, according to the 
 common notion. He says expi'essly, " that in those 
 parts (from which the country where German landed 
 could hardly be excluded, namely, the shores of Kent,) 
 the Faith continues untainted (which could not be 
 the case if a Pagan religion was there substituted for 
 the Christian) tip to our times. ^ Now if we consider 
 that St. Austin came into England, according to Bede, 
 in 596, and that Constantius wrote his Life of St. Ger- 
 man about 483, it seems hardly possible that the Fafth 
 which remained entire in 483, should have been totally 
 extinguished in 596, i. e. 113 years after ; especially as 
 the violence of the Saxons is represented to have been 
 displayed chiefly towards the beginning of their inva- 
 sion, at least thirty years before Constantius wrote. ^ 
 And this view is supported by the learned Whitaker. 
 " The native roughness of tlieir manners," he says on the 
 subject of the Saxons, " would insensibly be smoothed, 
 and the natural attachment of their minds to idolatry 
 
 ' Quod in tantuni salubriter factum est, ut in illis locis etiam 
 nunc fides intemerata perduret. 
 
 ■ It is hoped that no difference of opinion to that expressed 
 in St. Augustine's Life, is here put forth. In fact the mate- 
 rials of this work were prepared long before that Life came out, 
 and hitherto nothing more than the headings of the chapters and 
 an occasional paragraph have been seen by the writer of St. 
 German's Life. Collier, p. 124, torn. i. Ed. 8vo.
 
 HIS SECOND VISIT TO BRITAIN. 203 
 
 imperceptibly softened, by their perpetual intercourse 
 with the Britons, to whom they allowed the free exer- 
 cise of their religion. And the British Churches in 
 general appear to have remained undestroyed by the 
 Saxons, and some of them even applied to their original 
 uses. In the stipendiary town of Canterbury, no less 
 than two continued to the Saxon conversion, and one 
 of these seems to have been regularly used through all 
 the period of idolatry as the temple of the provincials 
 at Canterbury, &c. Indulged with this reasonable 
 liberty, and opposed by no passionate prejudice, the 
 Britons would successfully propagate the doctrines of 
 Chi-istianity, &c. A deep impression would silently 
 have been made on the Saxons, gradually detach them 
 from their idolatry, and greatly prepare them for Chris- 
 tianity. And we find them accordingly, some time 
 before the arrival of Augustine, and when no attempts 
 had been made to convert them hy the Britons of 
 Wales, actually prepared for conversion, and very de- 
 sirous of the Gospel, &c." ^ 
 
 Tliis subject, which more properly belongs to the 
 life of St. Augustine, it seemed necessary cursorily 
 here to introduce, in order to estimate properly the ad- 
 vantages ^which St. German procured to our Charch, 
 and which in all probability were not destroj'ed when 
 St. Austin came to revive religion in England. ^ 
 
 ' Hist. Manch. p. 360, 361, 362. He refers to Greg. Ep. 
 58, in Bede 678, " Desideranter velle converti," and Lib. i. c. 
 22. See also Ep. 59. 
 
 -= The same view is substantially taken by Alford, ad an. 440, 
 who observes, that St. Austin was sent as the converter of the 
 Saxons and Angles onl)', and not in any wise to the Britons. 
 St. German was the Apostle of the Britons, St. Austin of the 
 Saxons, but neither were the original founders of Christianity in 
 this island. Of course Cressy follows Alford. 
 P
 
 204 HIS SECOND VISIT TO BRITAIN. 
 
 A general idea of the customs and teaching of German 
 and his companions, is supposed by our own Seklen to 
 be shown in the testimony of Giraldus Cambrensis,^ 
 who lived in the twelfth century, and whose words are 
 as follows :^ " Formerly and long before the ruin of 
 Britain, during nearly two liimdi-ed years, the natives 
 had been established and confirmed in the faith through 
 the instrumentality of Faganus and Damianus, who 
 were sent into the island by Pope Eleutherius, at the 
 request of King Lucius. From which time, including 
 that when German of Auxerre and Lupus of Troyes 
 (on account of the coiTuptions which had crept in 
 from the invasions of the Pagans and Saxons, and 
 especially in order to expel the Pelagian heresy,) were 
 sent into the island, the natives had nothing heretical, 
 nothing contrary to sound doctrine, in their belief. 
 From these same Saints and Bishops they also re- 
 ceived and kept up to our time the following prac- 
 tices, as we are told.^ Whenever any bread is served 
 up, they (that is, the Welsh) first give a corner of it 
 to the poor. They sit in companies of three at dinner 
 in honour of the Trinity. Whenever a Monk or a 
 Priest, or any one bearing a religious habit appears, 
 they cast down their arms, bend their head, and de- 
 mand a blessing. No other nation seeks so earnestly 
 for Episcopal confirmation and the unction of the 
 
 ' Vid. p. 59. Analccton Anglo-l^ritanicon Joan. Selden. 
 Frankfort, IG15 — Giraldus Cambronsis, apud Camden. Anglo. 
 Scrlpta. p. 891. Ed. 1603. Frankfort — Alford ad an. 440. 
 
 = Vid. Biog. Uni. His original name was Barry, and his 
 surname shows he was Welsh. He was of high birth, and trav- 
 elled a great deal. But his works are spoilt, it is said, by great 
 vanity and affectation, and not always to be depended upon. 
 ■' Ut fcrtur.
 
 HIS SECOND VISIT TO BRITAIN. 205 
 
 Chrism, both which impart the Grace of the Spirit. 
 They give tithes of all their possessions, cattle and 
 sheep, when they marry, when they undertake a 
 journey, or submit to the discipline of the Church in 
 the reformation of their lives. This partition of their 
 property they call the Great Tithes. Two parts they 
 give to the Church where they are baptized, the third 
 to the Bishop of their diocese. In preference to all 
 other journeys, they undertake that to Rome, with 
 pious minds and reverence for the threshold of the 
 Apostles. They show due veneration for Churches 
 and Ecclesiastical persons, and the relics of Saints, and 
 portable bells, ^ the ornamented Volume of the Gospels,^ 
 and the Cross ; in this indeed they surpass all other na- 
 tions. Hence their Church enjoys more secure peace 
 than any other. For not only in cemeteries, but even 
 elsewhere by means of land-marks and ditches, placed 
 by the Bishops to preserve order, their cattle are able to 
 feed without disturbance. In the most ancient and ven- 
 erable Churches, when the cattle go out in the morn- 
 ing, and when they return at evening, the Clergy give 
 them their benediction. If any one has incurred the 
 
 ' Campanis Bajulis. " Campanae Bajulae quae pree manibus 
 haberi et deferri possunt." Silvester Giraldus in Topogr. Hi- 
 bern. c. 33 — " Hoc etiam non praetereundum puto, quod Cam- 
 panas bajulas, baculosque Sanctorum in superiore parte recur- 
 ves, auro et argento vel aere contextos, in magna reverentia tarn 
 Hiberniae et Scotias quam Gwalliae popuius et Clerus habere 
 solent : ita ut sacramenta super haec longe magis quam super 
 Evangelia et praestare vereantur et pejerare." — Apud Ducange. 
 Campana. 
 
 = Libris textis. " Textus ; Liber sen Codex Evangeliorum, 
 qui inter cimelia Ecclesiastica reponi solet, auro gemmisque ut 
 plurimum exornatus, aureis etiam interdum characteribus ex- 
 aratus." — Ducange.
 
 206 MORE ENGLISH TRADITIONS. 
 
 deadly enmity of his sovereign, and seeks for refuge 
 in the Church, he Avill there find peace for himself and 
 his kinsfolk. In this privilege indeed, which far ex- 
 ceeds the indulgence of the canons, which only offer 
 safety to the body and members, many go great lengths 
 and make their refuge the occasion of plunder. No- 
 where else you will see Hermits and Anchorites more 
 ascetic, more spiritual. Though all the people (the 
 Welsh) have a natural vehemence of disposition, and 
 you will find none worse than bad men among them, 
 yet you will not find better men than their good 
 men." 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 More English Traditions. 
 
 Thus much can be depended upon, with regard to this 
 second visit of German to Britain, as coming from the 
 authority of Constantius, who has all along been taken 
 as a sure witness. But it has been hinted already that 
 our Saint's renown in England by no means depends 
 upon the narrative of this writer alone, (one might 
 almost say, ot all.) Nothing was more popular among 
 our ancient countrymen than the Legends of St. Ger- 
 man. Did an Englishman in the ninth century go 
 abroad, he was sure to be questioned about St. German, 
 and he had many things to relate, which Constantius 
 had passed over, but wliich were in the mouth of every 
 body in England. " This country," says Hericus of
 
 MORE ENGLISH TRADITIONS. 207 
 
 Auxerre, "which is the first among islands, has a 
 peculiar devotion towards the blessed German, and its 
 inhabitants acknowledge themselves to owe many great 
 blessings to him : they were enlightened, say they, by 
 his teaching, they were purified from heresy twice by 
 him, they were honoured by many miracles which he 
 performed among them." Accordingly, when a pious 
 monk of the name of Mark came over from England, 
 and took up his abode in the monastery of St. Medard 
 and St. Sebastian, at Soissons, in France, he had many 
 things to tell the foreign enquirer which were not 
 generally known abroad. And these, he asserted posi- 
 tively, were contained in the Catholic Histories of 
 Britain, and might be read by any one therein."^ 
 
 About the very time when St. Mark (for he was a 
 Saint) was instructing Hericus, Nennius was writing 
 his history of Britain in England, that is, in 858, ac- 
 cording to the Prologue. Nennius then is, after Bede, the 
 earliest English testimony which we possess concerning 
 St. German. But as critics are, with reason, afraid of 
 admitting the facts he relates without great caution, 
 the reader will be pleased to consider this chapter as 
 the continuation of a former one, entitled English Tra- 
 ditions. 
 
 It appears that the arrival of the Saxons, Vorti- 
 gern's crimes and misfortunes, St. German's presence, 
 and Merlin's prophecies, are facts all brought together 
 by this author. Among the earlier events of Vorti- 
 gern's reign occurred, he says, the arrival of Horsa 
 and Hengist ; the account reads like romance. " In 
 the meantime, three skiffs, '^ banished from Germany, 
 touched the land. In these were Horsa and Hen- 
 
 ' Heric. de Mirac. 80. = Ciulse.
 
 208 MORE ENGLISH TRADITIONS. 
 
 gist, who were brothers, the sons of Guictgils, the 
 son of Guitta, the son of Guectha — Vuoden — Frealaf 
 — Fredulf — Finn — Folcwald — Geta, who was, as they 
 say, tlie son of God. This is not the God of gods. 
 Amen, the God of Hosts, but one of their idols whom 
 they worshipped... Vortigern received them kindly, and 
 gave them the island which in the Saxon langua"-e is 
 called Thanet, but in the British tongue Ruohim." 
 Then came St. German to Britain, where he preached, 
 and performed many miracles, among which Nennius 
 selects the following legend, the character of which 
 must stand by its own merits, and not be supposed to 
 affect in any way the more genuine miracles of German 
 before related. " There was a certain wicked king, a 
 perfect tyrant, of the name of Benli. Him the Saint pro- 
 posed to visit, and therefore hastened to go and preach 
 to him. When the man of God had come to the gate of 
 the town with liis companions, the guard approached and 
 saluted them, whereupon they sent him to the king. 
 The king returned a harsh answer, sapng, with an 
 oath, " Should they remain there till the end of the 
 year, they never shall enter my town." While they 
 were waiting for the guard to bring back the answer of 
 the king, evening came on, and night advanced, and 
 they knew not where they should go, when one of the 
 king's servants arrived, and having bowed himself be- 
 fore the man of God, related to him the words of the 
 king. He then invited them to his cottage, (which 
 probably was out of the town) ; they went with him, 
 and he entertained them kindly. Their host had only 
 one cow, with her calf. This latter he killed, and 
 having roasted it, placed it before them. Then St. 
 German enjoined theni not to break any of the bones, 
 and the next day the calf was found with its mother.
 
 MORE ENGLISH TRADITIONS. 209 
 
 whole and alive. When German had risen in the 
 morning, he asked for an interview with the king. 
 While he was waiting at the gate, a man came running 
 up to him with the sweat running down from his face. 
 He bowed himself. St. German said to him, ' Dost 
 thou believe in the Holy Trinity ?' He answei'ed, ' I 
 believe,' and was baptized ; and German kissed him, 
 and said to him, ' Go in j^eace, in this same hour thou 
 shalt die ; the angels of God await thee in the air, that 
 thou mayest go with them to the Lord, in whom thou 
 hast believed.' Then the man returned with joy to 
 the citadel, where the Prefect arrested him, and bound 
 him ; after which, he was led before the tyrant and 
 put to death ; for it was a custom with the cruel tyrant 
 to have every one killed who, before sunrise, did not 
 return to his service in the citadel. In the meantime, 
 German and his companions remained the whole day 
 before the gate of the city, without obtaining leave to 
 see the king. The servant who before had entei'tained 
 them, did not neglect them. St. German said to him, 
 ' Take care that none of your friends remain in the 
 citadel this night.' The servant then returned to the 
 citadel, and brought away his children to the number 
 of nine, and his guests followed him to the same abode 
 as before. St. German bid them remain fasting, 
 and having shut the doors, said, ' Watch, and if any 
 thing should occur, be careful not to look to the citadel, 
 but pray unceasingly, and cry to the Lord.' After a 
 short interval, in the night, fire fell from heaven, and 
 consumed the citadel, with all that were with the 
 tyrant, and they have never been found, continues Nen- 
 nius, to this time, nor has the fort ever been rebuilt. 
 The day after, the man who had so hospitably received 
 them, believed and was baptized, with all his childi'en ;
 
 210 MORE ENGLISH TRADITIONS. 
 
 and the whole country followed his example. His name 
 was Catel. And German blessed him and said, ' There 
 shall not be wanting a king of thy seed ; and thou thy- 
 self from this day shalt be sole king.' The saying proved 
 true. The servant was made the king, and all liis chil- 
 dren became kings, and by their jiosterity the whole 
 country of the Pouisi is exen now governed." 
 
 However Vortigern was becoming daily more intimate 
 with his Saxon guests. " Then," says Nennius, " Satan 
 entered into his heart, and he fell in love with the 
 daughter of Hengist, and he promised half of his king- 
 dom to have her in marriage." Thus was tlie county of 
 Kent given away. Soon after, a fresh body of stran- 
 gers arrived from the German coasts, at Vortigern's 
 invitation. These were Octha and Ebissa, with forty 
 skiiFs, who, at the request of the king, sailed towards 
 the Picts, and laid waste the Orkney Islands, and set- 
 tled in the country which lies on the confines of the 
 Picts. Vortigern was hastening the ruin of his coun- 
 try by his follies and his vices. As a crowning of his 
 wickedness, he married his own daughter, and had a 
 son by her. Upon hearing which, St. German came, 
 with all the British Clergy, to reprove him. A large 
 Synod was convened, at which the Clergy and laity 
 attended. The king tlien ordered his daughter to pre- 
 sent herself to the assembly, and deliver the child to 
 German, declaring that German himself was the father 
 of it. She acted as she was instructed. German, 
 however, received the child with benevolence, and 
 said, ' Yes, I will be a father to thee, nor will I part 
 with thee, unless a razor with tongs and comb be given 
 me, and thou transfer them to thy father according to 
 the flesh.' The child obeyed, and advanced towards Vor- 
 tigern, his father and grandfather at the same time, and
 
 MORE ENGLISH TRADITIONS. 211 
 
 he said to him, ' Thou art my father ; shave my head 
 — the hair of my head.' Vortigern remained silent, 
 and would not answer the child, but rose up in a great 
 rage, and fled from the presence of St. German. He 
 was then condemned, and anathematized by St. German 
 and all the Council of the Britons. This Council, 
 we learn, was held at Guarthernia (probably in Wales.) 
 When Vortemir, the son of Vortigern, saw that his 
 father had been condemned for incest by German, and 
 by the British Clergy, and had taken flight, he came 
 and threw himself at the feet of the Saint, and asked 
 his pardon. Then, on account of the calumny which 
 his father and sister had spread against German, he 
 decreed that ever after the land on which the Bishop 
 had suffered the ignominy should be his property. 
 Hence, in memory of St. German, it received the name 
 of Guartheunia, (or Guarthernia) which, by interpreta- 
 tion, is " The calumny justly repulsed."^ 
 
 It would be too long to follow Vortigern into his 
 retirement at Snowden, where he built a castle, to 
 consolidate which, he was advised by wizards (the 
 constant companions of abandoned sovereigns) to 
 sprinkle the blood of a child which had no father. 
 Suffice it to say, the famous prophet, the very Mer- 
 lin was found, who was also called Arabrosius, and 
 was the son of a Roman Consul. In the mean- 
 time, Vortemir undertook the cause of the Britons, 
 which his father had betrayed to the Saxons, and was 
 victorious in four battles, in the last of which he died. 
 After his death, Vortigern was taken captive treach- 
 erously by the Saxons, and obliged to deliver vip to 
 them Essex and Sussex for his ransom. " However," 
 
 ' See Nennius, p. 30, p. 35, and Usher, p. 385.
 
 212 MORE ENGLISH TRADITIONS. 
 
 continues Nennius, " St. German did not desist from 
 preaching to Vortigern to turn to the Lord. But the king 
 fled to the region which owes its name to him, Guor- 
 thigirniaun, where he concealed himself with his 
 wives. But St. German followed with all the British 
 clergy ; and there he remained forty days and forty 
 nights, praying upon the rock, and stantling night and 
 day. Then Vortigern again ignominiously retired to 
 the fort of Guorthigirn, which is in the country of the 
 Demeti, (including Cardiganshii-e, Carmarthenshire, 
 and Pembrokesliire) near the river Teibi (now called 
 Teify.) Still St. German followed him, and Avhen 
 he arrived he remained three days and as many 
 nights fasting with the whole clergy that accompanied 
 him. On the fourth niglit, about midnight, the en- 
 tire fortress, struck by fire from heaven, fell to the 
 ground ; and Vortigern with all who were with him, 
 and his wives, disappeared." Such was the end of this 
 ill-fated monarch, the account of which Nennius pro- 
 fesses to have found in the Book of St. German, though 
 there were, he adds, other reports. The names of Vor- 
 tigern's legitimate sons have ah'cady been given, Vor- 
 timer, Categirn, Parcent. It is somewhat remarkable 
 that the offspring of his incestuous marriage became a 
 Saint, under the name of Saint Faustus. After the 
 miraculous obedience which he had displayed in the 
 way above related, he was baptized and educated by 
 St. German ; and having built a monastery on the banks 
 of the river Renis, he there devoted himself to the 
 service of God. 
 
 Such are the deeds and transactions which in early 
 times were connected with the name of German in 
 this Island. In fact, they constituted the popular 
 legend of that Saint, and went much farther towards
 
 ST. GEEMAJf AND THE BARBARIANS. 213 
 
 rendering him familiar to the English, than the more 
 authentic narratives of Constantius and Bede. Nor is 
 Nennius the only one who loved to explore the rich 
 mine of the Legend of St. German ; Henry of Hunt- 
 ingdon, John Gerbrand of Leyden, Galfridus, Matthajus 
 Florilegus, and many others, transmitted in their turn the 
 well known story which was identified with many a na- 
 tional and local sympathy. Here was to be found the 
 origin of the names of towns, and churches ; the clue to 
 famous councils and victories. At the same time the 
 great political revolution which German, if he did not 
 witness, yet saw impending upon the nation, and the 
 never forgotten British associations with which his 
 name was allied, and which were stored up in the 
 mountains of Wales, gave a popularity to his name, 
 which it is somewhat surprising should so completely 
 have died away. 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 St. German and the Barhariajis. 
 
 Scarcely had German returned from his last expedi- 
 tion to Britain in the year 447, when he found a new 
 field open for his exertions. The occasion was a 
 deputation sent by the Armoi'ican confederacy to en- 
 treat his assistance against their two united enemies, 
 the Roman generals and their allies the Barbarian 
 Alani. That a holy Bishop should be applied to, 
 may surprize us at first, but will cease to do so 
 when the nature of the case is explained. However, 
 in order to understand how Barbarians came to be 
 the allies of Romans against a Christian and orthodox
 
 214 ST, GERMAN AND THE BARBARIANS. 
 
 peoplo, it will be necessary to go back a few years, 
 to their first introduction into Gaul. First, let it be 
 observed, the Alani, against whom the Armoricans 
 chiefly demanded succour, were a race of Huns, sta- 
 tioned on the banks of the Loire, near Orleans, to re- 
 press the rebels, and who acted under the conduct of 
 their king, Eochar. 
 
 The position of the different Barbarians in Gaul at 
 this time was as follows. The Franks, the " heathen 
 and perfidious Franks," ^ occupied a part of the north- 
 ern provinces of the two Belgica3 and the second Ger- 
 manica, a disti'ict which now might be said to extend 
 from the banks of the river Somme, in Picardy, towards 
 those of the Moselle. The Visigoths possessed the 
 greater part of the western and south-western pro- 
 vinces, south of the river Loii-e, called at that time 
 Narbonnensis Prima, Novempopulania and the Second 
 Aquitania. The Burgundians were settled in the east 
 of Gaul, in the provinces of Germanica Prima and 
 Maxima Sequanorum, answering to the modern Alsace, 
 Franche-comte and Switzerland. These were the three 
 great divisions of Barbarians. With regard to the two 
 latter, it is to be remarked that they were Christians, 
 though Arians. " In every nation," says Salvian, 
 " there were two kinds of Barbarians, the Pagans and 
 the Heretics."^ Of the former class were another large 
 tribe of men, who besides these, had entered into Gaul, 
 though they had as yet no settled abode, and with 
 whom the History of St. German is more immediately 
 connected. These were the Alani mentioned already, 
 a section of the Huns ; both which races, parent 
 and offspring, deserved the epithets of " rapacious, 
 
 » Salvian, p. 89. Dubos, torn. i. p. 438. Thierry Lettres 
 sur la France. = p. 86.
 
 ST. GERMAN AND THE BARBARIANS. 215 
 
 drunken, impure."^ The great leader of the Huns, 
 Attila, entered Gaul a few years later ; the detachment 
 of them here in question, was introduced somewhat 
 earlier and in a very different way. 
 
 Among the political intrigues which disturbed the 
 imperial court at Ravenna, many will remember 
 the famous quarrel of Aetius, the great Roman gene- 
 ral, and Count Boniface, his worthy rival, who com- 
 manded in Africa. How this quarrel was connected 
 with the entry of the Alani into Gaul is now to be 
 shown. The crisis of their feud took place in a 
 meeting of the two rivals in the plains of Italy on 
 the field of battle. Boniface was victorious, but he 
 died of his wounds.*^ Aetius, deprived by the Empress 
 Placidia and her son Valentinian of his dignity and 
 titles, retired into the land of the Huns, who were then 
 governed by Rugila, the father of Attila. Here he re- 
 ceived the most cordial welcome. An alliance en- 
 sued between the savage chieftain and the Roman exile 
 which subsisted for a long time.^ Li the year 435, 
 after two years' banishment, the indispensable Aetius 
 was again restored to the favour of the court. The 
 highest honoiu' of the age was bestowed uj)on him ; he 
 was made Patrician. At this juncture he sent to his 
 associates, the Huns, to obtain troops to defend Gaul 
 against its many assailants. A large body of these 
 who went by the name of Alani, were accordingly en- 
 listed in the Roman armies ; and shortly after Aetius 
 stationed a great number on the banks of the Loire. 
 Their very entry into Gaul was prophetic of their 
 future behaviour. They made a violent attack upon 
 
 ' Salvian, p. 89. 
 
 ^ Prosp. ChroQ. 432. Dubos, p. 353, torn. i. Gibbon, torn. iv. 
 
