altar; he then received the kiss of peace from the brethren, and thus became a member of their society.

§ 15. Beda had now become an inmate of the monastery of Wearmouth; he had renounced home and kindred, perhaps even the name by which he had previously been known; and had entered upon a new scene, new duties, new avocations. That he devoted himself to these with such assiduity as not only to have won the love of his equals, but to have earned the approbation of his superiors, while at the same time he profited largely by the opportunities of improvement afforded him, is clear from what we know of the whole tenor of his life. As it passes before us, we shall have abundant proof of the estimation in which he was held by those who had the best opportunities of forming an unprejudiced judg ment. Reading, writing, and various other branches of study, pursued so far only as was consistent with the higher obligation of due attendance upon the services of the church, now chiefly occupied his mind. The constitution of a Benedictine monastery made ample provision for the training up of youth in the more useful branches of education; all acquirements, however, being viewed with especial reference to the extension of God's glory and the salvation of mankind.

§ 16. It is not easy for us in the present day, amid occupations so different from those which engaged the attention of the middle ages, and possessing advantages so superior in most respects to those which men at that time enjoyed,—it is not easy for us to form a true estimate of the character of monachism; nor is it the intention of the editor to enter upon the examination of this confessedly difficult question. Yet if it be possible to lay before the reader, in a concise form, some comprehensive notice by which he may be enabled to judge of that condition of life which now opened upon Beda, it is expedient that this be done; for we hence gain an insight into the system by which the mind of the future historian of England was framed, and which must necessarily have exercised a very considerable influence upon his subsequent character, and given a tone and bias to his writings.

§ 17. The Rule of St. Benedict, a document the authenticity of which cannot be doubted, and of which the authority is unquestionable, affords us the ready means of depicting the character which Benedict sought to form by his institutions. The first chapter, which treats of the duties of the brethren, is so important and so apposite withal, that an abridged translation of it is here introduced. According to St. Benedict, it was the duty of the monk, " in the first place to love the Lord his God with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his strength; and, in the second place, to love his neighbour as himself. To commit no murder, nor adultery, nor theft; not to covet, nor to bear false witness. To honour all men. To do unto others as he would have others do unto him. To deny himself, and to follow Christ. To chasten the body; not to follow after pleasures; to love fasting; to relieve the poor; to clothe the naked; to visit the sick; to bury the dead; to aid the distressed, and to comfort the sorrowing. To estrange himself from

the doings of the world, and to prefer nothing to the love of Christ. Not to act upon resentment, to nourish no malice, to have no treachery in the heart; to give no false peace; never to cease from acts of charity; not to swear, lest he become forsworn. To have truth in the heart and in the mouth. Not to render evil for evil. To do no injury, but patiently to suffer injury. To love his enemies. Not to curse those who curse him, but rather to bless them. To endure persecution for righteousness' sake. Not to be proud; to be no wine-bibber, no glutton, no sluggard, not lazy, no murmurer, no backbiter. To place his trust in God. To refer to God whatever is good in himself, and not to take it to himself; but to appropriate whatever is evil. To fear the day of judgment, to dread hell, and desire eternal life with all spiritual longing. Daily to have the apprehension of death before his eyes. Hourly to watch each action of life. To know for certain that God sees him in every place. Straightway to throw down before Christ the evil thoughts which enter into his heart, and to make them known to the spiritual father. To guard his mouth from wicked and naughty words. Not to love to speak much. To utter no words of vanity, or which are apt to provoke laughter. Not to love much merriment or levity. Willingly to hear sacred lessons; frequently to devote himself to prayer; daily in prayer to confess to God his past evil deeds, and to amend them for the future. Not to fulfil the desires of the flesh. To hate his own inclinations, and to obey the abbot's commands in all things, even should he do otherwise than is right, which God forbid ! remembering the law of the Lord, All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not after their works.' [Matt. xxiii. 3.]

§ 18. "A monk ought not to wish to be called holy before he is so; but first to become what may truly be so styled. Daily to fulfil in his actions the commandments of God. To love chastity; to hate no one; to have no jealousy, no envy; to dislike discord, and to flee pride. To reverence his elders, to love his juniors, and in the love of Christ to pray for his enemies. To be at peace before the setting of the sun with those with whom he may have disagreed. And never to despair of God's mercy.