 ^ Dubos, p. 362.
 
 216 ST. GERMAN AND THE BARBARIANS. 
 
 the Burgundians, the mildest and most equitable of the 
 Barbarian settlers, and killed twenty thousand of them, 
 according to Gibbon. Certain it is that a great part 
 of the Burgundians are represented to have perished in 
 the massacre, to which Aetius, the Patrician, was not 
 altogether a stranger. This act was the more savage, 
 as a treaty had lately been made with the Burgundians.^ 
 The next enemy against whom the Alani were em- 
 ployed were the Visigoths. Here the reason was more 
 just. The Visigoths were daily taking advantage of 
 the disturbed state of the empire. " They were ever 
 violating treaties," says St. Prosper, " and continued to 
 obtain possession of the greater number of the large 
 towns which were situated near their kingdom. Nar- 
 bonne they were now aiming at eagerly." ^ But Nar- 
 bonne was rescued by the reinforced troops of Aetius ; 
 and the Visigoths wei-e repeatedly conquered. ^ The new 
 allies of the Romans by tliis time rendered the imperial 
 army a match for the Goths. The Gothic nations were 
 skilful in the management of the sword and the spear, 
 but they were deficient in horse. The Scythian tribes 
 on the contrary, and among them the Alani, possessed 
 a superior cavalry, and they were equally expert in 
 governing their warlike steeds, and using the bow and 
 arrow and other missiles. After these victories, Aetius 
 stationed a great part of his allies at or near Orleans, 
 under the conduct of their king Sambida, for reasons 
 which will soon be explained, and in consequence of 
 ^vhich the Armorican confederacy were afterwards 
 obliged to a[)i)ly to St. German. Then Aetius de- 
 parted to Rome. 
 
 ■ Prosper, Chron. ad an. 435. Montesquieu Esprit des 
 Lois, torn. ii. 
 
 = Prosp. ad an. 4.36. ^ Prosp. ad an. 438.
 
 ST. GERJLlJg^ AND THE BAEBAHIANS. 217 
 
 In his absence, Littorius Celsus, the commanding 
 officer of the Romans, urged bj the opportunity of 
 distinguishing himself, notwithstanding a treaty which 
 had been made with the Visigoths, made war upon 
 them. Let us hear Prospex'. ^ " Littorius, who acted 
 as lieutenant of the Patrician Aetius in the command 
 of the auxiliary troops of the Huns or Alani, desirous 
 of eclipsing the reputation of his superior, and trusting 
 in the oracles of Augurs and the promises of Devils, 
 imprudently engaged with the Visigoths. The event 
 showed that any thing might have been expected from 
 his army ; but a general was wanting. His troops 
 were beaten, but not till they had broken the ranks of 
 the enemy, and Littorius was taken prisoner ; and so 
 the defeat was decisive." This action took place near 
 Toulouse. Theodoric was king of the Visigoths. Lit- 
 torius was put to death. ^ After this fatal engagement, 
 peace was again made with the Visigoths, through the 
 instrumentality of Avitus, the * future emperor, the 
 father-in-law of the poet and scholar Sidonius Apolli- 
 naris, and a native of Auvergne.^ 
 
 It was a difficult thing to find safe occupation for 
 the restless Alani. Do something they must. At a 
 loss for an occasion, they might turn and attack their 
 own employers ; but there was as yet no need for that. 
 It has already been stated in a previous chapter, and 
 supposed in this, that in the north-western parts of 
 Gaul, a large League or Confederacy existed, under 
 the name of the Ai-moricau Republic, to the standards 
 of which all the rebels of the Empire, who did not 
 join the Barbarians, flocked. The Armoricans were a 
 
 ' Prosp. ad an. 439. - Dubos, torn. i. p, 374, &c. 
 
 ^ Sidon. in Paneg. Aviti. vers. 297.
 
 218 ST. GERMAN AXD THE BARBARlAJfS. 
 
 Christian anrl orthodox people, who inhabited the 
 second and third Lugdunensis : that is, the whole of 
 the country north of the Loire, as far as Orleans and 
 the Seine. ^ With the rest of the ancient inhabitants of 
 Gaul, they came into the dominion of the Romans in 
 Julius Cesar's time. They have always been noted for 
 that independence and energy of character which after- 
 wards were so often displayed in the annals of France, 
 and not long since evinced in the neighbouring plains 
 of La Vendee. Armorica did not obtain the name of 
 Brittany till after the conquest of Great Britain by the 
 Saxons, when great numbers of Britons, as is well 
 known, took refuge there. The Ai-morican confederacy 
 however embraced what is now called Normandy, a 
 name likewise of later use.^ In the early part of the 
 fifth centui'y the Armoricans were particularly known 
 for their spirit of insuboi-dination. Constantius speaks 
 " of the insolence of that proud people," and " their 
 presumption which required a severe lesson ;" and 
 again animadverts " on the changeableness and fickle- 
 ness which prompted a restless and undisciplined people 
 to frequent rebellions."^ And in the ninth century, 
 Hericus of Auxerre, whose masters Charlemagne, 
 Louis-le-Debonnaire, and Charles-le-Chauve, had to 
 deal with this people, describes them as " stem, 
 haughty, boastful, forward, imprudent, rebellious, fickle, 
 ever changing from love of novelty, profuse in words, 
 less ready to make them good ; esteeming it an honour 
 
 1 " Gens inter geminos notissima clauditur amnes, 
 Armoricana prius veteri cognomine dicta." 
 Hericus, vit. Met. lib. v. ch. 1. See also Tillem. xv. p. 20, 
 Dubos, p. 439 and p. G9. 
 
 = Dubos, p. 439. ^ Lib. ii. § 62. Lib. ii. § 73.
 
 ST. GERMAN AND THE BARBARIANS. 219 
 
 to promise much and perform little." Allowing for 
 considerable colouring on the part of advocates for tlie 
 opposite cause, yet it is not surprising if they were 
 such as they are described. In fact, the Armoricans 
 were nothing less than rebels ; their republic was not 
 of such long standing that Constantius could regard 
 them otherwise than as disobedient Roman subjects. 
 They were, if not the whole, yet the greater part of 
 that vast coalition of insurgents who went by the name 
 of Bagaudfe. It may seem singular to attempt to differ 
 with a contemporary wi'iter of such great claims to 
 respect as Constantius, but he himself, who bears wit- 
 ness to the fact, undoubtedly would have acknow- 
 ledged the justness of the reasons which palliate the 
 offence of these Insurgents. The very name of Ba- 
 gaudae, like that of Chartists in England, was expres- 
 sive of contempt and abhorrence ; and names have a 
 prestige about them, which it requires definition and 
 analysis to dissipate. But let us listen to Salvian, 
 another contemporary author.^ " It is the injustice of 
 the Romans which has constrained men, all over the 
 Empire, no longer to remain Romans. I am speaking 
 of the BagaudiE. Spoiled, harassed, murdered by 
 wicked and cruel judges, they have lost all the rights of 
 Roman liberty — they relinquish the honour of the 
 Roman name. We impute to them their misfortunes ; 
 we cast in their teeth the name which distinguishes 
 their misery — a name of which we are the sole cause. 
 "We call them rebels, we call them abandoned men ; 
 but their guilt is ours. What else has made them 
 Bagaudae but our iniquities, the crying injustice of our 
 magistrates, the proscx-iptions, the pillage exercised by 
 
 ' De Guber, p. 108. ed. Baluz. 
 Q
 
 220 ST. GERMAN AND THE BARBARIANS. 
 
 those who turn the public exactions into private extor- 
 tion and spoil, who make the assessment of" taxes the 
 occasion for plunder ; who, like ferocious wild beasts, 
 instead of ruling their dependants, devour them. Nor 
 are they content with plunder alone, but they feast, so 
 to say, upon the blood of their victims. Hence it has 
 happened, that men mangled and half killed by iniqui- 
 tous judges, have begun to assume a position like that 
 of the Barbarians — in fact, they were not suffered to 
 
 be Romans What do we see every day? Those 
 
 who are not Bagauda? yet, are compelled to become so." 
 The first great insurrection took place about 434.^ 
 Prosper says ; " The northern provinces of Gaul 
 having been seduced by Tibato, seceded from the 
 Roman alliance, which was the first cause of that gen- 
 eral confederacy of the BagaudjE to which all the ser- 
 vile classes in Gaul acceded." Nothing more is known 
 of Tibato ; the spirit of rebellion which he inflamed, 
 spread rapidly, and concentrated itself in the country 
 of the Armoricans. To these all the slaves and op- 
 pressed tenants, and degraded burghers, and ruined 
 curiales, looked for protection, during the vast system of 
 oppression that was choking the last feeble breathings 
 of the Roman existence. And no more urgent motive 
 had Aetius the Patrician, in sending for troops from 
 the Huns and Alani, than to subdue the ever-increasing 
 numbers of the insurgents. Accordingly, as we have 
 seen, he stationed a lai'ge body of Alani near Orleans, 
 as being the frontier town. In all the wars with the 
 Visio-oths, a sketch of which has been given, the Ar- 
 moricans were sure to take a part, always siding with 
 the enemies of the Romans ; and in all the treaties 
 
 * Dubos, torn. i. p. 355.
 
 ST. GEKJMAN AND THE BARBAEIANS. 221 
 
 which were made, the Armorican interests claimed due 
 consideration. It was somewhat strange to see the 
 orthodox Armoricaus combining with the heretical 
 Visigoths, at a time and in a country where Arianism 
 was such a distinct mark of separation. But it was 
 still more strange that the Christian Romans should 
 call in the Pagan Huns to conquer Christians and. 
 Catholics. As yet, however, Aetius and his generals 
 had not been able to make a regular attack upon the 
 Ai'moricans ; his efforts had been chiefly directed to- 
 wards the principality of Toulouse. But by means of 
 Sambida and his men, posted on the banks of the 
 Loire, he kept a vigilant eye over their movements. 
 
 In 446, a year before St. German returned from 
 Britain, an attempt was made against them, which has 
 been recorded by St. Gregory of Tours, in his life of 
 St. Mesmius, a disciple of St. IMartin. It appears that 
 Aetius was himself compelled to depart, to make head 
 against Clodion, the king of the Franks, who was ad- 
 vancing by slow but steady steps, in the north-east of 
 Gaul. Egidius Afranius, the same as Count Giles, 
 took the command of the army on the Loire, the Bar- 
 barian chief acting probably under his guidance. St. 
 Gregory, a native of those parts which previously be- 
 longed to the Ai'morican Confederacy, and accordingly 
 a favourer of the cause of his country, relates the fol- 
 lowing circumstance :^ " St. Mesmius came to Chinon, 
 a foi'tified place near to Tours, and there he founded a 
 monastery. Afterwards, Egidius besieged the town, 
 into which all the inhabitants of the district had fled 
 for refuge, and caused the well, which was situated on 
 the ridge of the hill where the besieged came to di'aw 
 
 1 De Gloria Conf. c. 22 See Dubos, p. 433.
 
 222 ST. GERMAN AND THE BARBARIANS. 
 
 water, to be filled up. The servant of God, who was 
 shut up Avithin the place, seeing with grief the com- 
 panions of liis fortunes dying for want of water, passed 
 a whole night in prayer. He implored God not to 
 suffer the people to perish from thirst, and to thwart 
 the designs of the enemy. St. Mesmius then had a 
 revelation. At the dawn of day, he assembled the be- 
 sieged, and said unto them, " Let all who have vessels 
 for water, place them in the open air, and ask with 
 confidence the help of the Lord. He will give you 
 abundance of water ; more than is necessary for your- 
 selves and children." He scarcely had ended, when 
 the sky became covered with dark clouds, and the rain 
 fell amid vivid streaks of lightning and the roll of 
 thunder. The besieged were doubly benefited. The 
 storm which gave them water, oblige<l the assailants to 
 relinquish their works. The buckets of all were filled. 
 Thus, adds St. Gregory, did the prayers of St. Mesmius 
 avail to raise the siege of Chinon. The rustics after- 
 wards retired without injury to their former dwellings." 
 Armorica then was a land of Saints. And Saints 
 stood up in the defence of the Republic. There is a 
 stage in oppression and injustice where insui'rection is 
 a kind of necessary consequence, and the laws of pas- 
 sive obedience seem suspended by the overpowering 
 guilt of the governing party, or rather when to violate 
 the duty of forbearance and patience has its excuse in 
 the human infirmity, which cannot but exist in large 
 bodies of men. No precedent or example may be 
 quoted to sanction any violation of duty, but in looking 
 back upon past times, a national sin, which is incurred 
 under peculiarly trying circumstances and imminent 
 danger, deserves, perhaps, some charitable apology. 
 The Church that denounces the living sinner, hopes
 
 ST. GERMAN AND THE BARBARIANS. 223 
 
 for the dead. To both Constantius and Salvian the 
 insurgents were Bagaudse ; but with the latter, the 
 excuse for them is explicit, with the former it is im- 
 plied, in that St. German interceded for them, as will 
 be seen. 
 
 The Alani or Huns were but too ready to second 
 Egidius in his attack upon the Ai-moricans. In 447- 
 448, when St. German returned from Britain, Eochar 
 had succeeded Sambida,^ as king of the Barbarians. 
 The same fierce and rapacious disposition was displayed 
 by this chieftain as by his predecessor. Valesius thinks 
 he is the same with Vitricus or Jutricus, Avhom St. 
 Prosper mentions as a Roman ally, in 439, and marks 
 out for his exploits at battle. ^ However, it would not 
 require much to induce the greedy Alani to rush upon 
 a prey so inviting as must have been the land of the 
 Ai'moricans, if we may trust to descriptions. Situated 
 along the Loire, on the confines of the enemy, the 
 least occasion would be seized for a plundering ex- 
 pedition. A historian of the time of Francois Pre- 
 mier, apparently a native of Britany, when relating 
 the early annals of the Armoricans, takes the oppor- 
 tunity to give the following picture of their country.' 
 As its primitive simplicity and antiquated French can 
 hardly be translated, the original will best serve to 
 give an idea of the local advantages of this province. 
 
 ' Or Sangibanus. 
 
 2 Vid. Not. Bollan. ad locum Const. Recueil des Historiens, 
 torn. i. p. 632, ad notas. Dubos, torn i. p. 384. 
 
 ^ Grandes Chronique de Bretagne, published at Caen, 1518, 
 and thus headed ; "The author of this book came into Eng- 
 land in embassage with Mr. Fran9ois de Luxembourg, S. 
 Charles Marigny, m. 4 raign 9 K. U. 8. vid. Fol. '220. Bodlei. 
 Biblio.
 
 224 ST. <iER:«AN AND THE BARBARLVNS. 
 
 " Le royaume de Bretaigne qui jadis fut appelle 
 Armoricque est situe es extremitez d'occident vers la 
 fin de Europe, et est de la forme d'ung fer a cheval 
 dont la rotondite est circuye a soleil resconsant de la 
 mere occeane ; et de gros et dangereux rochiers qui 
 scut chascun tout convers et descouvers de la mer. 
 Lesquels rochiers nuysent aux navires d 'aborder a la 
 terre. Par le haust vers orient joingt a ce royaume le 
 bas pays de Normendie, Le Mans, Anjou, Poictou. 
 En ce royaulme ya plaines et montaignes, prez, forestz, 
 rivieers, et landes. Les plaines croissent bons fromens, 
 segles, avoynes, riz, saifran, poix, feves, aulx, oignons 
 et auti'es fruitz. Les landes et montaignes on engresse 
 force bestail. En aucuns lieux devers Occident on 
 faict le sel par singuliere Industrie. Car a ce faire ny 
 a que I'eau de la mer et la vertu du soleil, et de ce sel 
 toutes les contrees voysines et austres sont fournies et 
 pourvueues. A 1 'en\iron de ceste Bretaigne, sont en 
 mer plusieurs isles habitees qui sont de la dicte Bre- 
 taigne 6u il ya estangs et forestz et y croissent blez, 
 vis (?) et autres commodites. Les forestz de ceste 
 Bretaigne sont peuplees de venoysons et gybiers ^ 
 foyson. Et ya en aucuns lieux raynieres de argent, 
 plomb, et fer. En plusieurs lieux y croissent vins en 
 abundance pour fournir les habitans sisz sen vouloyent 
 contenter. Par mer arrivent es portz et liavres du 
 pays toutes marchandises, &c." — Lib. ii. p. 34. 
 
 Such was the country upon which tlie impatient 
 Alani were now to be let loose. Aetius, the JNIagnifi- 
 cent, (this was the higli-sounding title of the Patri- 
 cian) irritated by the haughty conduct of the Armori- 
 cans, resolved to humble them by those, whom it was 
 as dangerous to employ as it was to leave inactive. 
 He gave orders to Eochar, king of the Alani, (the
 
 ST. GERMAN AND THE BARBARIANS. 225 
 
 fierceness of whose disposition did not belie his birth,) 
 to enter Avith his men the provinces north of tlie 
 Loire. ^ The command was readily obeyed ; and the 
 Armoricans were obliged to give way before the onset 
 of the Barbarians. As an only resource in their dis- 
 tress, they sent a deputation to German, who was now 
 returned to Gaul, to request his intercession with the 
 enemy. It will be remembered that twenty-nine years 
 before this event, German had himself been governor 
 of the provinces which desired his assistance, with the 
 title of Duke of the Armorican and Nervican district, 
 including five provinces, the two Aquitains, the second 
 and third Lugdunensis, and Senonia, in which Auxerre 
 was situated. '^ We are not strictly told that the applica- 
 tion of the Armoricans was founded upon any reasons 
 arising from this circumstance ; yet we can hardly 
 help conjecturing that some such consideration had its 
 weight. The exceeding holiness of his life was how- 
 ever the ostensible reason of the embassy. Old as he 
 was, for he was in his seventieth year, they deemed he 
 alone could check the Pagan and savage Huns. Ger- 
 man, confident in the all-powerful strength of Christ, 
 says Constantius, set out without delay. The Alani 
 had already begun their march. No time was to be 
 lost ; their troops and cavalry loaded with iron armour, 
 already filled the high I'oads. The Bishop of Auxerre 
 advanced to meet them. Passing through their ranks, 
 he penetrated to their king Eochar, who followed in 
 
 1 The Bollandists are evidently right in reading Alanorum, 
 not Alemannorum, with Surius ; both reason and MSS. prove it. 
 The Bodl. MS. of Constantius, and all those quoted by Boschius 
 have the same. So also in Salvian, p. 89, read Alani, not Al- 
 manni, and perhaps instead of Albani. 
 
 = Notitia Dignit. Imperii.
 
 226 ST. GERMAN AND THE BARBARIANS. 
 
 the rear. Fearless of tlie numbers that surrounded 
 him, German drew near, accompanied by an inter- 
 preter. He then began to adth-ess the king in the 
 language of a suppliant. But when he saw his petition 
 was disregarded, he proceeded to reproofs. At last, 
 when all was vain, stretching forth his arm, and laying 
 hold of the reins of his horse, he stopped his progress, 
 and that of the rest of the army. It was expected 
 this rash act Avould have cost him dear. But the king 
 was struck with astonishment and admiration. God 
 seemed to have moved his iron heart. Reverence and 
 awe, for which the wild and vague Scythian supersti- 
 tion offered no incentive, appeared, for the first time, 
 on the fierce visage of the Barlwrian, at the sight of 
 German's courage, his authoritative demeanour, his 
 august countenance.^ The result was, that the prepa- 
 rations for war, and the vast concourse of arms, were 
 converted into the more peaceful measures of a public 
 conference. The king consented to forego his own 
 desires and those of his men, and to adapt his conduct 
 to the proposals of German. It was agreed that a 
 truce should be observed, till the will of the emperor 
 or his lieutenant, Aetius, were ascertained. The forces 
 were then disbanded, and they retired to their respec- 
 tive stations. Thus, a second time, were the virtues 
 of God's Saints instrumental in averting the otherwise 
 inevitable fury of the Bar])arians. Tlu-ee parallel in- 
 stances occurred not long after, when the whole nation 
 of the Huns, inider Attila, invaded tlie unfortunate 
 
 ' " Nectemplum apud eos visitur, aut delubrum, ne tugiirium 
 quidem, culmo tectum cerni usquam potest; sed ffladius Bat- 
 barico ritu humi figitur nudus, eumque ut Marteni regionum 
 quas circumcircant prajsulcm verecundius colunt." — Ammian 
 Marcell. quoted by Gibbon, iv. 238.
 
 ST. GER3IAK AND THE BARBARIANS. 227 
 
 Gaul. St. Lupus saved Troyes, St. Anian saved Or- 
 leans, St. Genevieve rescued Paris. Like St. German, 
 however, they did not confront the Barbarian. It is 
 perhaps not unworthy of notice, that the same pens 
 which have consigned to memory the ravages of the 
 Barbarians, are they which have attested the miracles. 
 The history of these times is chietly dependent upon 
 Clu-istian testimony. 
 
 The learned Dubos seems to think this interview 
 between German and Eochar took place near Chartres, 
 one of the principal cities in the province of Senonia, 
 called in the Latin Tables Carnotum.^ But he is 
 wrong when he assigns the date of it to 443, unless 
 Constantius has totally disregarded chronological or- 
 der. The Bollaudists refer it to 447 or 448 with appa- 
 rent reason. 
 
 AVe have no certain information concerning the par- 
 ticular conditions of the truce granted by Eochar. As 
 a general fact, we learn that the Armoricans were to 
 send immediately to the court of Ravenna some one 
 entrusted with full powers to conclude an agreement 
 with the Emperor ; that measures should be taken for 
 a final conclusion of peace, and a suspension of arms 
 observed by all parties, till the pardon of the Emperor 
 was obtained. 
 
 He who had delivered the Armoricans from destruc- 
 tion, was now the person they fixed upon to carry their 
 cause before the Emperor. The combined reasons 
 which had made them select German in the first case, 
 would also mark him out for the present negotiation. 
 Republics, as well as other States, are governed by men 
 of the world. They are glad if skill can be found con- 
 
 1 Tom. i. p. 388.
 
 228 ST. GER5IAK AND THE BARBARIANS. 
 
 nectecl with piety and good report, but they usually de- 
 termine their choice by the political talents of their 
 representatives, and their practical knowledge and pru- 
 dence. Grerman's long experience in the civil affairs of 
 the Empire, his previous profession of pleader and 
 magistrate, his acquaintance with the Ai-morican cha- 
 racter and condition from having been Governor of the 
 Provinces — these were circumstances not to be over- 
 looked in a negotiation rendered so difficult by the in- 
 trigues of the Court. It might have been expected 
 that the commissioner of the Armoricans would have 
 applied for pardon to Aetius. Aetius was in effect the 
 Emperor in Gaul, and he was very near the scene of 
 the transaction. Yet so it was not. There were good 
 reasons for avoiding him. Aetius was the special ad- 
 versary of the Armoricans ; he had introduced the 
 Alani originally with a direct intention against them ; 
 he had himself given the order for the late attack ; nor 
 would the frightful massacre of the Burgundians be 
 soon forgotten. On the other hand, the court of 
 Ravenna was likely to adopt measures ojiposite to 
 those of Aetius. Weak governments are wont to dis- 
 claim the acts of their delegates ; and expedients are 
 synonymous with changes and reversals. Then Aetius 
 had never been popular in the imperial circle ; feared, 
 while favoured, he was employed, because his genius 
 and the straits of the times pointed him out as the only 
 support of the em2)ire. 
 
 But it may be as well to explain the cause of that 
 influence which from the banks of the Meuse to the 
 coasts of the Adi'iatic, could, without any express de- 
 clarations, be so powerfully felt. The following por- 
 trait of tliis extraordinary man is given by Gibbon 
 from a contemporary author.
 
 ST. GERIMAN AND THE BARBARIANS. 229 
 
 " His mothei" was a wealthy and noble Italian, and 
 his father, Gaudentius, who held a distinguished rank 
 in the province of Scythia, gradually rose from the 
 station of a militaiy domestic to the dignity of master 
 of the cavalry. Their son, who was enrolled almost in 
 his infancy in the guards, was given as a hostage, first 
 to Alaric, and afterwards to the Huns ; and he succes- 
 sively obtained the civil and military honours of the 
 palace, for which he was equally qualified by superior 
 merit. The graceful figure of Aetius was not above 
 the middle stature ; but his manly limbs were admira- 
 bly formed for strength, beauty, and agility ; and he 
 excelled in the martial exercises of managing a horse ; 
 di'awing the bow, and darting the javelin. He could 
 patiently endure the want of food or of sleep ; and his 
 mind and body Avere alike capable of the most laborious 
 efforts. He possessed the genuine courage that can 
 despise not only dangers, but injuries ; and it was im- 
 possible either to corrupt or deceive, or intimidate the 
 firm integrity of his soul." To which original testi- 
 mony Giblion adds in a note, that this flattering por- 
 trait would have been more correct, had the author 
 not insisted upon his patient forgiving disposition.
 
 230 THE LN'VASIOX VIEWED 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 The Invasion viewed hy Contemporaries. 
 
 AxD now before we follow St. German into the last 
 events of liis busy life, let us pause awhile, to consider 
 what Cbristians at the time thought of the Invasions of 
 the Barbarians, one tribe of whom we have just seen 
 exterminating on their entrance into Gaul, twenty 
 thousand peaceful Burgundian Colonists, and on the 
 eve of laying Avaste a rich province of that same coun- 
 try. Living as we do in an age of security, we have 
 the greatest difficulty in entering into the true feelings 
 of men who were placed in the midst of those frightful 
 scenes. No event in real life is like what we fancy it 
 to be in our studies ; no plan which we Iiave prepared 
 at home preserves its identity when thrown into the ac- 
 tualities of the world. jSlust we then take the contra- 
 dictory of our expectations for historical truth ? Must 
 we imagine that those who at first sight should seem 
 the most wretched of men, were in point of fact just as 
 well oiF as Ave are ? In history there is always a danger 
 of theorizing ; learning may be set off to advantage by 
 an ingenious scaffolding, but its usefulness depends on 
 the solidity of tlie materials. 
 
 However, it is certain from experience, that calami- 
 ties have almost always their tolerable side. Whether 
 it be that nothing comes to pass without the lapse of 
 time, and time baffles in a thousand Avays the appa- 
 rently unavoidable effects of impending causes ; or tliat 
 causes in themselves are ever inadequate, or are met by
 
 BY CONTEIVIPORARIES. 231 
 
 otliei' antagonist causes, so that the event is less terrible 
 than was expected, — true it is that mankind always find 
 an opening which makes life still dear and hopeful to 
 them. We read of a shocking accident by a rail-road ; 
 the preparatory circumstances come first, then the crash, 
 and we think all must be over. But it so happens that 
 none of our relations perish, though those next to them 
 have been destroyed. Here is our comfort, we care 
 but little about the victims ; the world goes on again 
 as usual ; it is the living who influence, who lead the 
 world ; and as long as there is one living, his judg- 
 ment, his views are to be regarded. 
 
 It seems scarcely deniable that something of this 
 kind took place in Europe during the Invasions of the 
 Barbarians. Salvian talks of a kind of sullen stupor 
 that had come over the world. ^ Men knew they were 
 miserable enough, and were ready to ask why believers 
 in God were the sufferers f yet the past was soon cast 
 aside and accounted for nothing ; and luxury, vice, ex- 
 travagance, ambition, public amusements and dissipa- 
 tion, seemed rather to have increased than diminished.' 
 Strange to say, the religious feelings which so unpre- 
 cedented a chain of misfortunes was calculated to pro- 
 duce, degraded a man in themselves from his station in 
 society. " Religion, says the same author, makes a 
 nobleman a boor."* And the disgraceful phenomenon 
 Avhich was so signally manifested at the time of the 
 French Revolution, had its vivid precedent in the state 
 of Gaul and other countries during the fifth century. 
 
 ' Salvian de Gub. 145. " Sopor Domini irruerat super eos." 
 Vid. Tillemont Hist, des Enip. torn. v. 548. 
 - See Gub. Dei, 43, 45, p. 
 ■' Ibid 126, et 143. " Assiduitas calamitatum, augmen- 
 tum criminum fecit." * Ibid. p. 76.
 
 232 THE INVASION \aEWED 
 
 On the one liand, " language unknown in the Church, 
 perfectly heathen and monstrous, was everywhere heard; 
 profane exclamations against God, insulting blasphe- 
 mies : God, they said, had no care for the world. He 
 was no governor, no director, but an unmerciful, un- 
 gracious, inhuman, stern, inflexible being." i On the 
 other hand, gladiatorial shows grew in esteem. The 
 treasures of the world were spent in bringing from dis- 
 tant countries wild beasts ; it was a livelihood to ferret 
 the deep valleys and the winding mountains of the Alps 
 for the amusements of the theatre. ^ Words failed to 
 describe the various pastimes of men. There were 
 circus, amphitheatres, music rooms, play-houses, pa- 
 geants, wrestling matches, jugglers, pantomimes, and 
 other ill-timed spectacles without end.^ In short, 
 laughing was the order of the day.^ In forcible con- 
 trast came the reproach from the mouth of the indig- 
 nant witness : Christ never laughed ! 
 
 But there was a remnant, a large remnant, wlio re- 
 flected upon the mysterious dispensations of God that 
 were going on. Never were there more holy bishops, 
 more saintly monks, more devout virgins and matrons, 
 a more zealous clergy. We have high authority for 
 saying that the fifth century produced more canonized 
 Bishops in France than all the subsequent centuries 
 together.^ Numbers of these servants of God had 
 suffered in the distresses of the age, some death, some 
 spoliation, some tortures, some other various acts of 
 violence. This circumstance aggravated the general 
 calamity, and at the same time increased the perplexity 
 
 ' See Gub. Dis. p. 84. - Ibid, p. 124. 
 
 ■•' Ibid. p. 126 et 141. Vid. also Au^. Civ. Dei. p. 43. Ben. 
 Nova Ed. - p. 130. 
 
 * Dubos Hist. Crit. p. 17.
 
 BY CONTEMPORARIES. 233 
 
 of religious men. How was God's wisdom and justice 
 to be vindicated amid so much innocence and misfor- 
 tune ? That it must and could be vindicated none 
 doubted. The Invasion of the Barbarians, with its 
 cruel consequences, Christian writers had little hesita- 
 tion in declaring to be a divine punishment for the sins 
 of the world. " I will visit their transgressions with 
 the rod, and their iniquity with sti'ipes," was the lan- 
 guage of the Psalmist which the orthodox pleader 
 would cite. " On account of men's excessive pride, 
 their licentiousness and avarice, their execrable wick- 
 edness and impiety, God had visited the earth with a 
 scoiirge."^ " We have hardened ourselves, said another, 
 as rocks ; the greatest afflictions have not availed to 
 make us feel our wickedness, and notwithstanding this 
 inundation of Barbarians, the natives of Gaul are just 
 as they were."^ 
 
 But was the world worse than it had been two or 
 three centuries back, under Tiberius, Nero, Caligula, 
 Commodus, Heliogabalus ? Had not the empire es- 
 poused the cause of the Church, and was not Paganism 
 fast dying away ? Were there not thousands of holy 
 monks, hermits, virgins, bishops and priests, for a 
 sweet-smelling savour unto the Lord ? Why had these 
 very Saints endured cruelties and shame unprece- 
 dented ? Would not the blasphemies of the heathens 
 receive encouragement if the introduction of Christ's 
 religion and the desertion of Jupiter's temples were 
 announced by such disasters ?^ 
 
 To these difficulties it was answered, that come what 
 
 ' St. Aug. Civ. Dei. ch. ix. B. I. 
 2 Salvian, p. 141. 
 3 St. Aug. Civ. Dei. Lib. i. Passim. Vid. etiam Prosper, Poem, 
 de Providentia, apud Hist, de la Gaule. Bouquet.
 
 234 THE INVASION VIEWED 
 
 "would, it was a standiiif^ trutli, tliat the reward of the 
 good is not in this worhl, that no temporal chastise- 
 ments are to be considered as the full retribution of the 
 reprobate. Why do men look for the recompense of a 
 holy life here on earth ? Why do they despond be- 
 cause the wicked have leisure to scoff? Adversity is 
 not for bad men, but for the good. It is true, we may 
 seek reverently to understand the reason of God's deal- 
 ings with us, because His government is a moral one. 
 Might this then not be, that there is a point at which the 
 Divine justice can no longer endure the accumulated 
 sins of past years, and wrath goes out from Ilim to 
 spread general devastation ? And in thus acting does 
 He not hasten the reward of the good, Avhile he sweeps 
 away the wicked ? The delays of God's vengeance are 
 thought a serious objection ; but why ? If He spares 
 Rome under Nero, He reserves the jjunishment of her 
 crimes for the next world. If He pours forth His 
 wrath upon Rome under Honorius and Arcadius, who 
 knows but this may be part of a merciful dispensation ? 
 He punishes now that lie may save hereafter. Some 
 but for this visitation might have died in impenitency. 
 Nay, there is a plain reason why this shoiUd be so. If 
 every crime was straightway followed by its correspond- 
 ing punishment, it might be thought that nothing was 
 left for the last judgment. On the otlier hand, if no 
 sin was punished in this world, it might be urged that 
 there was no Divine Providence always presiding over 
 the world. However, wisdom is justified of her chil- 
 dren. 
 
 liut there are two cardinal mistakes which men 
 generally make when they dispute the wisdom of God's 
 dealings ; either by contemplating only individual cases, 
 they forget the broad principles upon which all govern-
 
 BY CONTEMPORARIES. 235 
 
 ment hangs ; or they pass over the real nature of the 
 case, and its pai'ticulars, in endeavouring to lay down 
 general rules and maxims of justice and prudence. 
 This last error then was also to be noticed, in order to 
 settle the real state of the argument. And in fact, by 
 a close examination into the history of the times, it was 
 observed that a peculiar and minute providence seemed 
 to have been in many cases displayed. The better part 
 of mankind had by no means been so free from guilt 
 as to expect exemption from a general visitation of 
 God. While " kings had become the nursing fathers 
 and queens the nursing mothers" of the Church, a su- 
 pineness and indiiference unknown to times of persecu- 
 tion had crept into the Christian community. A love 
 of worldly things was encroaching even upon the most 
 serious and strict. With the married portion the cir- 
 cumstance was notorious. But retired virgins and 
 monks were now taken up with an idle regard to 
 opinion ; pride and self-deception were making rapid 
 strides. And Christians were beginning to show plainly 
 their secret tenderness for vice, and respect for men's 
 persons, in the unlawful leniency with which the faults 
 of others were treated, and which they denominated 
 charity. But to descend further still into details. 
 "Wlien Rhadagaisus, in 406, came rushing like a torrent 
 with his countless multitude of Goths upon the capital 
 of the empire, he was with his whole army extermina- 
 ted on the plains of Etruria, without loss on the part of 
 the Romans. Now at this very time the Pagans in 
 Rome were vehemently upbraiding the Christians, say- 
 ing, that Rhadagaisus, the Goth, must of necessity con- 
 quer and take the city, because their gods had been 
 exploded and the God of the Christians introduced.^ 
 
 ' It was a popular saying among the Pagans, " Pluvia defit 
 causa Christiani." 
 
 R
 
 236 ST. GERMAN AT >nLAN. 
 
 Here the destruction of the irresistible Goths seemed 
 to come like a miraculous interposition of Divine Jus- 
 tice. Nothing was better authenticated. The news 
 was brought from all sides to Carthage, where St. Au- 
 gustine lived. Again, when Rome was captured and 
 pillaged by Alaric, there was this to be remarked that 
 Alaric was a Christian, and a man of high qualities, 
 though a Barbarian. Nor did he suffer promiscuous 
 devastation. The natural chances of war had their 
 play ; but he had given strict orders that the temples 
 of God should be spared, and all who had taken refuge 
 there should be safe from the fmy of the soldiery. * 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 St. German at Milan. 
 
 German was now in the last year of his life ; he was 
 nearly seventy years old, having been born in 378. 
 He had passed tliirty years in the fulfilment of the 
 arduous duties of a bishop, a bishop of the fifth cen- 
 tury. He had acted in the various capacities of Apos- 
 tle, spiritual overseer, mediator between nations at war, 
 temporal magistrate, teacher of Gaul, president and 
 counsellor at Synods, adviser of Bishops and Arch- 
 bishops. At last he was invested with the office of 
 
 ' See St. Aug. Civ. Dei. Lib. I. ch. viii., &c. and Lib. IL 
 ch. iii. Lib. V. ch. xxiii. "22 — St. Chrys. Horn, ad Antioch. § 6. 
 
 torn. ii. p. 8 Comp. Le Maistre. Soirees de St. Petersbourg, 
 
 torn. ii. p. 143-150. — Jeremy Taylor's Serm. on the Entail of 
 Curses, and Chateaubriand's Martyrs.
 
 ST. GERMAN AT MILAN. 237 
 
 Ambassador. Never since his ordination had he known 
 peace and tranquillity. Even among so many illustri- 
 ous prelates, who by their sanctity and vigorous activity 
 preserved some remaining order in the political agita- 
 tions which disturbed the world, German seemed to 
 stand alone. " He went on," says Constantius, " from 
 strength to strength, according to the Psalmist." 
 
 Losing no time, he set off immediately for Italy to 
 discharge his new functions. At first his way lay in 
 the direction which he had previously taken, when he 
 went to Aries tlu'ough Lyons. He came again to the 
 village in the district of Alesia, where his friend the 
 presbyter Senator lived. It will be remembered that 
 on his former journey through this place, Senator and 
 Nectariola had received him under their hospitable 
 roof, and that his departure had been followed by a re- 
 markable miracle. ^ When he arrived there the second 
 time, Senator presented to him a girl about twenty 
 years old, who was dumb. German then rubbed her 
 mouth, her forehead, and her face, with some oil which 
 he had blessed ; afterwards he took a cup, into which 
 he had broken three small bits of bread ; placing one 
 of the bits into her mouth with his own hands, he bade 
 her swallow it and the others, using a form of grace 
 beforehand. Immediately with a loud voice she pro- 
 nounced the thanksgiving, swallowed the bread, and 
 obtained the faculty of speaking which she had not 
 possessed till then. 
 
 After this miracle, German threw himself into the 
 arms of liis friend Senator, with a burst of feeling to 
 which he had not been known to give way ; and having 
 embraced him affectionately, he exclaimed : " Farewell 
 
 1 See Ch, xix. p. 183.
 
 238 ST. GERMAN AT MILAN. 
 
 for ever, beloved brother, farewell. God grant that 
 we may meet at the day of judgment witliout confusion 
 of face ; for on earth we sliall never again enjoy the 
 company of each other." Li fact he had been granted 
 a foresight of his approaching end. 
 
 The attendants which he took with liim were few ; 
 probably as few as were consistent with the dignity of 
 a nation's representative, as many as his own modesty 
 would permit. Among these were some of his own 
 clergy. On a former occasion we find he had travelled 
 on horseback ; at his more advanced age, he would not 
 have parted with this small comfort, on a journey of 
 such length and difficulty. However, tliough he courted 
 privacy, multitudes thronged to meet him. This jour- 
 ney was long after famous ; on all the high roads by 
 which he passed, oratories and images of the cross were 
 subsequently erected, indicating tlie places Avhere he 
 had stopped to pray and to preach. When Constantius 
 wrote nearly forty years after, he could appeal to them 
 as standing witnesses. 
 
 A^Hien he came near to Autun, a large multitude 
 issued to receive him. It was his practice to visit the 
 burial places of the Saints, and on this occasion he 
 directed first his stej^s to the tomb of the Bishop St. 
 Cassian, which according to custom was situated with- 
 out the town. The tomb of St. Cassian was renowned 
 for the veneration in which it was held by the people. 
 St. Gregory of Tours, at a later period says,^ it was 
 every where pricked and scraped, and full of holes, 
 from the number of sick persons who had come to be 
 cured of their diseases. This St. Cassian, who must 
 not be confounded with St. Cassian the ]Martyr, or 
 
 ' Gloria Confess. 74, and Baillet Vie des Saints, Aug. v.
 
 ST. GERMAN AT MILAN. 239 
 
 with the famous John Cassian, lived in the fourth cen- 
 tury ; he was born at Alexandria, and for a time was 
 Bishop of Ortha, in Egypt. Afterwards he passed 
 into Gaul, and settled at Autun with St. Rheticius, 
 Bishop of that j^lace, and finally succeeded to him in 
 that See. His death, of which no precise account has 
 been left, but which was apparently natural, secured 
 him a place among the Confessors of the time. Ger- 
 man, on approaching his sepulchre, beheld on the white 
 stone the figure of the cross, formed, as it were, by the 
 different shades of the marble, a kind of evidence of the 
 departed Saint's virtues. On seeing this, he offered up 
 a prayer as he was wont, and exclaimed : " What art 
 thou doing here, illustrious brother ?" Inunediately St. 
 Cassian from the tomb answered in the hearing of aU 
 present : " I am enjoying sweet peace without inter- 
 ruption, and waiting for the coming of the Redeemer." 
 Then German replied : " Repose there long in Christ. 
 But do thou intercede earnestly with our Lord Jesus 
 Christ for us and for this people, that we may be 
 esteemed meet to hear the sound of the Divine trum- 
 pet, and obtain the joys of a holy resurrection." 
 " Such," remarks Constantius, " was the marvellous 
 gift of German, that he could hold intercourse even 
 with those who were concealed in the grave ; each one 
 of the miracles he performed had its wonders ; but the 
 rarity of examples of this kind adds to our astonish- 
 ment ; two Saints of great fame who had never been 
 in the presence of each other, were here holding con- 
 verse together, the one among the living, the other 
 among the dead ; both indeed citizens of the blessed 
 and heavenly Jerusalem, both enjoying already heaven 
 in part, both in part yet sojourning on earth ; he who 
 was already in possession of his country, recognized
 
 240 ST. GERMAN AT MILAN, 
 
 his fellow-soldier, still in exile, and responded to his 
 prayers and address."^ 
 
 "Wliile German stopped at Autun, surrounded by a 
 large number of people, a man and his wife came to 
 him, and kneeling doAvn, presented their daughter, who 
 was grown up, and afflicted with a grievous infirmity. 
 From her birth, the nerves of her fingers had been 
 contracted, and turned round into the palm of her 
 hand ; the nails had pierced the hand, and penetrated 
 as far as the bones. German then took hold of her 
 fingers, and restored them one by one to their proper 
 direction. Wlien he had done this, so great was his 
 charity in little things, we are told, that with his own 
 hands he condescended to cut the nails of the girl, 
 which had grown to an excessive length. 
 
 After this action, he left Autun, and proceeded on 
 his journey to Italy. He had, as yet, advanced but a 
 short way. The road from Auxerre to jMilan, by 
 Vienne and the Cottian Alps, is described in the Anto- 
 nine Itinerary, '^ as being of the extent of six hundred 
 and thirty-four Roman miles. We are not informed 
 by which way St. German went to Italy, but the col- 
 lection of circumstances may lead to a probable con- 
 jecture. There seem to have been three principal 
 roads between Auxerre and Milan, two of which were 
 the same, as far as Vienne. The other lay in the 
 direction of the Jura,^ taking in Alesia, Dijon, Besan- 
 9on, Pontarlier, Orbe, Lausanne, St. Maurice, ]Mar- 
 tigny, and the Great St. Bernard (the Mons Jovis.) 
 
 ' " Votis ct alloquio." Vit. S. Germ. Lib. ii. § 64. Boll, and 
 p. 23, MS. Bodlei. 
 
 - Vld. Recueil, des Hist. torn. i. p. 103. 
 => See the Map of Bouquet & Le Beuf, in Recueil des Hist. t. i.
 
 ST. GERMAN AT JIILAN. 241 
 
 That this road was a frequented one in early times, 
 is shown by the famous massacre of the Christian 
 Legion, called the Theban, by the Emperor Maximian, 
 in the beginning of the fourth century, which took 
 place at Agaunum, the romantic spot since called St, 
 Maurice, from one of the martyred soldiers ; and in 
 the ninth century, the remains of St. Urban and St. 
 Tiburtius, which were brought from Italy to Auxerre, 
 passed by St. Maurice.^ However, there is more rea- 
 son to think St. German followed one of the other roads. 
 Tradition afBLrmed he took Vienne and Vercellas on his 
 way ;^ and Hericus of Auxerre, whose attention had 
 been carefully directed to every small circumstance 
 connected with his patron Saint, tells us that the Pen- 
 nine Alps were famous for his miracles, and especially 
 the Mons miJions Jovis, which there is every reason 
 to suppose was the Little St. Bernard,^ as distinguished 
 from the Great St. Bernard, the Mons Jovis. This 
 inference is supported by the fact that a village, 
 situated just under the Little St. Bernard, is named 
 to this day Colona Joux, which latter word is a cor- 
 ruption of Jovis ; and perhaps still more by another 
 village, close to the same spot, which is stiU called 
 St. Germain. And indeed Hericus, in the ninth cen- 
 tuiy, positively affirms that all who go to Rome must 
 unavoidably pass by this way ; and he informs us that 
 the village alluded to was called after St. German, be- 
 cause the body of the Saint not long after rested there, 
 on its return to Gaul ; and a Church in his honour 
 
 1 Heric. de Mir. ch. iii. 109 §. 
 - Ado Viennensis apud Bolland. notas. 
 * See D'Aaville Deseript. de la France — Fol. Bosch. Not. 
 ad locum Herici. ch. viii. de Mir. Arrowsmith's last large 
 Atlas. 1832.
 
 242 ST. GERJLAJV AT MILAN. 
 
 was there erected. It is conceived, then, that German 
 went first to Vienne, then to the Little St. Bernard, 
 afterwards to Eporedia, now called Ivrea, and thence 
 to Vei'celli, on towards INIilan. 
 
 During his passage of the Alps, (for of this there is 
 no doubt whatever) he fell in with some workmen who 
 were returning from their labour. Oppressed with 
 their burdens, they had great difficulty in ascending 
 the mountainous steeps. They came to the banks of a 
 torrent which, like Alpine torrents, rushed violently 
 down the hill. The stepping-stones which were thrown 
 across, were but uncertain and vacillating. One of 
 the poor travellers was an old and lame man. Seeing 
 this, German took himself tlie burden on his shoulders, 
 and deposited it on the other side ; then he returned, 
 and carried over the old man in the same way. To 
 appreciate this signal act of charity, we are desired by 
 Constantius to consider the extreme age of German 
 himself. His face, he says, was emaciated by the 
 rigour of his fasts ; he seldom eat any thing but once 
 a week, and then only barley bread ; he never got 
 sleep, except on a hard couch ; was ever employed in 
 long and wearisome journeys, and was hardly able to 
 support himself. Such was the man who, born of 
 noble parents, and raised to the highest stations in the 
 empire, and dignified with the title of Apostle, could 
 lower himself towards a poor old labourer in this 
 touching manner. 
 
 Tradition brings German next to VerccUi, where, 
 not St. Eusebius, as Hericus supposes,^ but some other 
 Bishop, received him, perhaps St. Albinus. The cir- 
 cumstances of his reception and its results, will be best 
 
 ' Heric. de Mir. § 29. Ughellusj Ital. Sacra, torn. iv.
 
 ST. GERMAK AT MILAN. 243 
 
 undei'stood at a later period of this narrative. Suffice 
 it to say, that the Bishop desired St. German to dedi- 
 cate on his return a Church he was building, which he 
 promised to do. It is however to be remarked, that 
 there is still a village near Vercelli, called after St. 
 German. 
 