§19. "These," concludes the chapter," are the instruments of our spiritual occupation, which, if they be performed night and day without ceasing, and ratified at the day of judgment, that reward shall be given us of the Lord, which He hath promised; and which 'eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.' [1 Cor. ii. 9.] And the workshop where we diligently perform all these things, is the cloister of the monastery, and constancy in the congregation.”

§ 20. From a conviction that some outline of the discipline under which the mind of Beda was trained is necessary for the formation of a due estimate of his character, the editor has entered somewhat fully into the monastic system which prevailed in England at the period to which our history has reference. We must not look at Beda, for the first time, when his character has been formed

and his habits of thought and feeling matured; if we do so we shall probably form a faulty as well as an imperfect estimate. The standing point which we take must be such, that from it we command a comprehensive view; we must be in such a position that we can notice the growth of his being, and understand the influences which conspired to develope and ripen the germ of his intellect.

From what we read of Benedict Biscop, the abbot of Wearmouth, when Beda became its inmate, there is every reason to conclude that in his practice he would endeavour fully to carry out the theory of his Italian namesake. The information respecting him which has descended to us, is derived almost exclusively from the writings of our historian, and through him we become possessed of an outline of the life of the person whose example and admonitions had such an influence upon his own, and by whose labours he so abundantly profited. We learn from this authority,' that Benedict Biscop was of noble descent, and at an early period of his life became a resident at the court of Osuiu, king of Bernicia, from whom he received a grant of land corresponding to his rank and condition. About the twenty-fifth year of his age he renounced the world and its possessions; and having resolved to devote himself to the service of Christ, he received the tonsure, and was instructed in the Benedictine rule at the celebrated monastery of Lerins, which he visited in A.D. 665, when making his second journey to Rome. Here he remained for two years, after which he completed his mission to the then metropolis of the world. He was resident in that city in 669, when Ecgberct, king of Kent, sent thither Wighard, that he might receive ordination at the hands of the pope, as archbishop of Canterbury: but before this ceremony could be performed, the whole of the English deputation was cut off by pestilence. The pope nominated Theodore, a native of Tarsus, to the vacant archbishopric, and having associated with him Adrian, an Italian abbot, he committed both to the care of Benedict, fully sensible of the advantages which the foreigners would derive from his guidance, advice, and introduction. They arrived in safety at the end of their journey; Theodore took possession of his see, and Benedict was entrusted with the rule of the monastery of St. Peter's at Canterbury. Here, however, he remained no longer than two years; he then transferred the care of his monks to Adrian, and for the third time visited Rome. The more peculiar object of this expedition at this time appears to have been the acquisition of books; at least, the fact of such an acquisition is brought prominently forward by Beda. Having amassed a valuable collection, partly by gift, partly by purchase, some at Rome, some at Vienne in Gaul, he returned homewards; but on his arrival in England, he heard of the unexpected death of Coinuualch, king of Wessex, whom he had intended to visit.

§ 21. His plans having been thus thwarted, instead of returning to Kent, he bent his footsteps, after a long absence, to his birth-place. 1 See the present volume, p. 604.

Here he was cordially received by Ecgfrith, who shortly before had ascended the throne of Northumbria. The king listened attentively to the conversation of the pilgrim monk; heard him discourse of what he had seen in Kent, Gaul, and Italy; looked with respect upon the volumes which he had collected, and with reverence upon the relics of the saints which he exhibited; and, as we have already mentioned, he gave him that tract of land upon which he resolved to build the monastery of Wearmouth.

§ 22. This donation, and the duties which it involved, called into exercise the untiring zeal of the abbot. Resolving to construct his monastery in the best and most solid style of masonry, so that it should be adapted to the Roman system of ritual and worship, to which he was warmly attached, in contradistinction to the more simple form introduced by the Scoto-Irish monks at Lindisfarne, he went over to France, and returned with skilful workmen, fully qualified to carry out the designs of the architect. Such was the energy with which their labours were conducted, that within the space of one year from the time when the foundations had been laid, the work was so far advanced as to be roofed over, and mass was then celebrated within the completed building.