 German arrived at Milan on the Festival of St. 
 Protasius and Gervasius ; that is, the 19th of June, 
 448.^ These were the two martyrs whose remains 
 had been discovered by Ambrose, and gave occasion to 
 the well known miracle performed on a blind man. A 
 great many bishops, "^ with other clergy, were assembled 
 for the feast. Milan was a metropolitan See, and one 
 which has ever possessed peculiar and independent 
 privileges. There were fifteen Suffragan Bishops 
 within the diocese.'' St. Barnabas the Apostle was 
 said to have founded the See of Milan. In all proba- 
 bility St. Lazarus was Bishop when German arrived, 
 if it be true that he was elected in 440, and governed 
 eleven years. He has deserved special mention in the 
 Roman martp'ology, and been praised in ten lines of 
 poetry by Ennodius Ticinensis. 
 
 "We must now imagine St. Lazarus in the prin- 
 cipal Church clothed with his pontifical vestments, as 
 for a great festival of the city, after the fashion of 
 the very ancient Mosaic representation of the Arch- 
 bishop of Ravenna in the Church of San Vitale^ 
 He would be dressed in a white surplice or albe, 
 with the pallium, the mark of his dignity, which 
 was now commg into use in the West after the 
 
 1 Bede Ephemeris Junii. 
 - Sacerdotes. =• Ughellus, Ital. Sacra, torn. iv. 
 
 ^ See the interesting Drawing in Knight's Ecclesiastical Ar- 
 chitecture of Italy. Folio, 1842.
 
 244 ST. GER3MAN AT JIILAN. 
 
 custom of the Oriental Churches. This pallium seems 
 to have been very different from the Archiepiscopal 
 pall of a later period, which resembles a stole or scarf 
 passed round the neck and joining over the breast. In 
 the fifth century there is reason to think it was a white 
 woollen chasuble or cloak, which covered nearly the 
 whole body, without seam, and open only at the top to 
 admit the head, descending nearly to the heels, and 
 concealing the greater part of the albe. The signifi- 
 cancy of this vestment consisted in its being an emblem 
 of the sheep whom the Good Shepherd recovers from 
 its wanderings and places on His shoulders. Hence it 
 was called in Greek the Homophorion. ^ Over the 
 pallium of St. Lazarus, a stole of white silk or other 
 stuff would be hanging on both sides, with a small 
 black or coloiired cross at each end. In his right hand 
 he might be carrying an image of the cross, gilt, or of 
 gold, with blue spots at intervals, probably some pi'e- 
 cious stones of great value. The minor clergy about 
 him would also be clad in white surplices ; some might 
 be carrying the volume of the Gospels, others the cen- 
 sers with frankincense. The tonsvu-e would be different 
 according to the office of the ecclesiastic ; the baldness 
 
 ' See Thomassin. de Discipl — where the following apposite 
 passage from St. Isidorus Pelusiota, is quoted. Lib. i. Ep. 
 136. " Episcopi Pallium, a/*o?of loy ex lana, non ex lino contextum, 
 ovis illius, quam Dominus aberrantem quajsisit, inventamque 
 humeris suis sustulit, pellem significat. Episcopus enim qui 
 Christi typum gcrit, ipsius munere fungitur, atque etiam ipso 
 habitu illud omnibus ostendit, se boni illius ac magni Pastoris 
 imitatorem esse, qui gregis infirmitates sibi ferendas proposuit." 
 
 It will be remarked, that a contrary opinion has here been 
 •idraitted to that which is given in Mr. Palmer's Orig. Lib. vol. 
 ii. p. 322.
 
 ST. GERMAN AT MILAK. 245 
 
 of the Archbishop perhaps being more entire, the sub- 
 ordinate clergy having a kind of wreath of hair just 
 above the temples and round by the ears. In this 
 manner would St, Lazarus proceed to celebrate the 
 Mass. He was now at the Altar with his Bishops and 
 Clergy in the middle of the Sacred mysteries, when 
 German, unknown and unexpected, entered the Cathe- 
 di'al. Immediately one of the people who was possessed 
 with an evil spirit screamed out distinctly : " Why 
 dost thou, German, persecute us even into Italy ? Let it 
 suffice thee to have banished us from Gaul, and over- 
 come both us and the waves of the ocean by thy 
 prayers. Why art thou found every where ? Be still, 
 that we also may be in peace." The Church was full 
 of people. Every one turned round with surprise and 
 fear. Each asked his neighbour who German might 
 be. The dress of the traveller was so humble that he 
 might have been overlooked, had not the dignity of his 
 countenance attracted the attention of all. Upon being 
 questioned, he declared who he was. By this time the 
 Bishop of Milan and his assistants had come down 
 from the Bema and Altar ; and signified their profound 
 respect for the Saint of God. They entreated him to 
 heal the madman who had declared his arrival. Then 
 German took him apart into the Sacristy, a place ad- 
 joining the Church, where the sacred vessels were kept 
 and the clergy changed their vestments. ^ German 
 there released the afflicted man, and brought him back 
 sound to the multitude who filled the Cathedi*al. This 
 miracle was followed by others ; many came to be 
 cured of their diseases, and returned in health. Crowds 
 flocked to receive his blessing, and hear him preach. 
 
 ' Ducange ad voc. Secrariura.
 
 246 ST. GERMAN AT ItAVENNA. 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 St. German at Ravenna. 
 
 Geejiax soon left j\Elan, and proceeded towards Ra- 
 venna. He had not gone far when he was met by 
 some beggars, who requested an akas. Having en- 
 quired of a Deacon who attended him, how much there 
 was in the bag, he was told, tlu-ee pieces of gold. 
 " Give them all," he said. The Deacon surprised, 
 asked what they themselves were to live upon. " God," 
 said he, " will feed his own poor ; do thou give what 
 thou hast." The Deacon to be prudent gave away two 
 pieces, and secretly reserved one. As they advanced 
 in the direction of the river Po, they Avere overtaken 
 by some men on horseback, who dismounting and fall- 
 ing on their knees, informed him that their master 
 Leporius, a man in high authority, ^ who lived not far 
 off, was ill with all his family of a fever ; they entreated 
 him to repair tliither, or if this were impossible, to pray 
 for Leporius at a distance. But German consented to go 
 out of his way, and came to the residence of the noble- 
 man, notwithstanding the objections urged by his atten- 
 dants. The men who had desired his aid, immediately of- 
 fered the present of two hundred pieces of gold wliich 
 had been sent by them. Then he turned to the Dea- 
 con and said : " Take this offering, and consider that 
 thou hast defrauded God's own poor ; for if thou hadst 
 given to the beggars the three pieces as I charged thee, 
 
 ' Vir spectabilis.
 
 ST. GERMAN AT RAVENNA. 247 
 
 we should now have received tlii-ee hundred pieces 
 instead of two hundred." His companion blushed to 
 tliink his secret actions should thus have been dis- 
 closed. 
 
 They then hastened to Leporius, who was highly 
 pleased to see German. Upon entering, the latter fell 
 down in prayer, and forthwith healed the nobleman 
 and all his family. Then he visited the cottages in the 
 neighbourhood where the epidemic raged, and cured 
 every one. This miracle took place not far from 
 ]Milan, at the village of Niguarda,^ where a Church 
 dedicated to St. German is said still to bear witness to 
 his visit. This had necessarily caused considerable 
 delay, and it was not before the third day that he was 
 able to set out again, accomjianied a short way by Le- 
 porius liimself. 
 
 In the mean time, fame had given notice of his 
 progress at Ravenna, where he was expected with great 
 anxiety. Like Sidonius Apollinaris, on a similar ex- 
 pedition, nineteen years after, he would descend into 
 the plains of the Po, following, however, the course of 
 the yellow Lambro, instead of the Tessin, to Placentia, 
 a town he was afterwards to revisit under very different 
 circumstances. Then embarking on the post-barges 
 of the Po, ^ he woidd pass by the conflux of the blue 
 Adda, the swift Adige, the sluggish Mincio, which 
 take their sources in the Ligurian and Euganean moun- 
 tains ; his eyes would be refreshed by the shades of 
 the groves of oaks and maple trees which crown their 
 
 ' Bosch, not ad locum Const. 
 ■^ '• Cursoriam sic navigio nomen." Sid. Apoll. Ep. v. lib. i. 
 " Celoces et holcadas, quibus excursum per alveum Padi facie- 
 bant." Cassiodorus apud Notas in Sid. Apoll. Sirmond.
 
 248 ST. GERMAN AT RAVENNA. 
 
 banks, where the sweet concert of birds issued at the 
 same time from the rushes and reeds of their bed, and 
 the thickets and bushes which so closely line the way. 
 He would, like Sidonius, pass under the walls of Cre- 
 mona, and perhaps remember Virgil's verses ; then 
 behold at a little distance, the scene of Otho's single 
 act of heroism, the memorable town of BrixiUum, 
 and at last arrive by one of the many mouths of the 
 Po, in sight of Ravenna. 
 
 Ravenna, we are told, was not originally a Roman 
 colony, but a municipal town, ^ to which the Romans 
 granted the right of govei'ning itself by its own laws, 
 the privilege of having the same offices and dignities 
 as the Roman people, and exemption from all kind of 
 tribute. Here was the residence of the Praitor. The 
 assemblies of the provinces were held in it, and a large 
 fleet filled the fine harbour. Of late, the Roman Em- 
 perors had been much attached to this town, which 
 always remained faithful. Honorius and Valentinian 
 in. had fixed theii* abode here, and built palaces. In 
 subsequent times, Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths, 
 made it the centre of his new kingdom ; and tiU the 
 middle of the eighth century, Ravenna was considered 
 the capital of Italy and the seat of government. The 
 palace and sepulchre of Theodoric may still be seen.* 
 "At Ravenna," says Sidonius, ^ "you might be per- 
 plexed to know whether the great imperial street which 
 traverses it, connects or separates tlie old city from the 
 new harbour. Two branches of the Po circulate 
 through the to^vn and divide it. This river, which 
 
 ' See Not. in Sid. Ap. ed. Lyons, 1836. 
 
 - Gibbon, torn. iv. p. 28. Knight's Eccles. Architect 
 
 3 Sid. Apoil. Epist. 5. b. i.
 
 ST. GERMAN AT RAVENISTA. 249 
 
 was drawn off from the principal stream by artificial 
 means, has been divided into vaiious channels, which 
 flow round the walls of the city and defend it from 
 external attack, and again penetrate into the interior, 
 for the advantage of commerce. Every thing here is 
 in favom* of traffic ; provisions are in abimdance. Yet 
 when the salt waters of the sea enter by the flood-gates 
 on one side, and on the other the miry waters of the 
 canals are agitated by the many boats wliich pass to 
 and fro, and the mud is dug up by the poles of the 
 sailors who steer their way : even in the middle of water 
 we were tliirsty ; in truth, nowhere is the aqueduct 
 itself quite limpid, nor the cistern without impurities ; 
 much less is there a fresh source or a clean well." 
 This, of com'se, is in some measure a partial description 
 of the majestic Ravenna ; and a more complete idea 
 may be obtained from Gibbon ;^ yet it well represents 
 the great feature of the place, intersected as it was with 
 canals, and surrounded by extensive marshes and the sea. 
 German had managed to arrive there by night, to 
 avoid publicity ; yet the people were on the look-out 
 for him, and he did not enter imobserved. The chief 
 men of the town came out to meet him, with num- 
 bers of all rank and age. Among these was St. 
 Peter, Archbishop of Eavenna, surnamed Chrysolo- 
 gus, from his eloquence, and well known in the 
 Chm'ch. Of him it is that the following interesting 
 anecdote has been preserved in the Breviary Service 
 for his Festival, the 4th of December. " In liis ser- 
 mons addressed to the people, his language was often 
 so energetic, that the vehemence of his exertions some- 
 times caused his voice to fail all at once. This hap- 
 
 1 Tom. iv. p. 27.
 
 250 ST. GERMAX AT RA^-ENNA. 
 
 pened on the occasion of his Discourse upon the 
 Woman that had the issue of blood. The inhabitants 
 of Ravenna, seeing the impediment which liad sud- 
 denly come upon him, moved with sympathy, tilled the 
 place with such earnest lamentations and prayers to 
 God, that afterwards he returned thanks to God that 
 the injury which his voice and discourse had received 
 had been turned to such a demonstration of love." 
 The Roman Breviary has besides, several Lessons, taken 
 from his writings, for the Festivals of other Saints, 
 as many are aware. Of him it was also said, that he 
 literally governed his Church according to the Apostolic 
 precepts.^ His life in the Episcopate was similar to 
 that which he had led before his elevation ; for he had 
 been a monk. He was, moreover, in high favour with 
 the Emperor and Empress. Six other Bishops were 
 likewise in the suite of German, but their names are 
 not given. It would require no great stretch of imagi- 
 nation to seek for the great St. Leo the Pope among 
 them. He was a personal friend of St. Peter Chryso- 
 logus, and much in request at the Court of Ravenna, 
 which he had often served in emergencies. But as 
 Constantius is silent, it is more probable they were 
 suffragan Bishops of St. Peter, ^ one of whom might be 
 Cornelius, Bishop of Imola, an intimate friend of 
 Chrysologus, to whose elevation he had been instru- 
 mental.' 
 
 As soon as German was known to have arrived, the 
 Empress Placidia sent a valuable vessel of silver to 
 
 ' Constantius § 70. Bolland. Tillemont, torn. xv. Ughellus, 
 torn. ii. p. 332. 
 
 - There were ten Suffragans of Ravenna. 
 •' See Ughellus, torn. ii. p. 332. ed. 1647.
 
 ST. GERMAN AT RAVENNA. 251 
 
 him, filled with delicate provisions, without any mix- 
 ture of flesh. Having accepted the present, he deliv- 
 ered the contents to his followers and his clerical at- 
 tendants, and begged leave to sell the silver vessel for 
 the sake of the poor. As a return to the Empress, he 
 sent her a little wooden dish, containing some barley 
 bread. Placidia was greatly pleased with the action 
 of German, and received with deep reverence the hum- 
 ble platter and food of the Saint. Afterwards, she 
 caused the wooden dish to be chased in gold, and pre- 
 served the bread, which became afterAvards the means 
 of many miraculous cures. ^ 
 
 Galla Placidia was mother of the Emperor Valen- 
 tinian III., and sister of the late Emperor Honorius. 
 Three females were at this time at the head of the govern- 
 ment in the Western and Eastern Empires. Pulcheria 
 and Eudocia, the sister and wife of the young Theodosius, 
 reigned supreme at Constantinople. Placidia, taught 
 by a life of adventures and troubles, directed the affairs 
 of the West. Her son, Valentinian, had been on the 
 throne since 425, that is, twenty-three years. Grand- 
 son of the Great Theodosius, he did not prove that 
 the talent which misses one generation returns in the 
 next. " His long minority," says Gibbon, " was en- 
 trusted to the guardian care of a mother, who might 
 assert a female claim to the succession of the Western 
 Empire — Placidia ; but she could not equal the reputa- 
 tion and virtues of the wife and sister of Theodosius 
 (the younger), the elegant genius of Eudocia, the wise 
 and successful policy of Pulcheria. The mother of 
 Valentinian was jealous of the power which she was 
 incapable of exercising ; she reigned twenty -five years 
 in the name of her son ; and the character of that un- 
 
 ' So Tillemont renders the passage. Art. de St. Germain. 
 
 s
 
 252 ST, GER3IAX AT RAVENNA. 
 
 worthy Emperor gradually countenanced the suspicion 
 that Placidia had enervated his youth by a dissolute 
 education, and studiously diverted his attention from 
 every manly and honourable pursuit." This portrait 
 is here given, chiefly as indicating a subject for candid 
 enquiry, should a mind more congenial to Christian 
 and Catholic development than that of Gibbon, be 
 turned to the study of the ambiguous characters of 
 Placidia and Valentinian. Constantius, whose friend, 
 Sidonius Apollinaris, was acquainted with the Court 
 of Ravenna as well as any of his age, positively affirms 
 that Placidia and Valentinian were both zealous for 
 the Catholic ftxith, and though so high in tlie world, 
 were ever known to lower themselves for the honour 
 of God's servants. On the occasion we are now inte- 
 rested in, it is certain they were foremost in showing 
 the greatest respect to German ; nor could it be said 
 that Ambrose, when sueing for a guilty province at the 
 Court of Theodosius the Great, had met with more 
 deference and considerateness than now was evinced 
 by the grand-son of that prince to the advocate of the 
 Armoricans. 
 
 Some short time, it appears, elapsed before he found 
 a favom-ablc opportunity of laying the cause of this peo- 
 ple before Valentinian, One day as he was walking in 
 one of the broadest streets sm-rounded by a nimiber of per- 
 sons, he passed by the gates of the prison, then filled with 
 many who had been doomed to die or suffer some severe 
 penalty. Hearing that German was passing by, they all 
 at once raised a loud cry. He enquired the cause, and 
 called for the door-keepers, who had concealed them- 
 selves, and learnt from them that the dissensions of the 
 contending factions at court had occasioned a recent im- 
 portation of these unhappy victims into the state prisons.
 
 ST. GERMAN AT RAVENNA. 253 
 
 Those who are acquainted with the history of this pe- 
 riod, will be able to understand how many acts of ty- 
 ranny were then executed in the imperial name, thouo-h 
 in fact they emanated from subordinate ministers and of- 
 ficers. When German saw that it was useless to seek 
 for mercy elsewhere, be had recourse to that Divine 
 aid which had so often been present with him. He 
 advanced towards the prison and fell down in prayer. 
 It was not long before its efficacy was manifested. The 
 bars and bolts of the gates were suddenly loosened, and 
 a number of prisoners came forth with tlieir chains un- 
 fastened, which they held up to the view of the multi- 
 tude. Prisons are made for the lawless, and for the 
 protection of justice and peace ; in this case, says Con- 
 stantius, law seemed to be justified in the violation of 
 its securities. The released men then, together with 
 German and the whole multitude, proceeded to the 
 Church to return thanks. 
 
 The fame of his miracles daily spread ; people came 
 from all sides. The sick and infirm were healed. It 
 seemed that the gift of Christ obtained more virtue as 
 German was draAving to the close of his life. The 
 seven Bishops before mentioned, among whom was St. 
 Peter Chrysologus, hardly ever left his side. They 
 were alike filled with astonishment at the incessant 
 mortifications he practised, and the wonderful miracles 
 he performed. And their testimony, which is of the 
 highest character, as Constantius expressly declares, is 
 corroborative of the evidence for his miracles which 
 are proved from so many other sources. ^ 
 
 There was a man about the court who acted as chief 
 secretary to the Patrician Segisvultus.^ He had a sou 
 
 ' " Hi testes operum illius multis temporibus fuere." 
 - " Qui turn patritii Segisvulti caiicellis prseerat."
 
 254 ST. GERMAN AT RAVEXNA. 
 
 that was dying of a low fever. The physicians had 
 given him over, and his parents were in the utmost 
 affliction. At last they bethought themselves of seekinor 
 help from the Bishop of Auxerre. Their son could 
 scarcely be said to live. They came with their rela- 
 tions and friends and humbly implored his assistance. 
 The Bishops, his companions, joined in the request. 
 He then hastened to visit the dying youth. While 
 they were going, a messenger came to say that the son 
 of Yolusianus (for so the Secretary was called) was 
 dead, and that there was no longer any need of 
 troubling the holy man. The other Bishops, how- 
 ever, would not let him stop, but earnestly bid him 
 perfect the work of mercy. They found the body life- 
 less ; the heat of nature had gone, the corpse was cold 
 as stone. They then offered up a prayer for the rest 
 of his soul,^ and were on the point of returning, when 
 the by-standers began to weep and bewail bitterly. The 
 Bishops then entreated him to pray the Lord in behalf 
 of the bereaved parents, for the restoration of the 
 youth. He hesitated long ; if we except the uncertain 
 miracle performed in the company of St. Anian, near 
 Orleans, this was the first call upon his power for rais- 
 ing a dead man. Such a deed had scarcely been known 
 in ecclesiastical history. However, we are told, his 
 feelings of compassion and charity, combined with that 
 confidence which so long a life of faith produced, urged 
 him to make the trial. Pie removed the crowd, as when 
 his Master had raised the daughter of Jairus ; then like 
 Elijah and Elisha, he knelt down over the corpse. His 
 tears fell in abundance, and he called instantly upon 
 the name of Christ. In the meantime, the dead youth 
 began to move, and by degrees the limbs recovered 
 
 ' Depositaque pro aniniae requic orationc."
 
 ST. GERMAN AT RAVENNA. 255 
 
 their animation. The eyes sought the light, the fingers 
 began to bend, the tongue to falter. Then German 
 arose from prayer, and raised up the youth, Avho like 
 Lazarus might be said " to have slept but not unto 
 death." He sat up, drew his breath, stretched himself, 
 looked around. At last his whole strength returned. 
 Great was the joy of his parents, loud were the accla- 
 mations of the people. The end of German was near 
 at hand ; this miracle was a kind of type of the glory 
 which was soon to be given to him. 
 
 There was yet another about the court who had rea- 
 son to be grateful to him. This was a pupil of the 
 Eunuch Acholius"^ who held the chief office of 
 Chamberlain. He had brought up the young man 
 with great care, and imbued him with a love for 
 letters. An evil spirit however crushed his ener- 
 gies ; every month at the moon's full, he was seized 
 with what is called the falling sickness, of which there 
 is frequent mention in ancient history. ^ Ca?sar, ac- 
 cording to Plutarch, was subject to it ; and there have 
 been some who thought St. Paul was liable to it.^ All 
 the authority of the imperial household was used to ob- 
 tain German's helii. Accordingly when he had exam- 
 ined the young man, contraiy to his practice, (for he 
 was wont to expel the most furious spirits by simple 
 imposition of hands), he deferred purifying him to ano- 
 ther day. The malign influence had made the unfor- 
 tunate young man a very receptacle, as it Avere, of 
 Satan's operations. German desired he might be left 
 
 » Or Scolius. Bodl. MS. In this MS. here follows a story 
 referred by Bosch, to Hericus's Works. It is also found in the 
 Codex Chifflet., but in a different place. It is here omitted as 
 unimportant and uncertain. 
 
 - " Caduca allisione prosternit." 
 3 Bishop Bull. Serm.
 
 256 ST. GERMAN AT RAVENNA. 
 
 alone with liim for the niglit. In tlie same night the evil 
 spirit came out of him, wallowing and confessing that 
 it had dwelt in him since his earliest years. The young 
 man thus restored to health, soon returned to his sta- 
 tion in the palace. 
 
 The time was come when he deemed it seasonable to . 
 explain the object of his journey. His negotiations with 
 the Emperor and Empress proved successful ; and he 
 might have carried home their pardon to the Armori- 
 cans, with terms of peace. But while he was interced- 
 ing for them, the news came that this restless people 
 had again revolted. The efforts he had made were thus 
 rendered void. And the Emperor was greatly irritated 
 at their conduct. A learned and ingenious writer,^ 
 whose chronological views alone need here be suspected, 
 conjectures with great j^yrobability, that the reasons 
 which might induce the Ai-moricans to thwart the ne- 
 gotiations of their deputy, were such as the following. 
 Aetius, the Patrician, their great enemy and dread, was 
 at this time embarrassed with his Avar against the 
 Franks, who, under their king Clodion, w^ere then 
 making an invasion into the north of Gaul, where they 
 had taken possession of Cambray and Tournay. Se- 
 condly, the extreme misery of all who lived within the 
 Roman dominion, except the nobles and chief men, and 
 the continual reinforcements which daily desertions 
 brought to the Armorican confederacy, would at the 
 same time raise their expectations of success in re- 
 bellion, and make them still more averse to further 
 connexion with the Empire. Moreover it appears 
 there was a very general feeling abroad that the 
 duration of the Roman power, as foretold by the 
 
 ' L'Abbc^ Dubos Pltablissement dc la Monarchic Francaise. 
 torn. i. p. 393.
 
 ■ ST. GERMAN AT RAVENNA. 257 
 
 ancient pagan oracles, was now abont to expire. 
 Lastly, the otHcers and auxiliaries appear to have 
 taken an unfair advantage of the suspension of 
 arms, in order to form underhand a party within the 
 Armorican republic, with a view to an easier conquest 
 hereafter. Whether Eochar, with that inconsistency 
 which is so frequent after sudden revivals of conscience, 
 and that natural tendency of a Barbarian to gratify 
 whatever impression was uppermost, violated his sacred 
 engagements with German and gave fresh alarm to the 
 Armoricans, we are not strictly informed. It might 
 seem indeed that this latter people trifled with the cha- 
 racter of their ambassador. But the case requires con- 
 sideration. The pardon and favour of the Court of 
 Ravenna, though the most easily obtained, Avas not 
 after all the main point to be gained. When there are 
 many degrees of authority, it is the nearest to them- 
 selves which men are most interested in conciliating. 
 As long as Aetius and the Alani remained in their 
 neighbourhood, the Armoricans would ever have to 
 fear. It was also an impolitic measure, though the 
 only one practicable, to apply to the Court of Ravenna, 
 instead of Aetius. However, the revolt of the nation 
 was soon after followed by a severe chastisement at the 
 hands of their enemies. ^ Still up to the great invasion 
 of the Huns in 451, the Armoricans had not been en- 
 tirely subdued, and continued to give no little anxiety 
 to the vigilant Patrician. But when this scourge of 
 God threatened Gaul, political animosities were laid 
 aside, and all the inhabitants of the country united 
 against Attila and his forces.^ And now to return. 
 
 ' Constantius. - Dubos, torn. i. p. 439-441.
 
 258 HIS DEATH. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 His Death. 
 
 OxE morning after the celebration of mass (the expres- 
 sion belongs to the original), St. German was discours- 
 ing upon subjects of religion with the Bishops that 
 waited on him. Li the middle of the conversation he 
 said to them : " I commend to you, beloved brethren, 
 my death. Methought, during the sleep of the night, 
 I received from our Lord the provisions for a journey ; 
 and when I asked the cause of this joorney, ' Fear not, he 
 said, I send thee to thy proper country, to no foreign land ; 
 there thou shalt have eternal rest and peace.' " The Bi- 
 shops then endeavoured to interpret the dream other- 
 wise ; but he continued to refer it to his death ; " I 
 well know what that country is which God promises to 
 his servants." His foresight was not at fault. A few 
 days after, on the 25th of July, 448, a. d., he was taken 
 seriously ill. "When he grew no better but ever worse, 
 the whole city was moved. It was clear death was now 
 approaching with rapid strides, as if to spare him, who 
 had died for thirty years to the world, the sufferings of 
 a protracted departure. Among the numbers who came 
 to pay their last respects to him while alive, was the 
 Empress Placidia. Putting aside tlie grandeur of her 
 rank, she hastened to visit his bedside. She then pro- 
 mised to grant whatever he should ask. Upon one 
 thing he laid great stress : his body was to be restored 
 to his native country ; nor was it a request which Pla- 
 cidia was inclined to accept. He was not however re-
 
 HIS DEATH. 259 
 
 fused. Li the meantime multitudes came to visit the 
 dying Saint by night and by day. Dui-ing the seven 
 days of his sickness, there was a choir at his bedside 
 singing Psalms. On the seventh day, says Constantius, 
 the 31st of July, the happy and blessed soul of German 
 was carried up to heaven. ^ He had been Bishop thirty 
 years and twenty-five days. 
 
 His inheritance was then divided. The chief claim- 
 ants were the Emperor and the Empress, his mother, 
 and the Bishops. His relics were esteemed worth all 
 other riches, and each one endeavoured out of the 
 little the Saint had to leave, to obtain something. 
 Placidia got the little box which enclosed the relics of 
 the Apostles and Martyrs which German wore at his 
 breast, and with which he had performed miracles. St. 
 Peter Chrysologus took for liimself the monk's hood,^ 
 with the hau- cloth which touched his skin.^ The other 
 Bishops, in order to obtain some small legacy, were 
 content to tear the garments which remained ; one took 
 the over-coat,"^ another the belt ; two divided the tunic, 
 two others the coarse cloth ^ on which he lay. 
 
 The magnificence of the funeral procession displayed 
 the zeal of the court and city. All came forward to 
 contribute. Acholius, the Eunuch of the royal cham- 
 ber, whose pupil had been healed by German, presented 
 costly spices to embalm his body. The Empress Pla- 
 cidia, covered it Avith a rich dress, with the Eagle and 
 the imperial arms designed upon it, in which silk, a very 
 precious material at that time, was combined with fine 
 
 ' See ult. § Const. Bodl. M.S. and Bolland. Robert. Mo- 
 nach. Chron. Ed. 1609, Trecis. 
 
 - Cuculla. ^ Cum interiori cilicio. 
 
 ^ Pallium, not the pall apparently, as he was not Metropoli- 
 tan. 5 Sagulum vid. supra, p. 54. Not.
 
 260 HIS DEATH. 
 
 embroidery ;i and had it placed in a coffin of cypress 
 wood ; both which were long after preserved at Aux- 
 erre, and seen by Hericus. The Emperor paid the ex- 
 penses of the Translation to Gaul, and conferred a mu- 
 nificent largess upon the clerical and lay attendants of 
 the departed Saint. The ceremonies in use for the 
 translation of a corpse, Avere then performed by the 
 Bishops who had been with him in his last hours. At 
 the head of these was the Archbishop of Ravenna, St. 
 Peter Chrysologus. The Church has subjects of glory 
 and exultation which seem singular to the world. 
 Among them is the honour of burying Saints and at- 
 tending their last hours. " To St. Peter, says the 
 Breviary, the honour was granted of burying two Saints 
 who died at Ravenna, Barbatian the Presbyter, and 
 German Bishop of Auxerre, whose bodies he embalmed 
 with costly ointments." After the preparations were 
 concluded, messengers Avere sent before the funeral pro- 
 cession to prejiare the due solemnities wherever he 
 should pass.^ 
 
 The procession then set off. Its splendour and pomp 
 were almost unequalled. A vast concourse of people 
 followed. It arrived at Placentia by night. The coffin 
 was deposited in the Cathedral, and a vigil instituted, 
 during which religious offices were performed. Then 
 a woman, an inhabitant of Placentia, who had a palsy, 
 and had lost the use of her limbs, requested the per- 
 mission to lie under the coffin ; and in tliis position she 
 remained till the return of day. Early the coffin was 
 taken up, and the woman rose. She had recovered the 
 soundness of her body, and to the amazement of all, 
 
 ■ Constant ius et Hericus de Miraculis. Bosch. Comm. 
 - This phrase of Const, is thus explained bv Hericus de Mir. 
 §27.
 
 HIS DEATH. 261 
 
 walked on witli the rest of the people who followed the 
 funeral march. 
 
 St. German, when he before passed through Vercelli, 
 had given a promise to the Bishop of that town, proba- 
 bly St. Albinus, that he would on his return from Ra- 
 venna dedicate a new Church. When, therefore, says 
 Hericus, the Bishop heaixl of his death, he proceeded 
 to consecrate it himself. According to custom, he gave 
 orders that the candles should be lighted. But it was 
 in vain ; the candles could not be lighted, the servants 
 tried repeatedly without effect. This lasted for several 
 days, and the Bishop was finally forced to desist. In 
 the meantime, news arrived that the procession was 
 approaching. St. Albinus went out to meet it, and 
 brought the coffin into the new Chm'ch. Scarcely had it 
 entered, when the whole Church in an instant lighted 
 up. The Bishop perceived the signal for the dedica- 
 tion was now given, and he performed it. The name 
 of this Church we are told is at present St. Eusebius. 
 
 And now the procession moved on again. The na- 
 tives of Gaul having heard of German's decease, flocked 
 to meet the body of him, whom they considered a 
 patron Saint of their land. ^ At the passage of the Alps, 
 a large multitude Avere ready to escort him into Gaul.^ 
 Each one pressed foi'ward to have the honour of bearing 
 the coffin ; and thus it was borne along by successive 
 carriers ; while the rest filled the air with hymns and 
 exclamations of thanksgiving. The way was covered 
 with memorials which attested the progress of the body. 
 The ardour of the people facilitated the passage of the 
 Alps.^ ^ Some were busied in levelling the roads, others 
 filled the precipices, and restored the decayed bridges. 
 
 ' Const. § 76. - Hericus, 31, 32. => Const.
 
 202 HIS DEATH. 
 
 Many brought offerings of money to defray the ex- 
 penses. A great number of lights shone in the proces- 
 sion both by day and by night, challenging even the 
 rays of the sun with their brightness.^ Among those 
 who came to meet the corpse, was one Saturnus, a 
 presbyter and disciple of German. He was noted for 
 his sanctity, and lived in terms of great intimacy with 
 his master. By his order he had remained at Auxerre, 
 while German repaired to Ravenna. On the day in 
 which the latter died, an angel is said to have revealed 
 his decease to Saturnus. Upon which he imparted the 
 sad intelligence to the inhabitants of Auxerre, who ac- 
 companied in great numbers to the foot of the Alps. 
 An ancient inscription on marble, preserved at Auxerre 
 in the time of Hericus, bore witness to this fact. 
 
 But perhaps the most touching circumstance of the 
 procession Avas the following. It will have been re- 
 marked that the corpse advanced but slowly, as it was 
 borne on men's shoulders, and consequently, a multitude 
 of ardent persons were enabled to accompany from every 
 town the escort for some distance. But the names of five 
 females have been preserved, who followed on foot the 
 body, the whole way from Ravenna. They were all 
 vii-gins, and some, if not all, sisters. They were 
 called, St. Magnentia, St. Palladia, St. Camilla, St. 
 Maxima, St. Porcaria.'' The three first died, one after 
 the other, before they reached the tei'in of their pil- 
 grimage. A solemn burial was ])crformed for them, 
 at the high-road side, and Churches soon after were 
 erected over their remains, and dedicated to them, 
 where many miracles were performed. The two others 
 endured the fatigue, and arrived at Auxerre, to see 
 
 ' Constantius. " Hericus do Mir. § 33.
 
 HIS DEATH. 263 
 
 the body of German interred. St. Maxima, one of 
 these, was subsequently buried near the Church at 
 Auxerre, where German lay. The remains of St. 
 Porcaria, the other, were deposited nine miles from the 
 town, and wex'e famous for the miraculous cures which 
 there took place. Till very late, we learn there was 
 an ancient tomb existing,^ in which the body of St. 
 Magnentia, one of those who died on the road, had 
 been laid, and upon which there was the representation 
 of this holy virgin, dying in a bed surrounded by other 
 virgins. And a monument which existed in 1567, in the 
 monastery of St. German, according to the official state- 
 ment of the then Bishop of Auxerre, bore this inscription, 
 " Here lies the body of the Lady St. Maxima, Virgin, who 
 accompanied the body of St. German from Ravenna 
 to this monastery, together with St. Palladia, St. Mag- 
 nentia, St. Camilla, and St. Porcaria." From Avhich, 
 it appears these holy virgins Avere persons of rank. 
 
 At last the body arrived at Auxerre. Fifty-three 
 days, says Hericus,^ had elapsed since German died at 
 Ravenna. On the 22nd of September, the procession 
 entered the Church of St. Stephen, accompanied by 
 the whole population of the town. Here was the 
 episcopal throne. During ten successive days, the 
 corpse there lay exposed ; religious offices were con- 
 tinued all the while. Wlien all the rites preparatory 
 to inhuming were completed, the cotlin vvas committed 
 to the sepulchre, on the 1st of October, 448, A. d., in 
 the presence of a multitude of strangers, as well as 
 inhabitants of Auxerre, among whom, says Hericus, 
 there were many Bishops and Priests from distant 
 provinces ; — perhaps St. Lupus, St. Hilary, St. Seve- 
 
 ' Bosch. Not. apud Bolland. = § 34, § 37.
 
 264 HIS CANONIZATION. 
 
 rus, St. Anian, St. Euclier — the friends of the departed 
 Saint. The place of the burial was not the Church of 
 St. Stephen, where the Exposition had taken place, 
 but an oratory or chapel, in one of those estates whidi 
 he had given up to the Church when he parted with 
 his patrimony and other possessions. This chapel was 
 dedicated to St. Maurice, and German had appointed 
 the Presbyter Satui'nus, the same who came out to 
 meet the procession, to perform the ecclesiastical du- 
 ties in it. This place, says Coustantius, ever showed, 
 by the miracles which were henceforth manifested 
 there, that German in glory was still alive with his 
 Church. 
 
 The 1st of October, the day of his Deposition, seems 
 to have been, in primitive times, the principal Festival 
 of the Saint, ^ especially in Gaul and Britain. The 
 31st of July*^ was next, if not quite equal, in the 
 honour with which it was observed, and, in process of 
 time, it has come to supersede the former, except at 
 Auxerre, where these two Festivals, with four others 
 in the course of the year, are still kept with great 
 solemnities. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 His Canonization. 
 
 The liistory of St. German alive, is thus resimied in 
 four verses of Bede's Ephemeris, or Calendar : — ' 
 
 ' Mai'tyrol. AntissioJ. 17ol. - See Bede Martyrol. & Cdlend. 
 ^ Calend. Octob.
 
 HIS CANONIZATION. 265 
 
 Germanusque simul doctrina insignis et actu. 
 Turn propriam munit meritis Antissiodorum, 
 Qui Oceano fidei refugas et dogma nefandum 
 Reppulit, et signis te picta Britannia texit. 
 
 For deeds and doctrine German far renowned, 
 
 Auxerre, his native city, raised on high, 
 
 The Ocean crossed, to prohe the faith unsound ; 
 
 Then stemming proud Pelagius' impious lie, 
 
 Anon the verdant plains of Britain fair. 
 
 He covered o'er with signs and wonders rare. 
 
 The history of St. German dead, that is, of the 
 eiFects which were owing to his presence in the spirit, 
 among the flock he had tended alive, would embrace a 
 period of at least twelve centuries. Among the early 
 testimonies which redound to his honour, that of the 
 great Apostle of the Franks, St. Remy, must not be 
 omitted. ^ About a century after, it is said, from the great 
 veneration which he had for German of Auxerre, he 
 erected a Church in tribute to him, where he destined 
 his own remains to be deposited ; and it became famous 
 for the miracles there performed. 
 
 But still more honourable to our Saint, whose rank 
 in the sacred Calendar is that of Confessor and Bishop, 
 (Pontilicis) is the very ancient office called the Mass 
 of St. German, which Cardinal Bona has published 
 from an old manuscript, and which used to be cele- 
 brated, not long after German's death, annually, on his 
 Festival in Gaul. The uniformity of the Canon had, 
 as yet, not been everywhere enforced, and Churches 
 seem to have had the privilege of either adopting uses of 
 then- own, or of inserting sections and prayers into the 
 
 ' Martyr. Antiss. sub nom. liemigii.
 
 2GG 
 
 HIS CANOXIZATION. 
 
 most received fonn of Mass.^ The foUowino- docu- 
 ment seems to be a specimen of the latter : — 2 
 
 MASS OF ST. GERMAN. MISSA ST. GERMANI. 
 
 PUEFACE. 
 
 Dearly beloved brethren, let 
 us celebrate with ready devo- 
 tion this august and sacred 
 day, imploring humbly the 
 mercy of our Lord, that we 
 who cannot indeed equal the 
 deeds, may be enabled, at least, 
 to follow the footsteps and imi- 
 tate the Faith of the blessed 
 Bishop and Confessor German, 
 whose example we admire. 
 
 Collect. 
 
 We give Thee thanks, Al- 
 mighty God, for the wonderful 
 gifts {virtutibus) of the blessed 
 German, Thy Bishop, which 
 Thou, Almighty Father, didst 
 justly grant unto him, because 
 he loved Thee, in his Apos- 
 tolical profession, more than 
 all things. He cast away riches 
 from him, that by poverty of 
 spirit he might ascend into the 
 kingdom of heaven. He ob- 
 served meekness, that he might 
 through the spirit inherit the 
 earth in the flesh. He was 
 pleased to mourn in this world 
 that he might enjoy heavenly 
 
 PkzTFATIO. 
 
 Venerabilem diem atque 
 sublimem, Fratres Carissimi, 
 prompta devotione celebremus, 
 misericordiam Domini nostri 
 suppliciter exorantes, ut Bea- 
 tissimi Gerraani Antisiitis et 
 Confessoris sui, cujus exem- 
 pla miramur, etsi aequari fac- 
 tis ejus non possumus, saltem 
 vestigia sequi, et fidem nobis 
 contingat imitari. 
 
 COLLECTIO. 
 
 Gratias tibi agimus Omni- 
 potens Deus pro virtutibus 
 Beatissimi Germaoi Antistitis 
 tui, quas ei Pater omnipotens 
 non immerito tribuisti, quia te 
 Apostolica confessione rebus 
 omnibus plus amavit ; discussit 
 a se divitias, ut paupertate 
 spiritus ccElorum regna con- 
 scenderet : mansuetudinem te- 
 nuit, ut terram sui corporis 
 spiritualiter possideret. Neque 
 delectatus est in sseculo, ut 
 coelestem consolationem ex 
 muneris tui largitate percip- 
 eret : justitiam esurivit atque 
 sitivit, ut tuis saturarctur clo- 
 
 Card. Bona. De Rebus Lit. 9.3. Ed. 4to. 
 = The Titles are part of the document.
 
 Ills CANOXIZATION. 
 
 267 
 
 consolation, from the abun- 
 dance of Thy bounty. He hun- 
 gered and thirsted after right- 
 eousness, that he might be 
 filled with Thy word ; he was 
 ever merciful (or he ever gave 
 alms to the poor ehemosynam. 
 jugiter fecit) that he might con- 
 tinually obtain Thy mercy, not 
 only for himself, but for others 
 also. Purity of heart he culti- 
 vated, that he might see Thee. 
 He preserved the Faith, that he 
 might be united with Thy chil- 
 dren in brotherly communion. 
 By whose intercession we pray. 
 
 {^Here two lines are erased.') 
 
 quiis : eleemosynam jugiter 
 fecit, ut indesinenter non tan- 
 tum sibi, sed et caeteris pieta- 
 tis tua? misericordiam obti- 
 neret : puritatem cordis ha- 
 buit, ut te videret : fidem ser- 
 vavit, ut filiis tuis fraterna 
 se participatione conjungeret. 
 Per cujus interventum pre- 
 camur 
 
 {Desunt hie duce lineoe ahrasce.) 
 
 After the Names. 
 
 Having heard the names of 
 those who make their obla- 
 tions, let us implore the long- 
 suffering clemency of God, that 
 these oblations of his people, 
 which we offer up in honour of 
 the Blessed Bishop and Con- 
 fessor German {something 
 
 here wanting) Let us celebrate 
 this solemn and high day, with 
 the unshaken liberty of that 
 Faith which he defended with 
 constant purpose, in order that 
 
 the strength of his patience 
 
 (^Here also two lines are erased.) 
 
 Post Nomina. 
 
 Auditis nominibus offeren- 
 tium, indeficientem divinam 
 clementiam deprecemur, ut has 
 oblationes plebis, quas in ho- 
 norem Beatissimi Germani 
 Antistitis et Confessoris of- 
 
 ferimus (deest aliquid) Sig- 
 
 natum diem hodiernse solem- 
 nitatis celebremus cum in- 
 concussa fidei libertate, quam 
 ille constanti mente defen- 
 dit, ut robur patientiae ejus 
 
 (Desunt hie etiam duce linece 
 ahrasce.) 
 
 Let us also pray for the spi- Oremus etiam et pro spiriti- 
 
 rits of those that are dear to bus carorum nostrorum, quo- 
 
 us, the number and names of rum idem Omnipotens Deus et 
 
 whom the same Almighty God numerum novit et nomina, ut
 
 2G8 
 
 HIS CANONIZATION. 
 
 knoweth, that he maybe mind- 
 ful of all, and remit the sins 
 of all. Through Jesus Christ 
 our Lord. 
 
 omnium memoriam faciat, om- 
 nium peccata dimittat. Per 
 Dominum nostrum Jesum 
 Christum. 
 
 Collect at the Salutation 
 OF Peace, Pax Vobiscum.' 
 
 God, for whose sacred name. 
 Thy blessed Bishop, German, 
 desired to endure persecution 
 for righteousness's sake, inso- 
 much, that, though he did 
 not suffer martyrdom, he yet 
 reached forward to it by faith, 
 and feared not to subject him- 
 self to the hatred and slander- 
 ings of men, so as he might 
 obtain an abundant reward in 
 heaven, and attain unto those 
 great blessings of the Gospel ; 
 we pray Thee, by his inter- 
 cession, to grant that peace to 
 Thy Church henceforth for 
 ever, which he loved on earth, 
 according to Thy command. 
 Through our Lord. 
 
 Preface to the Canon of 
 
 THE MaSS.- 
 
 It is meet and right ; it is 
 very meet and right that we 
 should give thanks unto Thee, 
 and sing praises to Thy Fa- 
 
 COLLECTIO AD PaCEM. 
 
 Deus, pro cujus sacro nom- 
 ine Beatus Germanus Antistes 
 tuus desideravit persecutionem 
 pati propter justitiam, ut etsi 
 martyrium non perferret, fide 
 tamen pertenderet: nectimeret 
 odiis hominum et maledicti- 
 onibus subjacere, dummodo 
 mercedem copiosum conseque- 
 retur in ccelo, et ad illas bea- 
 tudines Evangelicas perve- 
 niret ; te per hujus interven- 
 tum precamur, ut pacem quam 
 te jubente dilexit in saeculo, 
 perpetualiter Ecclesiae possi- 
 dendam tribuas in futuro. Per 
 Dominum nostrum. 
 
 CONTESTATIO MlSSii:. 
 
 Dignum et justum est : vere 
 sequum et justum est nos tibi 
 gratias agere, et pietati tuse in 
 honorem summi sacerdotis tui 
 
 • See Ducange ad Voc. Osculum. See also Bingham, xiii. 8. 13. 
 
 2 Contestatio, idem sonat quod Contestada ; ita enim appellari Prceja~ 
 tionem, seu Orationem quae Canoni proemittitur, qua disponitur Sacerdos et 
 populus ad tremendorum mysteriorum confeclionem, quod, ut est in Co- 
 dice Thuano " Contestetur Sacerdos fidam ac veram professionem populi, id 
 est gratias referre Deo dignum esse." 
 
 Canon Missx, Oratio, quae in Missa ante Consecrationem, et in ipsa conse- 
 cratione divinae hostiae recitatur 4 sacerdote, quae ideo Canon vocatur, "quia 
 in ea est legitiraa et regularis sacramentorum Confeclio."
 
 HIS CANONIZATION. 
 