§ 23. But though the building was completed, its decorations were not such as satisfied Benedict's exalted ideas of ecclesiastical splendour; and he resolved that no pains should be spared, no expense grudged, in the attainment of this his favourite object. France once more supplied him with workmen, who filled the windows of the church with glass, an art hitherto unknown to the English; and from the same country he obtained such vessels and vestments necessary for the service of the altar, as could not be procured at home. Yet, unsatisfied with the treasures he had thus acquired, he once more, and for the fifth time, visited Rome, determined to possess himself of whatever he conceived to be yet wanting in that degree of splendour, to which he sought to raise his monastery of Wearmouth. Beda gives us an interesting account of his acquisitions upon this occasion. As might have been expected, he assigns the first place to the books, which were very numerous, and of all kinds. The relics of the apostles and martyrs are next mentioned. A most important feature was the introduction of the Roman system of church-music, and of conducting the church-service generally, pope Agatho having sent with him into Britain for this purpose, John the chanter; who not only trained the English monks in the Roman method of singing, but moreover composed some treatises upon this art, which Beda mentions as being still preserved in his time, in the library of the monastery. Benedict brought also with him on his return a papal bull, by which the new foundation was exempted from all external interference. And, lastly, he imported various works of art for the ornament of the new church. Its middle division was adorned with paintings representing the blessed Virgin Mary, and the twelve Apostles; the southern portion was devoted to the representation of the gospel history; on the wall towards the north were depicted subjects taken from the book of the Revelation of St. John.

"Thus," says Beda, "whosoever entered the church, even though unable to read, had before their eyes, wherever they looked, the representation of the loving countenance of Christ and his saints; or their minds were stirred up by recollecting the grace of our Lord's incarnation; or having, as it were, before them the strictness of the last judgment, they might remember the duty of still stricter selfexamination."

§ 24. Such was the residence in which Beda now found himself, such the instructor to whose guidance he was intrusted. If the rule of St. Benedict, in defining the duties of a monk, strove to impress deeply on his mind the importance, or rather the necessity, of humility and obedience, it no less earnestly urged upon the abbot the duty of affectionate forbearance towards those over whom he was placed; and it solemnly and repeatedly urged him to consider the responsibility of his station. He was admonished that he should neither teach, nor command, nor do, anything contrary to the law of the Lord, but that he should show forth whatever is good and holy, and that by deeds rather than by words. He should be no respecter of persons, or if any preference be shown, it should be in favour of those who excel in good actions, in humility and obedience. Remembering how difficult is the task which he has undertaken, he should adapt himself to the varied tempers of those over whom he is placed, so as to win some by kindness, and to constrain others, when necessary, by severity. Throughout his whole administration he should constantly bear in mind that he is responsible, not so much for the things of time as those of eternity; and that since he has taken on himself the care of immortal souls, for them he must hereafter render an account to God.

§ 25. The liberality of Ecgfrith, king of Northumbria, was not exhausted by his endowment of the monastery of Wearmouth, munificent though this had been; for eight years afterwards he made a grant of forty hides of land for the establishment of a second institution of a similar character. This gift enabled Benedict to build the monastery of St. Paul's, at Jarrow.' A little colony of monks set out from the parent establishment to take on themselves the cares and the responsibilities of the new foundation; in number they were twenty-two, of whom ten only were tonsured monks, the other twelve yet looked forward to the attainment of that rank. One of these, it would appear, was Beda. It is certain that he was transferred by Benedict Biscop to the care of Ceolfrith, abbot of Jarrow, and it is highly probable that the change took place upon this occasion. Yet it could hardly be called a change. The two monasteries were situated at no great distance from each other; the monks were united by those ties which, by giving unity of feelings and interests, produce mutual attachments; and so identified were they in all respects, that Beda regarded them as one single monastery.

§ 26. In the year 686 England was visited with another pesti

I know not upon what authority some modern writers have changed this name into "Yarrow." The spelling and pronunciation of the neighbourhood is decidedly

Jarrow.