 269 
 
 therly kindness (pietati tuce) 
 in honour of Thy glorious 
 Priest German, both Bishop and 
 Confessor, and that we should 
 offer up our petitions, and re- 
 count his great gifts, which 
 Thou, O Lord, Father Al- 
 mighty, justly didst grant unto 
 him, because in his Apostolical 
 profession he loved Thee more 
 than all things, &c. ( The words 
 are repeated from the first Col- 
 lect, then is added.) He loved 
 Thee, O Lord, with all his 
 heart, and with all his mind, 
 and with all his soul, and he 
 loved his neighbour as himself ; 
 that, as the whole law and the 
 prophets hang upon these two 
 precepts, he might attain unto 
 those blessings of the Gospel 
 which we have recounted. And 
 whereas Thou, O Lord Jesus 
 Christ, hast said unto thy Apos- 
 tles, to go all over the world, 
 and preach the Gospel to every 
 creature, and work miracles, 
 these things Thy devoted ser- 
 vant Bishop German' ...follow- 
 ing their footsteps, through all 
 Gaul, at Rome (Ravenna ?), in 
 Italy, and in Britain ; and being 
 afflicted in the body for thirty 
 years. ..continually preached in 
 Thy name extirpated heresies, 
 brought round the people to a 
 full and perfect faith, cast out 
 
 German! Episcopi et Confess- 
 oris laudes canere, vota per- 
 solvere, ejusque enarrare vir- 
 tutes, quas ei Domine Pater 
 Omnipotens non immerito tri- 
 buisti, quia te Apostolica con- 
 fessione rebus omnibus plus 
 amavit, &c. (^Repetit ea quae 
 habentur supra in prima Col- 
 lecta, turn subdit.) Dilexit te 
 Domine ex toto corde, et ex 
 tota mente, et ex tota anima 
 sua, et proximum suum tam- 
 quam seipsum ; ut secundum 
 quod in his duobus mandatis 
 universa lex et Prophetae pen- 
 debant, ad eas quas dixi- 
 mus evangelicas beatitudines 
 perveniret. Et quia tu Dom- 
 ine Jesu Christi Apostolis 
 tuis dixeras, ut euntes per 
 universum mundum universae 
 creaturse evangelium predi- 
 carent, et virtutes efficerent, 
 liBec tuus devotissimus Ger- 
 
 manus Episcopus eorum 
 
 vestigia subsecutus per to- 
 tas Gallias, Romae, in Ita- 
 lia, in Britannia annis tri- 
 
 ginta corpore afflictus ju- 
 
 giter in tuo nomine praedi- 
 cavit, hsereses abstulit, ad- 
 duxit populum ad plenam et 
 integram fidem, ejecit dae- 
 mones, mortuos suscitavit, 
 aegris reddidit pristinam san- 
 itatem, implevitque omnia sig- 
 
 1 Supply "hath accomplished," the MS. being here erased.
 
 270 
 
 HIS CANONHZATION. 
 
 devils, raised the dead, restored 
 to the sick their former health, 
 and having obtained this great 
 power, performed every other 
 sign. He began and advanced. 
 He fought and conquered. 
 He fulfilled his course, and 
 passed by the darkness of 
 death, to join the company 
 of martyrs, having brought 
 fprth fruit an hundred-fold, and 
 having, after this life ended, 
 gone to dwell in the kingdom 
 of heaven. In this belief, O 
 God, the Father Almighty, we 
 beseech Thee humbly , that being 
 commended to Thy Fatherly 
 kindness by his patronage and 
 intercessions in Thy presence, 
 we may obtain in all things Thy 
 mercy, praising Thee, and say- 
 ing, in the words of Angelic 
 praise, Holy, holy, holy. 
 
 na, virtutes utique adeptus. 
 Sic ccepiti ut cresceret. Sic 
 pugnavit ut vinceret. Sic con- 
 summavit, ut mortis tenebras 
 prseteriret, Martyriis se con- 
 jungeret stola, cum centesi- 
 mum fructum perceperit, et 
 vita hac peracta regnum in- 
 habitarit leternum. Quod cre- 
 dentes Deus Pater Omnipo- 
 tens supplices exoramus, ut 
 in ejus apud te patrociniis 
 et intercessionibus pietati tuae 
 commendati nos in omnibus 
 tuiim misericordiam conse- 
 quamur, Angelica te exulta- 
 tione laudantes et dicentes. 
 Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus. 
 
 Collect after the Sanctos. Collectio post Sanctus. 
 
 Blessed truly be He that 
 Cometh in the name of the 
 Lord, Blessed be God, the king 
 of Israel ; peace on earth, and 
 glory in the highest. Through 
 our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy 
 Son, who the day before He 
 suffered 
 
 Benedictus plane qui vcnit 
 in nomine Domini, benedictus 
 Deus, Rex Israel, pax in terra, 
 gloria in excelsis. Per Dom- 
 inum nostrum Jesum Christum 
 filium tuum, qui pridie quara 
 pateretur 
 
 After the Consecration. 
 
 Let Thy holy Word descend, 
 we beseech Thee, Almighty 
 God, upon these our oblations : 
 
 Post Secreta. 
 
 Descendat, precamur Om- 
 nipotens Deus, super ha;c 
 quae tibi offerimus, Verbum
 
 HIS CANONIZATION. 
 
 271 
 
 Let the Spirit of Thy inestima- 
 ble glory descend : Let the gift 
 of Thy ancient long-suffering 
 descend, ' that our oblation may 
 become an acceptable and spiri- 
 tual sacrifice of a sweet-smelling 
 savour. May Thy mighty right 
 hand also defend Thy servants, 
 through the blood of Christ. 
 
 tuum sanctum : descendat in- 
 aestimabilis glorise tuse Spiri- 
 tus : descendat antiquae in- 
 dulgentiae tuae donum, ut fiat 
 oblatio nostra hostia spiri- 
 talis in odorem suavitatis ac- 
 cepta. Etiam nos famulos 
 tuos per sanguinem Christi 
 tua manus dextera invicta 
 custodiat. 
 
 Before the Lord's Prayer. Ante Orationem Dominicam. 
 
 Agnosce Domine verba quae 
 praecepisti, ignosce praesump- 
 
 Acknowledge, O Lord, the 
 words which Thou hast taught, 
 pardon that presumption which 
 Thou hast commanded : It is 
 ignorance not to know our de- 
 serts, it is contumacy not to 
 keep the command, whereby we 
 
 tioni quam imperasti : igno- 
 rantia est non nosse meritum, 
 contumacia est non servare 
 mandatum, quo dicere jube- 
 mur, Pater noster, &c. 
 
 are enjoined to say. Our Father, &c. 
 
 After the Prayer. 
 
 Deliver us from all evil, O 
 God, the Author of all good 
 things, from all temptation, from 
 all offence, from all work of 
 darkness, and establish us in all 
 good, and give peace in our 
 days, O Author of peace and 
 charity. Through our Lord. 
 ( The Blessing of the people is 
 wanting.') 
 
 Post Orationem. 
 
 Libera nos a mails omni- 
 bus, auctor bonorum Deus, 
 ab omni tentatione, ab omni 
 scandalo, ab omni opere tene- 
 brarum, et constitue nos in 
 omni bono, et da pacem in 
 diebus nostris, auctor pacis et 
 charitatis. Per Dominum nos- 
 trum. 
 
 (^Benedictio populi deest.) 
 
 Collect after the Collectio post 
 
 Eucharist. Eucharistiam, 
 
 We have taken from the sa- Sumpsimus ex sacris altari- 
 
 cred altar the body and blood of bus Christi Domini ac Dei 
 
 I Bona takes occasion here to observe, that this invocation after the Conse- 
 cration, contains nothing inconsistent with the Faith.
 
 272 
 
 HIS CANONIZATION. 
 
 Christ, our Lord and our God... 
 believing in the unity of the 
 Blessed Trinity. We pray that 
 always full of faith we may hun- 
 ger and thirst after righteous- 
 ness, and being strengthened by 
 the grace of the meat of salva- 
 tion, we may so do His work, 
 that the sacrament which we 
 have received may not be our 
 condemnation, but our remedy. 
 Through our Lord. 
 
 nostri corpus et sanguinem... 
 credentes unitatem beatae 
 Trinitatis. Oramus ut sem- 
 per nobis fide plenis esurirc 
 detur ac sitire justitiam, sic- 
 que opus ejus, confortati salu- 
 taris escae gratia, faciamus, 
 ut non in judicium, sed in re- 
 medium, sacramentum quod 
 accepimus, habeamus. Per 
 Dominum nostrum. 
 
 Collect at the End of Mass. 
 
 O Lord Christ, who wiliest 
 that the faithful should feed on 
 Thy Body, and be made Thy 
 Body, grant that what we have 
 taken may be for the remission 
 of our sins ; and that the Divine 
 nourishment given by Thy bless- 
 ing, may so be mingled with 
 our soul, that the Flesh being 
 subject unto the spirit, and 
 brought into peaceful agreement, 
 may be obedient, and not con- 
 tend, through the Holy Spirit, 
 who liveth and reigneth, in the 
 unity of the Father and the Son, 
 coeternal, for ever and ever. Amen. 
 
 COLLECTIO IN FINE MiSS/E. 
 
 Christe Domine, qui ettuo 
 vesci corpore, et tuum corpus 
 effici vis Fideles, fac nobis in 
 remissioncm peccaforum esse 
 quod sumpsimus : atque ita 
 se anima; nostrse divina ali- 
 monia per benedictionem tu- 
 am facta permisceat, ut caro 
 spiritui subdita, et in consen- 
 sum pacificum subjugata ob- 
 temperet, non repugnet, per 
 Spiritum Sanctum qui in 
 unitate Patris et Filii, co- 
 aeternus vivit et regnat in 
 saecula saeculorum. Amen. 
 
 The solemnities for the Festival of St. German are 
 described, according to Bona, in the jMozarabic Missal. 
 A sermon preached by Hericus on that day, whether the 
 1st of October or the 31st of July, is still preserved. 
 He there compares German to Elijah, especially in the 
 matter of abstinence. P^lijah however, he observes, was
 
 HIS CANONIZATION. 273 
 
 fed by ravens, but St. German usually eat only once a 
 week, and then barley bread alone. He shows how he was 
 a Doctor of the whole world, and had obtained a rank 
 among the chief members of Christ's body ; and how his 
 great holiness procured him distinction in every coun- 
 try. He claims him especially for Gaul as her Apostle ; 
 and ends his sermon by a prayer addressed to St. Ger- 
 man. This latter practice he had justified in a special 
 work on the miracles of St. German. ^ He there blames 
 those who say that the souls of the Saints are in Abra- 
 ham's bosom, or in a place of refreshment, or under the 
 Altar of God, and not able to be present at their tombs 
 and wheresoever they please. He aj^i^eals to St. Je- 
 rome's language against Vigilantius. The Saints, he 
 says, follow the Lamb wherever He goeth, therefore 
 they may be any where. As they enjoy the presence 
 of God, who knoweth all things, they themselves know 
 every thing in nature, but they are especially present 
 at their earthly remains. (It may here be remarked 
 that St. Thomas Aquinas restricts their knowledge to 
 what is going on in the earth.) And by way of proving 
 his belief in this respect, he describes himself as falling 
 down before the sepulchre, kissing the sacred stone, 
 and humbly venerating his patron as if he were sus- 
 pended over his head, and ever worshipping with 
 fidelity the place where his feet had stood. In short, 
 he bids men honour St. German and the rest of the 
 Saints with pious devotion, and implore them with 
 earnest aifection. 
 
 St. German, we have seen, was buried in the chapel 
 of St. Maurice. In process of time Queen Clothilde, the 
 wife of Clovis, who was married in 493, and died in 
 
 > S 124. ch. iii.
 
 274 HIS CANONIZATION. 
 
 543, built a large Basilica over the tomb of the Bishop. ^ 
 On which occasion St. Lupvis, different from St. Lupus 
 of Troyes, came with her from Burgundy to Auxerre ; 
 and was subsequently buried there himself. Her eldest 
 son, Clothaire, afterwards employed St. Desiderius, 
 then Bishop of Auxerre, to build a beautiful Freda 
 over St. German's remains, that is, a little covered 
 chapel such as we see in Cathedrals now. It was 
 adorned with silver and gold, and bore the inscription 
 of the royal builder. Ingundis, his wife, presented 
 valuable vessels and vestments, especially a golden cup 
 studded with precious stones, and bearing the name of 
 the Queen. This spot soon became famous for its 
 miracles, according to Hericus.^ Old men in his time 
 asserted they had seen numberless cures performed on 
 the sick, the possessed, the deaf and the dumb. The 
 testimony of St. Nicetius in his letter to Queen Chlo- 
 dosuinda, in 565, has already been given.' St. Gregory 
 of Tours relates, that in the time of Queen Teudechild, 
 Nonninus, a tribune, having come from Auvergne to 
 Auxerre for religious motives, struck off a small piece 
 of the stone from the tomb of St. German, whereupon 
 he immediately became as stiff as brass."* Having con- 
 sidered the guilt of his presumption, he made a vow to 
 consecrate the relic in a Church he intended to erect in 
 honour of St. German in Auvergne. And after having 
 made the vow, was released at once from the punish- 
 ment. " Into this same Church which Nonninus 
 erected at Mozac, in Auvergne," continues Gregory, 
 "I myself went, in company with my uncle Avitus, 
 
 ' Hcric. Ch. iv. de Mir. § 39. Beaunier Abbayes de France, 
 torn. ii. p. 840. Gallia Christ. 
 
 - § 40. " See Introd. ■* Ch. 41, Gloria Confessorum.
 
 HIS CANONIZATION. 275 
 
 Bishop of Auvergne, and on our entering a smell of 
 roses and lilies exhaled from the place, which we at- 
 tributed to the merits of the blessed German." 
 
 It would be long and tedious to enumerate the very 
 many miracles which Hericus, who wrote in the ninth 
 century, represents to have taken place either at Aux- 
 erre, or in other places where St. German was particu- 
 larly honoured. The following is selected, from many 
 much more astonishing in their character and efiects, 
 chiefly because the narrator was witness to it himself. 
 On the 31st of July,^ he says, when Soissons and all its 
 Churches and monasteries were resounding with the 
 praises of the Saint, he, (Hericus) proceeded with some 
 others to one of the Churches dedicated to St. German. 
 Before his arrival the bell began to ring of itself, and 
 only ceased when he had entered. There was no vestige 
 of any one, since all had previously dejDarted from the 
 Church ; and he himself considered the ringing as mira- 
 culous ; but however lest his testimony should be deemed 
 partial, he made no mention of it himself, but let his 
 companions spread the account. For the same reasons 
 it would be unfair in a historical point of view to omit 
 another miracle for which Hericus gives good testi- 
 mony. In the year 869,^ Adalricus of Sens, who had 
 been afflicted with an infirmity and contraction of the 
 limbs for twelve years, and had visited the tombs of 
 many other Saints in vain, came to Auxerre for the 
 festival of the first of October. A large multitude 
 were assembled from all quarters. Already half of the 
 vigil had elapsed, and the Psalm, " Te decet hymnus 
 Deus in Sion,"^ was being sung in the Church, when 
 suddenly the voice of Adalricus filled the place and 
 
 ' § 67. - § 104. 3 Psalm Ixiv. or Ixv.
 
 276 HIS CANONIZATION. 
 
 frightened the people and tlie choir, Avho were chaunt- 
 ing the divine office. The people rushed towards him 
 and found him senseless ; after a short space of time he 
 recovered, and regained his perfect strength, and was 
 alive in Hericus's time to confirm the account of his 
 cure. 
 
 In 859, took place the translation of St. German's re- 
 mains from the chapel of St. Maurice, and the Basilica, 
 which Queen Clothilde had erected, to a more splendid 
 edifice. The circumstances of it were these. '^ Con- 
 rad, or Chuonradus, was brother of Judith of Bavaria, 
 the second wife of Louis-le-Debonnaire, and conse- 
 quently was uncle to Charles-le-Chauve. He had 
 married Adelais, the daughter of Louis-le-Debonnaire. 
 Both were eminent for their pietj'. Conrad was, to- 
 gether with his other princely dignities. Commendatory 
 Abbot of St. German's monastery at Auxerre. It was 
 the sad custom of the age for powerful men to plunder 
 Ecclesiastical property, but there were some great ex- 
 ceptions.^ Among these was Conrad. He had long been 
 subject to a disease of the eye, which defied the art of 
 medicine,^ and he was about to undergo a caustic appli- 
 cation, when having risen once before sunrise, he ap- 
 proached the sepulchre of St. German, where the monks 
 were observing their vigil. The tomb happened to be 
 covered with herbs ; he applied some of them to his eye, 
 and immediately recovered the use of it. As a present 
 token of his gratitude, he offered up some golden 
 bracelets to the shrine ; but he contemplated greater 
 proofs of it hereafter. He soon communicated to his 
 wife his purpose of raising a more magnificent monu- 
 ment to St. German. Adelais eagerly entered into his 
 
 ' Ilericus, B. ii. Ch. i. § 84. ^ § So. ^ § 86.
 
 HIS CANONIZATION. 277 
 
 views, and went to visit the actual monastery. ^ A fa- 
 vourable piece of gi-ound was found, on the eastern side 
 of the town, where the hill presents a gentle declivity, 
 supposed to be well suited to an edifice. The most ex- 
 perienced architects were engaged, and a model of wax 
 was first made ; which being approved, the greatest ar- 
 dour was evinced in order to realize it. Some of the 
 monks were sent to Ai'les and Marseilles, to obtain the 
 materials of the fine ruins which remained there. The 
 spoils of paganism were thus destined to adorn a Chris- 
 tian monument. Having effected their object, they laid 
 the precious charge on barges and sailed up the Rhone. 
 As they journeyed, a violent storm came upon them, 
 and they were obliged to land at a spot where they 
 found a Church dedicated to St. German, and famous, 
 for the security which it was said to spread over the 
 country. After they had prayed there for some time, 
 they returned, and found the storm abated ; they again 
 embarked, and at last arrived safe at Auxerre. The 
 columns and other materials and ornaments which they 
 had brought, proved to be all in character and in pro- 
 portion with the building, a circumstance considered 
 miraculous by Hericus. One of the columns, being 
 placed upon its basis, was elevated by a number of 
 hands ; but all their efforts were unable to give it a 
 right balance ; and it was in the very act of falling, 
 and all had withdrawn to avoid the danger, when sud- 
 denly it rose again and placed itself without help in its 
 right position. 
 
 It appears Conrad did not live to see the remains 
 of St. German translated to the new building. In 
 859, Lewis of Germany, the brother of Charles-le- 
 Chauve, taking advantage of a faction in France, made 
 
 ' §89.
 
 278 HIS CANONIZATION. 
 
 war upon Charles, in spite of the league which had 
 been made at Verdun, in 843, resi)ecting the division 
 of Charlemagne's Empire bet^veen his three grandsons, 
 Lothaire, Lewis, and Charles. Charles-le-Chauve, con- 
 scious of the inequality of his forces, resolved to seek aid 
 from God ; and as he was on his way to meet the army of 
 his brother, he passed by Auxerre. It was the day of the 
 Epiphany, when accompanied by Bishops and Priests 
 alone, he approached the tomb of St. German, and had 
 it opened. The corpse appeared in perfect preserva- 
 tion. Charles having performed his devotions, the 
 Bishops were enjoined to cover the body with costly 
 garments, and pour balm and incense over it. After 
 which the translation took place to the Edifice raised 
 by Conrad. Proceeding thence, the king obtained a 
 complete victory over his brother without loss of blood, 
 and henceforth reigned in peace. Miracles were per- 
 formed during this translation. A young man, who 
 was a cripple, obtained his recovery Avhile in the act of 
 praying in the Church in the presence of the whole 
 people, and we may add in that of Hericus himself, our 
 authority, since he was monk of St. German's at that 
 time. Another on the same occasion regained the use 
 of his speech. From this time, the sixth of January, 
 besides the solemnities of tlie Epiphany, was celebrated 
 with an express commemoration of 8t. (Tcrman's trans- 
 lation ; to which purpose the Martyrology of Auxerre 
 for that day has the following notice : " At Auxerre 
 the translation of the body of St. German the Bishop 
 from tlie scimlchrc to the new crypt, was performed by 
 the Bishop of Auxerre, Abbo, in the presence and at 
 the request of Charles-le-Chauve, king of the French." 
 It appears then that the edifice which Conrad built 
 woii annexed to the original Chapel of St. Maurice, and
 
 HIS CANONIZATION. 279 
 
 to the Monastery of St. German^ (not the same as that 
 which he in his life had founded,) and that the trans- 
 lation was but a short distance. This Monastery would 
 therefore have been a large enclosure with several edi- 
 fices contained in it, as we see in the vestiges of some 
 old and famous Abbeys. 
 
 Witliin the precincts there were many places of wor- 
 ship,^ and as many altars in honour of Saints. For the 
 remains of many other Saints were soon conveyed to 
 this sacred spot. Those of St. Urban and Tiburtius 
 were brought from Rome in 862, as a gift of Pope 
 Nicolas the First. ^ There were also the relics of the 
 Saintly Bishops wlio had governed the Church of 
 Auxerre, among whom were St. Peregrinus, the first 
 Bishop, and his successors.* On the right hand were 
 St. Urban and St. Innocent. Next to them St. Alodius, 
 the successor of St. German, St. Ursus, St. Romanus, 
 St. Theodosius, Bishops of Auxerre. Near the Pedum 
 (or Crosier) to the east, beside the altar, was St. Auna- 
 rius. Bishop of Auxerre. To the left was St. Tibur- 
 tius, sent from Rome, with five Bishops, Fraternus, 
 Censurius, the friend of Constantius the writer, Gre- 
 gorius, Desiderius, and Lupus, the latter of whom had 
 come from Burgundy, as we have seen, in company 
 with Clothilde, the wife of Clovis. Together with 
 these were St. Moderatus, a boy, St. Optatus, Bishop, 
 and two priests, St. Sanctinus and St. Memorius.^ In 
 process of time, many other sacred remains were there 
 deposited, among which were those of a Pope. Lo- 
 thaire, the son of Charles-le-Chauve, on his deatli-bed 
 gave orders that a light might be always kept burning 
 before the shrine. 
 
 ' Bosch. Com. 
 
 ' Orationum loca, § 123. Heric. =§108. "§117. 
 
 * See Beaunier, Abbayes de France. Bosch. Com.
 
 280 HIS CANONIZATION. 
 
 When the Normans in the ninth century made 
 a violent irruption, the remains of St. German were 
 carefully buried, according to Nevelo, a contempo- 
 rary author, and remained thus till the beginning 
 of the tenth century. Such was the reverence in 
 which they continued to be held, that when Kobert, 
 king of France, in the succeeding age called a council 
 at Auxerre, and the relics of other Saints according to 
 custom were brought to it, Hugo, the Bishop, refused 
 to send those of St. German, urging that they were too 
 valuable. In great calamities however they were car- 
 ried about. In the time of William the Conqueror, 
 one of the fingers was amputated by a monk of Aux- 
 erre, and carried into England, where it became the 
 occasion of the foundation of the celebrated Monastery 
 of St. German, at Selby in Yorkshire, the noble abbey 
 of which still exists. The circumstances of it are 
 curious as illustrating the origin of a monastic estab- 
 lishment, but are too numerous for the present pm'pose. 
 In 1375, John, Duke of Berry, assigned a yeax'ly sum 
 of gold for the preservation of the coffin. At last in 
 1567, on the 27th of September, the Huguenots took 
 Auxerre. All are agreed that the remains of St. Ger- 
 man on this fatal occasion were violated, but the man- 
 ner is not quite certain. Le Beuf, a canon of Paris, in 
 his history of the Sacrilege, says that the Huguenots 
 on entering sent immediately a detachment to the mon- 
 astery of St. German, before the monks had time to 
 carry any thing away ; and that the whole wealth o 
 this opulent establishment fell into their hands. St. 
 German's tomb, with six others, he adds, was broken 
 up, and the sacred remains torn from their receptacles 
 and trampled upon. In this confusion it does not ap- 
 pear what was rescued ; but the prevalent opinion at
 
 HIS CANONIZATION. 281 
 
 Auxerre in 1663, when Viola, the Prior of that institu- 
 tion, wrote his life of St. German, was, that the Hugue- 
 nots themselves under Divine impulse restored the 
 relics. Other accounts more or less probable were 
 current. But it is pretty certain that when the Bol- 
 landists published their Acts of St. German, there were 
 still existing at Auxerre a piece of the silk dress with 
 the imperial arms which Placidia had given ; a bone of 
 one of the fingers ; the sepulchre of stone ; the ashes 
 of the Saint ; and the fragments of the cypress cofibi, 
 the gift of the same Empress. These were probably 
 concealed from the Huguenots under earth. They 
 were officially declared to be the relics of St. German 
 by Seguier the Bishop, and are said to have efifected 
 miracles. 
 
 At Paris in the Church St. Germain I'Auxer- 
 rois, famous for its historical connexions, there was 
 before the Revolution a bone in a silver case belonging 
 to the Saint. At Verdun, Miege, and Montfaucon, 
 there were likewise some bones ; at Evreux a part of 
 the skull ; at Chessy some of the ribs. Pope Urban V., 
 once abbot of St. German's, obtained a bone. The 
 following places, Lembrun, St. Julien d'Auxerre, St. 
 Remi at Reims, St. Pierre at Corbi, St. Pierre in 
 Champagne, Rennes, St. Stephen at Auxerre, Cahors, 
 Coutances, Gron near Sens, Metz, Nancy, Bayeux, 
 Caen, Cluni, Cologne, and a place on the banks of the 
 Meuse, called Rutilensis Carthusia, in the Latin — all 
 produced claims of a similar kind. Whether any relics 
 in France have been preserved from the revolutionary 
 profanations, is still to be learnt. Whether any survive 
 the Reformation and the Rebellion in England, at St. 
 Albans, St. Germans in Cornwall, or Selby in York- 
 hire, need hardly be enquired.
 
 282 CONCLUSION. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII, 
 
 Conclusion. 
 
 Readers are now very capricious people. In many 
 cases, they will not let the writer suggest a moral 
 observation upon the facts he has related to them ; 
 they are disgusted if he do, and say it is unreal, or it is 
 common-place, or it is tedious, and the like. And yet, 
 in many others, they are very glad to find that the 
 author agrees with them ; and it greatly tends to re^ 
 commend a book, if one be so fortunate as to touch 
 upon the right string ; and a sentiment or an opinion 
 here and there, Avhich approves itself, will make many 
 a dull book pass off for good. In the middle ages, 
 writers would altogether have discarded these and sim- 
 ilar niceties, and said just as much as they themselves 
 thought right, neither more nor less. But at present, 
 the matter is very different. There are plenty of per- 
 sons who read, but few who read what does not please 
 them, and moral and general reflections usually come 
 under this category. In the middle ages again, authors 
 were as different as readers. Writing was a kind of 
 sacred employment. Those who wrote books were 
 acknowledged by all to be deeply conversant with 
 their subject. Now, men write in order to become 
 conversant with it. Of course, persons who are con- 
 sidered fit to make books, are generally those who, 
 besides acquaintance with a subject, have natural 
 capacities for the task. Yet this was not a necessary 
 or invariable consequence in the middle ages. His-
 
 CONCLUSION. 283 
 
 tories, for instance, were written by men who had 
 been present at the facts related. It was a secondary 
 consideration whether they were fit persons to judge 
 of facts. Or again, they were written by men who 
 were known to be familiar with the tradition or the 
 inheritance of facts, which passed on religiously from 
 one generation to another. It did not follow, as a 
 matter of course, that they were good critics, or had 
 imagination enough to understand past ages ; although, 
 in reality, they did, in the majority of cases, possess 
 these endowments. From this cause, in a great mea- 
 sure, seems to have arisen that profound respect in 
 which books were held. "We hear of even secular 
 books, ornamented in the most costly style, with shining 
 clasps, to keep out the dust, and appropriate desks, to 
 expose them to the view of all. Writing, as was 
 before said, was a saci'ed avocation. It was the privi- 
 lege of the Religious in their holy seclusion : " Read, 
 write, and sing," says the author of the Imitation. It 
 was sanctified by the devout exercises of the monks, 
 and guarded from profane novelties by the attentive 
 vigilance of the Superior. Natural abilities came into 
 play here as elsewhere, but they were directed and 
 applied wisely. Guibert de Nogent, in the eleventh 
 century, is an instance of this. Pie was by nature very 
 quick, and ready at writing verses. When the Supe- 
 rior of his Monastery perceived his turn of mind, he 
 bid him be on his guard against a bad use of his 
 talents. Guibert Avas then obliged to write in secret, 
 for he felt he did not apply them to the honour of God ; 
 and subseqixently, this gave him violent pangs of con- 
 science, and brought from him a most humble con- 
 fession of guilt. Yet his abilities were not allowed to 
 remain dormant. At a fit time, he was appointed by 
 u
 
 284 CONCLUSION. 
 
 his Abbot to compose a theological work, for the 
 instruction and edification of Christians.' Other occa- 
 sions also there were of writing. Men came back 
 from the Crusades : they were the proper persons to 
 write about the Crusades. Or again, others had been 
 the intimate friends of great men : these were the best 
 qualified to compose their Life, and make known their 
 private sayings. At present, subjects of this kind are 
 put into the hands of a good editor. But then, it was 
 the wise statesman and minister, who had been at all 
 the privy councils of his sovereign ; or it was the bosom 
 friend of a Saint, who knew his inward life. It mat- 
 tered little whether he was an ingenious, clever thinker, 
 and could illustrate a plausible theory or a favourite 
 principle. His work was precious from the circum- 
 stances of its composition. Contrary to the rule of 
 Aristotle, it was the morality or qualifications of the 
 writer, not of the composition, which constituted its 
 claims to the regard of the public. Men were far too 
 matter-of-fact and simple-minded to take up the tests 
 and canons of literary etiquette. 
 
 However, notwithstanding such great disadvantages, 
 arising from the present disposition of both writers and 
 readers, (be content, gentle reader, to bear part of the 
 blame) something like an attempt shall be hazarded, at 
 giving a practical turn to the variety of materials which 
 have come before us in St. German's Life. And to 
 avoid further preliminaries. 
 
 I. "NVliat are we to think of St. Mamertinus's won- 
 derful story, as related in the eighth Chapter ? That 
 he was a Pagan, and lost the use of his sight and hand, 
 and was induced by one Sabinus to go to Auxerre, to 
 
 ' Vid. Vita Guib. Noving. b. i. chap. xvii. — [?]
 
 CONCLUSION. 285 
 
 seek for St. German, and came at night into the Mons 
 Autricus, the Cemetery, and there fell asleep on the 
 tomb and in the cell of a departed Saint — this is 
 plain enough and indisputable. But what was that 
 which followed ? Was it a real thing, or was it a 
 vision ? And here the subject becomes serious, and we 
 must "put off our shoes from our feet, for the place 
 where we stand is holy ground." For what, indeed, 
 do we mean, when we draw a distinction between real- 
 ities and visions ? Is it untrue to say that everything 
 is real, that everything is the action of Almighty God 
 upon His creation, and especially upon His spiritual 
 creation, if such distinction may be made ? God works 
 by instruments, or what we view as instruments ; He 
 makes the things of the external world, objects, times, 
 circumstances, events, associations, to impress the action 
 of His Will upon men. The bad and the good receive 
 the same impressions, but their judgment concerning 
 them differs. The moral sight of the one is vitiated, 
 that of the others indefinitely pure. K, then, the only 
 real thing to us be the communication of the Divine 
 Mind to our mind, is there room to enquire whether 
 the occasion or medium of that communication is real ? 
 At least, it would appear that St. Mamertinus consid- 
 ered the enquiry superfluous. The very obscm'ity 
 which impends over his narrative, and which has pur- 
 posely been preserved in this Life, may, for aught we 
 know, be owing to the impossibility of drawing any 
 matei'ial distinctions between what are called real 
 events and visions or dreams. For it must be remem- 
 bered that Constantius introduces the very language of 
 St. Mamertinus into his Life of St. German. It was a 
 book which apparently had but recently come out, in 
 which St. Mamertinus published to the world the his-
 
 286 CONCLUSION. 
 
 tory of his own mysterious conversion. And Con- 
 stantius seems to have a scruple in taking any liberties 
 with it, and consequently inserts it, as it was, into his 
 own work. Now it is certainly remarkable that the 
 subject himself of so wonderful an occurrence, should 
 hesitate whether he ought to call it a reaUty or a 
 vision, sometimes adapting his pliraseology to the one 
 aspect of the matter, sometimes to the other. Yet 
 what is this but what had four hundi-ed years before 
 been exemplified and sanctioned by Inspiration itself ? 
 In the history of Cornelius's conversion, himself a 
 Gentile, the same ambiguity is apparent. In the very 
 beginning, how singular, if we may so speak, the words, 
 " He saw a vision evidejitly." Here, however, the 
 apparition of the angel is clearly called a vision. Yet, 
 when the messengers of Cornelius came to St. Peter, 
 they said nothing about a vision, but " Cornelius, the 
 centurion, was warned from God by an holy angel." 
 Nay, Cornelius himself, when Peter came to him, spoke 
 as if it had been no vision. " Four days ago, I was 
 fasting until this hour ; and at the nintli'hour I prayed 
 in my house, and behold a man stood before me a7id 
 said" Was this not, at once, both a vision and a real- 
 ity ? Could God's purposes be more distinctly re- 
 vealed ? In like manner, the whole of what happened 
 to Mamertinus had but one end, one object, the im- 
 parting of Almighty God's gracious mercies to a lost 
 and sinful creature. Life itself is as much a vision as 
 any thing in sleep ; it is the moving to and fro of ever 
 flitting images ; there is one, and one only, substantial 
 fact in life, the existence of created beings in the 
 presence of their Omnipotent INIaker. And such, 
 apparently, was the ultimate aspect in which St. Mam- 
 ertinus came to view his conversion, ever less complex,
 
 CONCLUSION. 287 
 
 more simple, more one, as he advanced in holiness, 
 " without which no man will see the Lord." He most 
 probably lived till 468, about fifteen years before 
 Constantius began to w^rite his Life, and would there- 
 fore be at that time an old man, one who had fought 
 the good fight. For he Avas a young man when St. 
 German was above forty, and apparently outlived him 
 as long as twenty years, having become Abbot of the 
 Monastery only at a late period. But so it is ; Al- 
 mighty God has never been seen, and yet is always 
 seen. Every thing around us is a symbol of His 
 presence. Does not the sublime author of the City 
 of God speak after this wise ? " Be not surprised," 
 he says, " if God, though He be invisible, is said to 
 have appeared visibly to the Fathers. For as the 
 sound which conveys the thought that dwells in the 
 silence of the mind, is not one and the same thing 
 with it, so that form in which God is seen, who yet 
 dwells in the invisible, was not one with Him. Nev- 
 ertheless, He was visible in this same bodily form, just 
 as thought is audible in the sound of the voice ; and 
 the Fathers knew that they saw an invisible God in 
 that bodily form, which yet was not He. For Moses 
 spake unto Him who also spake, and yet he said unto 
 Him, ' K I have found grace in Thy sight, show me 
 now Thyself, that I may see Thee with knowledge.' "^ 
 To conform, however, to the ordinary modes of 
 speech, (and we cannot but do so as long as things 
 appear multiple, instead of simple) it is conceived that 
 what occurred while St. Mamertinus was in the cell of 
 St. Corcodemus, was what we call a vision. St. Flo- 
 rentinus in white and shining garments, at the entrance 
 
 > Exod. xxxiii. 13. Lib. x. ch. 13. Civ. Dei.
 
 288 CONCLUSION. 
 
 of the cell ; St. Corcodemus issuing from the tomb 
 and joining his ancient companions ; the beautiful dia- 
 logue concerning the penitent Pagan ; the five holy 
 Bishops celebrating their Votive IMass in the Church ; 
 the discourse between the Apostle St. Peregrine and 
 Mamertinus ; and the subsequent antiphonal strains issu- 
 ing from the Church, — all was part of the vision. But 
 the vision was so clear ; its effects and fulfilment were 
 so complete, that it had nothing, as it were, to distin- 
 guish it from a real event, except that it occurred in 
 sleep. Dreams and visions have ever held a prominent 
 part in God's marvellous dispensations. The form is a 
 dream, the substance a reality. We cannot bear the 
 reality without the form. " Now we see through a 
 glass darkly ; but then face to face ; now I know in 
 part ; but then shall I know even as I am known." ^ 
 A notion attaches to dreams and visions which we 
 think we can cast off ; they do not hang by us with 
 the vividness of real events. They have a meaning ; 
 yet they admit of being otherwise viewed. This is 
 our infirmity, but it is wisely ordained, for we are men. 
 St. Mamertinus affords a striking fulfilment of the 
 prophecy ; " In the last days, saith God, I wiU pour 
 out my Spirit upon all flesh and your sons and your 
 daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall 
 see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams"^ 
 In projjortion then, as the clearness with which God 
 communicates with His creatures diminishes, may we 
 not infer that there is on their part a corresponding 
 withdrawing from His presence ? When the pheno- 
 mena of the external world usurp more and mote of 
 the faith and confidence of men, and are no longer 
 
 ' I Cor. xiii. 12. ^ Acts ii. 17.
 
 CONCLUSION. 289 
 
 viewed as mere instruments and media, but rather as 
 self-existing substances, is this not a sign that men 
 are daily retiring further from the influence of that 
 Blessed Spirit which was poured upon all flesh ? On the 
 other hand, what an unearthly character must have been 
 stamped upon the life of St. Mamertinus ! To have been 
 brought into the presence of the unseen world, what 
 a range of heavenly recollections, what a sacramental 
 glow over his whole future life ! But let us proceed. 
 
 II. No one will say that St. German was not a holy 
 man of the highest order. It demands no proof but 
 the mere narrative of facts. There is not a circum- 
 stance of his life, since his conversion, which requires 
 explanation or apology (unless it be the Deposition of 
 Chelidonius, his connexion with which is extremely 
 obscure and uncertain). The question is rather, how 
 did he become thus holy, thus great, and in so short a 
 time ? How is it that the sanctity of so many ancient 
 Saints was so easy, natural, even, uniform, marked, 
 unflinching, unmingled, resolute ? We think we are 
 reading of angels ; where is the man ? In the case of 
 St. German, we have before had occasion to remark, 
 that a progression at least, in gifts, powers, and confi- 
 dence, is apparent ; that a change, by no means indefi- 
 nite, seems to have taken place after the lapse of 
 twelve years, and the completion of his Apostolic 
 work. But the mystery remains nearly the same. 
 How, from the beginning, did he live, as we read he 
 did ? Men of old had like passions with ourselves, we 
 cannot doubt it ; how then did they become suddenly 
 Saints ? We hear, indeed, of groans of penitence, and 
 fasts and vigils and prayers ; but how do these also 
 come all at once ? To those who would be Saints now, 
 not only everything without is opposed, but their very
 
 290 CONCLUSION. 
 
 selves are at war with them ; and not the least feature 
 of this opposition, is the ignorance and confusion which 
 they have concerning the whole matter of saintliness 
 and the righteousness required of the Gospel. But in 
 ancient times, the old man seems to have been put off 
 Like a garment, altogether, and without remnant ; the 
 new man, like a bright robe without a patch, witliout a 
 stain, taken up in its place. Surely history must be 
 false here, if anywhere ; or rather, partial and incom- 
 plete. It may be good for us that it should be so, as 
 an exercise of our faith. But it is also right that 
 meditation should try to recover the lost side of the 
 pictm'e ; and its recoveries may be brought out to the 
 view of others, not as superseding the same exercise 
 of faith in them, (for no subsequent labours, bestowed 
 upon a distant period, can supply the evidence which 
 contemporary testimony has denied,) but as affording 
 materials for their reflections, and testing tlie spirit- 
 uality of their discernment. History then, the biogra- 
 phies of Saints included, is a structure that has been 
 built up according to rules of its own, and these rules 
 have ever been imperfect. Effect, so to say, and ap- 
 pearance, have been its leading principles, principles 
 not necessarily erroneous ; nay, in the common run, 
 the guide of life and the foundation of society. But 
 principles which are guides for men may be indefinitely 
 imperfect, because men are imperfect ; and in the 
 training for the life of angels, we require something 
 more than their defective canon, an ever nearer ap- 
 proach to those laws which are to be our guide in that 
 heavenly society which we hope to join. Now history 
 has had tlie same yearnings, the same ideal ; but his- 
 tory has applied it to this world, which can never be 
 what heaven is. Repose is the ideal of beauty. Ac-
 
 CONCLUSION. 291 
 
 corclingly, history has invested the Saints on earth 
 with all the attributes of repose ; and as qualities in 
 themselves are one thing and not another, white is 
 white, black is black, the Church militant has been 
 represented in the same uniform character of repose 
 with the Church triumphant, from beginning to end. 
 It has been thought that the pure white could not 
 come out itself from the antecedent admixture of dis- 
 cordant colours, it could be no abstraction, no extract 
 from opposite natures, it must have been ever there 
 whole and perfect, or nowhere at all. In this manner, 
 many, very many, of the old Saints, stand out like 
 beautiful statues, serene, unruffled, sublime, ethereal, 
 unearthly ; and such they were in truth, but not this 
 alone. The character of St. German subsequent to 
 his conversion, is an example of these historical types, 
 one of those radiant faultless pictures which line the 
 long galleries of the vestibule of heaven, the Church 
 on earth. 
 
 Now that there is another side of the picture, and 
 that it is not witliout its profit to beholders, seems 
 to be shown by those instances where Saints have 
 been the relaters of their own lives. Doubtless, Pos- 
 sidius' Life of St. Augustine does not read like St. 
 Augustine's own Confessions. The value then of this 
 last work is this, that it discloses the probation of the 
 Saint. We have in the case of St. German all that 
 was external, all that was intended to carry on the type 
 of sanctity from generation to generation, but we must 
 look beyond testimony for the history of his probation, 
 or his struggle with " the rulers of the darkness of this 
 world." On the other hand, in the Confessions, we 
 seem to discover all the wonderful threads which go to 
 make up the tissue of the Saints' white robe, we find
 
 292 CONCLUSION. 
 
 some going one way, some another, some again crossing 
 each other, and yet all kept together by the broad hem 
 which encircles them, and in the end making up in 
 discordant ways the one spotless garment. Some liglit 
 may perhaps be thrown upon St. German's inward life 
 by comparing it with this marvellous book. But first 
 let us ascertain somewhat more clearly the ground on 
 which we are to stand. 
 
 It is fully admitted that there is something evidently 
 extraordinary and miraculous in St. German's conver- 
 sion and subsequent life. But this alone does not seem 
 a sufficient account of the matter. All grace is extra- 
 ordinary and miraculous, and yet we may still enquire 
 about the how or the way on the part of man, Man is 
 a free agent, though the measures of God's grace may 
 vary ever so much. Tlxrough grace, doubtless, St. Ger- 
 man reached those heights of holiness which we view 
 with awe and wonder ; but grace is given to perform a 
 work, and where is this work ? grace is given to con- 
 quer nature, where is the conquest ? This is all that is 
 asked. Effects require predisposing causes. Allow for 
 argument sake that one and all follow by unavoidable 
 necessity, yet the history of them remains the same ; if 
 we read of the one, we may enquire about the other. 
 Nor is tliere any thing to show that the notion of mir- 
 acles implies the exclusion of other causes and means ; 
 for though as regards tlie irrational world, it might not 
 appear absurd to suppose an eflect produced without 
 any other cause but the miracle itself ; yet in the case 
 of rational and responsible beings to suppose the end 
 for which their reason and responsibility were given, 
 to be attained without the means of these, involves an 
 obvious inconsistency. And here Butler has a far- 
 searching saying which seems to suit the present pur-
 
 CONCLUSION. 293 
 
 pose. " Nor do we know," he says, " how far it is pos- 
 sible in the nature of things, that eifects should be 
 wrought in us at once, equivalent to habits, i. e. what 
 is wrought by use and exercise."^ The possession of 
 moral habits, under which denomination Christian vir- 
 tues and holiness are to be placed, however connected 
 with and dependent upon the miracle of God's grace, 
 is yet not like the possession of those miraculous gifts 
 which were bestowed in the beginning of Christianity, 
 of which men had the power of making a bad or a good 
 use, as they chose. Holiness is a habit and an act. A 
 habit or an act is not a faculty or a power. It is in the 
 nature of the latter to be applied to contraries, but the 
 other is one energy definite and exclusive. For indeed 
 holiness is in energy, not in virtue ; or if in some sense 
 it may be said to be virtual, it is so in one way, not in 
 contrary ways ; that is, in leading on to further holi- 
 ness, or, as the Psalmist says, going on from strength 
 to strength. Holiness cannot therefore be a gift of 
 God independent of man's exertions and consent ; if it 
 be an energy of man, it must work through him and 
 with him, for it is an effect, not an instrument ; and 
 the very essence of it is that it is an effect of human 
 agency. And here again we may compare another 
 passage of the same writer, though applied by him to 
 another subject. " It appears from Scripture," he says, 
 " that as it was not unusual for persons, upon their 
 conversion to Christianity, to be endued with miracu- 
 lous gifts ; so some of those persons exercised these 
 gifts in a strangely irregular and disorderly manner 
 (which could not be said with regard to holiness or 
 other habits) Consider a person endued with any of 
 
 ' Anal. p. 87.
 
 294 CONCLUSION. 
 
 these gifts ; for instance that of tongues : it is to be 
 supposed that he had tlie same power over this miracu- 
 lous gift, as he woukl have liad over it, had it been the 
 effect of habit, of study and use, as it ordinarily is (and 
 here the elfect of habit will not be confounded with the 
 habit itself, the effect of habit being viewed as an in- 
 strument merely ;) or the same power over it, as he 
 had over any other natural endowment. Consequently 
 he would use it in the same manner he did any other, 
 either regularly and upon proper occasions only, or 
 irregularly and upon improper ones ; according to his 
 sense of decency and his character of prudence."^ It 
 may be added that holiness in the beginning was in- 
 deed, thougli not properly a faculty or instrument, an 
 endowment like any other ; but man having fallen, a 
 distinction naturally arose between what came from 
 God alone, and what man contributed, for man was no 
 longer the creature of God as it came out of His hands ; 
 something foreign to God, if one may so speak, a neg- 
 ative nature had attached itself to his original nature ; 
 there was henceforth a self, a will, a spontaneity ; holi- 
 ness was now to be a recovery and an act, not a mere 
 gift or a necessary condition. 
 
 If the case stand thus, let us endeavour to apply it to 
 St. German. The fii-st thing that astonishes us in his 
 conversion, is that he was taken by surprise. He has 
 been irritated by the bold conduct of Bishop Amator, 
 he proceeds to Auxerre to take vengeance upon him, 
 he learns that he has set off to Autun, he awaits his 
 return, he hears him resign his Episcopal Office, he is 
 perhaps not over-sorry, he goes to see the end of the 
 matter in Church, and join in the general election of a 
 
 ' Anal. p. 182.
 
 COKCLUSION. 295 
 
 successor. Suddenly lie is surrounded with priests, 
 stripped of his secular robes, clad in a clerical dress, 
 deprived of his hair, and nominated to the Bishopric of 
 Auxerre. Now we will not stop to enquire whether 
 this violent behaviour of St. German involved a habi- 
 tual contempt of religion, though we may rather infer 
 the contrary ; we will not make conjectures about the 
 influence, which the vicinity of holiness, a virtuous edu- 
 cation, the high outward estimation in which rehgion 
 was held, a character naturally aspiring and elevated, 
 and the effects of a diffused literature pregnant with 
 Christian verities and solemn warnings, may have had 
 upon the mind of the Duke and Governor of the Ar- 
 morican and Nervican Provinces ; although we might 
 make many inductions from the habits of thoughtful- 
 ness and the sense of responsibility which an office so 
 full of high and accountable functions was calculated to 
 produce, the enforcement of duty and discipline on 
 others, the necessity of example in self, the probability 
 that an exalted statesman is on the whole upright and 
 religious when no impeachment against his character 
 in these respects is on record ; — all this we must leave 
 as we find it. Certain it is, that the immediate pre- 
 liminaries of his ordination and nomination were any 
 thing but adequate to the character we afterwards find 
 him sustaining, and that there was an evident abrupt- 
 ness and harshness in this remarkable transition of 
 his life. But two months elapsed before he was con- 
 secrated Bishop of Auxerre ; and it is expressly de- 
 clared, that during that time he used every endeavour 
 and means in his power to escape from the new charge 
 that was imposed upon him. Is there not here some 
 clue to that inward struggle which forms the secret 
 history of Saints ? Is there not here a shadow of that
 
 296 CONCLUSION. 
 
 side of the picture of the Saint which we were seek- 
 ing ? Let us dwell on these two months. The internal 
 struggle must have lasted through life (for it did so in 
 St. Anthony), but it is something gained, to get an in- 
 sight into these two months. 
 
 WTiat are two months ? Fifty-six or sixty days. 
 But sixteen or twenty days may well have been filled 
 up with the business and tumult of Election, the resig- 
 nation of a civil appointment (a letter to Autun or 
 Aries might well have been answered in a week or ten 
 days), the preparations for Consecration, and the recep- 
 tion of the three Bishops who were to consecrate him. 
 Forty days remain, and forty days previous to a min- 
 istry ! This seems to open a new view of the subject. 
 Time is a mysterious thing, concerning which we have 
 but very dim conceptions. Some have thought it to be 
 the mere indispensable mode in which all our thoughts 
 are conceived. At least, that it is measured by the 
 succession of our ideas, seems clear enough. And if 
 80, there is nothing to prevent a year being compressed 
 into an hour. The year of one rational being, may be 
 the hour of another ; nay, a year may, to tlie same 
 individual, be less than an hour under different cir- 
 cumstances. It is almost proverbial, that every year 
 the years seem to roll round faster ; which so hap- 
 pens, not perhaps because the younger we are the more 
 ideas we have, whereby the year seems to be more fuU 
 of incidents ; but rather the contrary, because the rela- 
 tions of ideas which are presented to the mind as it 
 grows older, become so numerous, that they succes- 
 sively di'ive each other away, and a less definite impres- 
 sion, on the whole, is left, than when we were young, 
 and ideas, from being few, were more indelible. How 
 much may pass in the mind during forty days ! "What
 
 CONCLUSION. 297 
 
 various and countless thoughts may have arisen in the 
 seclusion of one Lent ! How the memory has at times 
 been so vividly awakened as to partake of the nature 
 of actual representation ! How the future has been 
 measured out by anticipation, with almost prophetic 
 reality ! How the multiplicity of things has wonder- 
 fully been conjured up before the sight of the mind by 
 a glimpse of the one, the primary form of all things, 
 the Law of the Divine Wisdom and Knowledge, 
 Unity ! But forty days have a still more sacred asso- 
 ciation. It was the period of our Divine Master's 
 Temptation — shall we say Probation ? Yes, for though 
 He could not sin, yet He took upon Him our flesh, to 
 endure tlie like trials with us, though ever without 
 guilt. 1 And, if the thought may be expressed with 
 the deepest awe and reverence, what a range of things 
 were within that short space presented to Him in the 
 form of Temptations ! The world itself came before 
 His eyes, all its glories, its proud kings, its opulent 
 cities, its conquering armies, its ambitious fleets, its 
 philosophers and their systems ! And behold here the 
 three great trials to which human nature is subject at 
 once brought together, the desires of the flesh, the 
 ambition of the mind, the pride of the heart ; the 
 first, when bread was the occasion ; the second, when 
 the world was the end ; the last, when self was the 
 centre : " If Thou be the Son of God, cast Thyself 
 down." It might be profane to introduce such a sub- 
 ject as this, were He not the example of all Saints, 
 and were it possible to speak of holiness and super- 
 natural gifts without instancing Him. Nay, the more 
 
 ' " Ut esset in similitudine carnis peccati jicena sine culpa." 
 — Aug. De Peccatorum Mentis. Lib. i. 60 §.
 
 298 CONCLUSION. 
 
 holy men have been, (and no doubt St. German 
 yielded to none in this respect) the more reason we 
 have for presuming that they were brought within 
 the like vicinity of Satan's devices. The more grace 
 abounded in St, German, the more sure we may be 
 that he began not his ministry without contending 
 with the powers of darkness. It was immediately 
 after the descent of the Holy Ghost on the baptized 
 Son of man, that He was led away into the wilderness, 
 to be tempted of the devil. Now we are expressly 
 told, that after St. German's wonderful ordination, it 
 was with great difficulty he coidd bring liimself to 
 accept the charge of Bishop, to which he was elected.* 
 Nothing, as it appears, but absolute force made him 
 consent at last to be consecrated ; the people, the clergy, 
 the nobility, all were against him. What then must 
 have passed in his mind during the suspense ! Let us 
 consider what it requires to make up oui" minds to be 
 faithful servants of God. Some, indeed, take a rapid 
 glance of the capabilities of the future ; others are 
 slow in imagining the difficulties they will have to 
 encomiter. Some, by a marvellous penetration (and 
 this was one of St. German's gifts) see at once the 
 course they will have to pursue ; others have enough 
 to do to prepare for immediate struggles. But for all 
 there are countless things in prospect to meet, there 
 are as many in the retrospect to forego and to undo ; 
 and men will sleep rather for sorrow, before they come 
 fully to realize the scene before them. We are not, 
 however, quite at a loss for historical information, to 
 conceive what might be the struggles of Saints even 
 after conversion. St. Augustine's Confessions, as was 
 
 ' See ch. v.
 
 CONCLUSION. 299 
 
 before observed, will ever be a record to show how 
 much may be renounced, how much may be attained, 
 through God's grace. He had said in another work, 
 when charged with his previous life by enemies, "I do 
 toil much in my thoughts, struggling against my evil 
 suggestions, and having lasting and almost continual 
 conflict with the temptations of the enemy, who Avould 
 subvert me. I groan to God in my infirmity ; and He 
 knoweth what my heart laboureth with."^ And, in- 
 deed, never can it be said that a previous life goes for 
 nothing, though it be ever so changed afterwards. 
 The evil effects of bad customs still remain ; and 
 worldliness of mind, which it seems may be imputed to 
 St. German's former state, is not the least permanent. 
 About the very time at which St. German became 
 Bishop of Auxerre, St. Augustine was using the fol- 
 lowing language concerning himself ; " In tliis so vast 
 wilderness, full of snares and dangers, behold many of 
 them I have cut off, and thi'ust out of my heait, as 
 Thou hast given me, O God of my salvation. And 
 yet when dare I say, since so many things of this kind 
 buzz on all sides about our daily life, — when dare I say 
 that nothing of this sort engages my attention, or 
 causes in me an idle interest ? True, the theatres do 
 not now carry me away, nor care I to know the courses 
 of the stars, nor did my soul ever consult ghosts de- 
 parted ; all sacrilegious mysteries I detest Notwith- 
 standing, in how many most petty and contemptible 
 things is our curiosity daily tempted, and how often 
 we give way, who can recount ? How often do we 
 begin, as if we were tolerating people telling vain sto- 
 
 " Serm. 3, in Ps. 36, § 19- Apud Oxford Transl. of the Con- 
 fessions, p. 223. Nota. 
 
 X
 
 300 CONCLUSION. 
 
 ries, lest we offend the weak ; then, by degrees, we 
 take interest therein, &c."^ But St. German was to 
 refrain even from things in themselves lawful. His 
 wife Eustachia was now to become his sister. ^ How 
 fitly might he again say with St. Augustine, " Verily, 
 Thou enjoinest me contineney from the ' lust of the flesh, 
 the lust of the eyes, and the ambition of the world.' 
 Thou enjoinest contineney from concubinage ; and for 
 wedlock itself, Thou hast counselled sometliing better 
 than what Thou hast permitted. And since Thou 
 gavest it, it was done, even before I became a dispenser 
 of Thy sacrament. But there yet live in my memory 
 the images of such things, as my ill custom there fixed ; 
 whicli haunt me strengtliless when I am awake."^ 
 But more than this, there ai*e pleasures innocent, and 
 even elevating, wliich yet the Saint does not allow 
 himself to enjoy. They seem to belong to higher 
 natures than men have, and yet they are violently 
 appropriated by the world, and they lose much of their 
 real character by sinful and vain associations. But 
 even then they seem to act as a soothing and efficacious 
 remedy, like the essence which, though hidden in the 
 admixture of useless ingredients, still reveals its valu- 
 able properties often unknown to the recipient. They 
 teU to the unwary soul a tale of liigher things ; they 
 utter accents, and breathe combinations, imheard among 
 the realities of life. They say not whence they come, 
 yet when the distance has been measured, they are 
 beside the strait gate, and beckon of fomier acquaint- 
 ance. " The delights of the ear," might St. German 
 say with St. Augustine, " had firmly entangled and 
 
 ' Confess. Oxf. Transl. p. 214, 215. = See ch. vi. ■' p. 205.
 
 CONCLUSION. 301 
 
 subdued me ; but Thou didst loosen and free me. 
 Now in those melodies which Thy words breathe soul 
 into, when sung with a sweet and attuned voice, I do 
 a little repose ; yet not so as to be held thereby, but 
 that I can disengage myself when I will. But with 
 the words which are their life, and whereby they find 
 admission into me, themselves seek in my aifections a 
 place of some estimation, and I can scarcely assign 
 them one suitable. For at one time I seem to myself 
 to give them more honour than is seemly, feeling our 
 minds to be more holily and fervently raised unto a 
 flame of devotion, by the holy Avords themselves, when 
 thus sung, than when not ; and that the several affec- 
 tions of our spirit, by a sweet variety, have their own 
 proper measures in the voice and singing, by some 
 hidden correspondence wherewith they are stirred up. 
 But this contentment of the flesh, to which the soul 
 must not be given over to be enervated, doth oft be- 
 guile me, the sense not so waiting upon reason, as 
 patiently to follow her ; but having been admitted 
 merely for her sake, it strives even to run before her, 
 and leave her. Thus, in these things I unawares sin, 
 but afterwards am aware of it."^ 
 
 III. Language is so moulded upon the fashions 
 and customs of the world, that it appears often awk- 
 ward, and even profane, to introduce some of its ex- 
 pressions into serious subjects. Of this kind is the 
 word literary, which, as the usage of the day directs, 
 seems very inappropriate to hagiology ; and yet we 
 are at a loss to find any equivalent term which may 
 convey the idea intended, without doing injury to 
 clearness and simplicity. However, as religious men 
 
 210.
 
 302 CONCLUSION. 
 
 have used sucli expi'essions as " Sacred Literature," on 
 the highest of all subjects, the same liberty may per- 
 haps here be excused, on a lower field of consideration. 
 It should seem, then, that Saints may be divided into 
 two classes ; — literary Saints, and Saints not literary. 
 Under the latter St. German ought to be ranked. 
 Saints are seldom illiterate, which is different from 
 not being literary ; accession of knowledge is almost 
 identical with growth in piety ; and whether it be de- 
 rived through books, or oral instruction, or meditation, 
 it is almost invariably in some degree connected with 
 holiness. It is supposed that this fact is very evident 
 throughout the middle ages. Nothing could sometimes 
 exceed the ignorance of men of the world, kings, 
 barons, knights, and the retinue of courts ; but monas- 
 teries, which then was a convertible term with abodes 
 of religion, were very generally the seats of learning. 
 The village which claimed the Abbot for its feudal 
 suzerain was, doubtless, better instructed than tliat 
 which lay at the foot of the baron's castle, nay, j)er- 
 haps than the castle itself. These were two distinct 
 currents passing along from generation to generation ; 
 the one cari-ying down to posterity an accumulated 
 treasure of knowledge, the other stranding an uncouth 
 conglomeration of heterogeneous gatherings. Here 
 were the Four Faculties of the human soul said to 
 have been defined and explained, by Anselm, the 
 Abbot of Bec,^ Passion or Propension, Will, Reason, 
 Intellect ; a Book of Sentences ; a Sum of Theology ; 
 the Bible. There were duels, witchcraft, gambling, 
 point of honour, patronage, game laws, primogeniture, 
 investitures, vassallage, constitutions. Knowledge is a 
 
 ' Vita Guiberti Noving. lib. i. ch. xvii.
 
 CONCLUSION. 303 
 
 toy with the world ; they take it up or they throw it clown 
 as they please. The world is sometimes very learned, 
 nay, it sometimes tosses higher than religion, or at least 
 the umpires say so. But knowledge is the habitual food 
 of the godly ; it is healthy because, it is more equa- 
 ble ; it is digested all, because it is well proportioned 
 to the want ; and the godly have none of those phren- 
 zies which an intemperate feast of learning will pro- 
 duce. Still Saints need not be literary, any more than 
 they need be noble by birth, which has sometimes been 
 supposed of the Saints of certain ages. An occasional 
 writing, called forth by particular circumstances, or 
 documents composed in the course of study, merely to 
 impress things on the memory, and to serve for the 
 instruction of others, do not constitute a literary per- 
 son. St. German apparently was thus situated. He 
 was deeply learned, and was the teacher of great men. 
 He may have written and been read. Yet he certainly 
 was not a literary character. His merits are never in 
 ancient records connected with this qualification. No 
 one appealed to his writings, though many came to 
 consult him in person. At present, tliere is a vague 
 notion that writing is the great means of commanding 
 respect, and claiming a title to wisdom and judgment. 
 In the primitive ages, it seems men took a higher view 
 of wisdom ; they did not confound, as we do, the 
 faculty or the instrument, Avith the substance. It was 
 not necessary for things to be explicitly striking, to be 
 intrinsically valuable. A general tone, a habit, a con- 
 sistency of speech and action, proclaimed the Christian 
 AWsdom, more than a power of analysis, a perception 6f 
 analogies, and a command of rhetorical resources. 
 Can we doubt that a St. Polycarp would deserve confi- 
 dence where a Tertullian might be distrusted ? What
 
 304 coxcLrsiON. 
 
 Avas that divine unction which filled the speech of 
 the blind Saint at Tyre, while he quoted and applied 
 the Holy Scriptures from memory, in the presence of 
 the assembled multitude, and which so thrilled the heart 
 of the historian, that he became eloquent in spite of 
 himself ? Surely this was something in itself higher and 
 more authoritative than the mere talent of writing, 
 though it has often been combined with it. But so it is ; 
 those on whom the choicest favours of God seem to be 
 bestowed are often unskilled in the arts of composition, 
 or even in the more general modes of communicating 
 theii* thoughts. A superficial observer may pass by, and 
 assume that diffidence is incapacity. But those that have 
 been near, may have remarked a Avonderful clear-sight- 
 edness, a facility in receiving knowledge, an elevation of 
 thought, a power of distinguishing perversion from 
 truth, an instinctive sense of the leaven of heresy, and 
 a sympathetic discernment of what is orthodox, moral 
 and holy, which have filled them with confusion at 
 their own acute dulness and logical shallowness. They 
 seemed to aim at nothing but God's will, and yet all 
 came. They seemed too humble to seek to influence 
 others, yet doubtless tliey did influence them already, 
 and would hereafter be prepared for any exertion which 
 it should please their Divine Master to order. Is it 
 not these that really lead the better part of mankind ? 
 Are they not the true incense of the Church, while 
 the more brilliant are but the showy censer which 
 distributes their fragrance ? 
 
 This is a consideration which applies in a special 
 manner to St. German, and at the same time ex- 
 plains how, after his death, the particular character 
 of his mind would have been forgotten or lost in 
 a general renown for Avisdom and sanctity, and amid
 
 CONCLUSION. 305 
 
 the more sensible and immediate tokens of his former 
 life, as displayed by the miracles which survived him. 
 For indeed writers have this privilege among many 
 others, that they obtain a definite existence in the 
 mind of posterity. There is a famous expression of 
 Sidonius Apollinaris, which, as it may not be passed 
 over in any life of St. German, furnishes also an appo- 
 site illustration of the foregoing remai-ks. St. Prosper 
 of Orleans had requested him to celebrate the praises 
 of St. Anian, who has been introduced to the reader in 
 the preceding narrative. He writes back : " You de- 
 sire me to extol the glory of the blessed Anian, that 
 most eminent and perfect bishop, equal to Lupus, and 
 not iinequal to German ; you wish that the minds of 
 the faithful may be impressed with the practice, vir- 
 tues, and gifts of so great a saint know then that I 
 
 had begun to write." It will be remarked that a kind 
 of superiority due to St. German seems here to be im- 
 plied ; since a Saint might be equal to St. Lupus, yet 
 still unequal to St. German. But the passage is rather 
 quoted for another purpose, namely, to indicate what 
 might be considered the three types of a Saint in the 
 fifth century in Gaul. And it is observable that none 
 of these come under the denomination of literary men. 
 There are indeed two letters of St. Lupus extant, wliich, 
 beside many other proofs, evince his superior attain- 
 ments. Yet neither he, nor St. Anian, nor St. German, 
 owe their reputation to any written productions. Their 
 merits had something of a sacramental nature, which 
 begat awe and silent reverence, and perhaps it would 
 have been almost a lowering of their exalted position, 
 had they moved in the ranks of Saints and Authors. 
 To understand which we have but to consider, how 
 painful to serious minds is the literary light, so to say,
 
 306 CONCLUSION. 
 
 ill which Paley, in his otherwise able work on St. 
 Paul's Epistles, places the inspired writings of that 
 Apostle. It is also conceivable that many may have 
 been deterred from reading Lowth's Book on the Pro- 
 phets, from the very object which it professes to aim 
 at. And is it not a fact, that the higher we ascend 
 in the contemplation of the different orders of in- 
 telligences, the less we expect as by instinct any of 
 those symbols or modes of external influence, which we 
 connect with associations of an inferior and more 
 earthly character ? The Apostles did write, yet we 
 dare not call theirs Avriting in the ordinary sense. The 
 Blessed Virgin on the other hand did not write ; we 
 think indeed we discover a passage or two of Holy 
 Scripture dictated by her, and perceive her influence 
 presiding over much more ; yet she must needs have 
 another as the medium of her thoughts. But further 
 still, if we may reverently appeal higher, in the person 
 of our divine Lord, so immeasurably above all that is 
 man, though both Man and God, do we not think that 
 it implies something derogatory to His nature, to attri- 
 bute to Him the use of any such channel of communi- 
 cation ? Is there not a silence and a mystery which 
 encircles Him and those nearest to Him, incompatible 
 with certain manifestations ? And does not the famous 
 letter to King Abgarus fail to commend itself in some 
 respects from this very circumstance ? One among 
 many instances of this veil thrown over the Humanity 
 of our blessed Lord, is the fact that no personal descrip- 
 tion has been left of Him, that depends upon any higher 
 authority than vague and uncertain traditions. And 
 then how little is known of those with whom this His 
 Humanity was especially connected ; His mother, St. 
 Mary Magdalen, to whom He appeared first after the
 
 CONCLUSION. 307 
 
 Resurrection, St. John who lay on His breast ! We 
 know a great deal more about St. Paul, than St. Peter ; 
 St. Paul saw the Lord in visions, St. Peter face to face. 
 And there was perhaps a propriety arising from this 
 same cause, in that St. Peter's preserved Epistles are 
 general, while those of St. Paul are also often private. 
 Now if this be true, it is certainly remarkable that with 
 an authentic and somewhat circumstantial account of 
 St. German's life extant, yet there should be a similar 
 mystery spread over his character. It has been already 
 observed, that no definite description has been left by 
 Constantius, either of his outwai'd appearance or of his 
 particular disposition and tone of mind ; nor has a sin- 
 gle sentence of any wi-iting of his come down to pos- 
 terity ; nay, but very shortly after his death, it should 
 seem nothing of the kind was forthcoming, though at 
 the same time he Avas known to have possessed all the 
 qualifications requisite. And what brings the parallel 
 of his life with that of His divine Master still nearer, 
 even the very facts of his career on earth were being 
 obscured in the wonderful and miraculous consequences 
 which followed upon his death ; so that he also needed 
 one that had " perfect understanding of all things from 
 the very first, to write unto Christian people in order, 
 that they might know the certainty of those things 
 wherein they had been instructed." 
 
 If then we were to compare St. German with any 
 Saints which had preceded him, we should not in a 
 general aspect liken him to any of the Saints who sus- 
 tained a literary fame, but rather with those sublime, 
 unearthly t}'pes, whose best description is, that they 
 were mystic roses from the Holy Wood that budded, 
 the fragrance of which spread far and wide, which yet 
 none could embody into ostensible form ; wliich lasted
 
 308 CONCLUSION. 
 
 ever the same, though none knew how it passed on 
 from generation — a St. Lawrence, a St. Nicolas, a St. 
 Anthony, a St. Martin I And there are more reasons 
 than this which seem to point out especially the second 
 of the Saints just mentioned, St. Nicolas, as a just sub- 
 ject of comparison, as will be seen by the following ex- 
 tract from the Roman Breviary. " St. Nicolas having 
 devoted his whole soul to God, undertook a journey to 
 Palestine, in oi'der to visit the holy places, and manifest 
 his veneration on the spot. When he had taken ship, 
 though it was fair weather and the sea was quiet, he 
 foretold to the sailors a dreadful tempest. The tempest 
 came, and the passengers were all in extreme danger, 
 but Nicolas prayed, and the tempest by miracle was 
 assuaged. He returned home to Patara, in Lycia, after 
 this journey, and gave the example of the most singular 
 holiness. By divine admonition he then came to Myra, 
 which was the metropolis of Lycia. Just at that time 
 the Bishop of the city had died, and the provincial 
 Bishops were consulting about the election of a succes- 
 sor. They also had received a divine intimation, urging 
 them to elect the first who on the morrow should enter 
 the Church in the morning and be called Nicolas. 
 They did not 'disregard the command, and Nicolas was 
 found on the morrow passing the doors of the Church, 
 and with the consent of all was created Bishop of Myra. 
 Li his P^piscopate he preserved that chastity which he 
 had always maintained, and was noted for his wisdom, 
 the frequency of his prayers, his vigils, abstinence, lib- 
 erality and hospitality, his mildness in exhorting, and 
 his severity in reproving."
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 Page 
 
 52 line 26, for ashes, read wood-ashes. 
 
 54 note, after silice, read or cinere. 
 
 59 line 12, for six Bishops, read severi Bishops. 
 
 Gl lines 25 and 30, for Marmontier, read Marmoutier. 
 
 93 line 17, for Vignornia, read Vigornia. 
 
 95 line 9, for bealeous, read beauteous. 
 
 97 note, for Valerius, read I'alesius. 
 
 117 line 15, in some copies, for prteponerit, re^d pneponeret. 
 119 line 18, in some copies, for St. Jerome, read St. Sulpitius. 
 119 line 19, for tve know, read we learn. 
 126 line 30, in some copies, for Pelagius the Bishop, read Palladius 
 
 the Bishop. 
 132 note, for Mang, read Maug. 
 132 note, for Vaticam, read Vatican. 
 
 153 line 30, for m iAe present occasion, read ore the present occasion. 
 159 line 26, for !« <Aai account, read ow /Aai account.
 
 Henry Mozley and Sons, Printers, Derby.
 
 This booK is DUE on the last 
 date stamped below 
 
 <^tT : •*««» 
 
 8bL Z AON 
 
 BiuMLiaaxi
 
 ^<^<^: 
 
 . ..cc**:-*'^ -«^«;,,'-< *ec;««Et 
 
 3 1158 01313 3672 
 
 
 UC SOUTHERN f^E'^'^.JJLy.JnjS^^ 
 
 AA 000 800 882 3 ^
 
 c