many other passages of Holy Writ, in which he admonished us to rise from the sleep of the soul, by anticipating the last hour. And being skilled in our poetry, he thus spoke, in the Saxon language, of the awful departure of the soul from the body: Before the need-fare, Of thought more prudent To consider Before his departure What, to his spirit, After his death-day § 36. "He also sang anthems, as well for our consolation' as his own, one of which was the following:-O King of glory, God of might, who didst ascend to-day in triumph above all heavens, leave us not orphans, but send upon us the promise of the Father, the Spirit of truth. Halleluiah!' And when he came to the words, 'Leave us not orphans,' he burst into tears and wept much; and after the space of an hour, he resumed the repetition of what he had begun as we heard, we wept along with him. One while we read, another while we wept; and our reading was always mingled with tears. In such kind of joy as this we passed the quinquagesimal3 days between Easter up to the day which I have mentioned; and he rejoiced exceedingly, and thanked God, who had thus thought him worthy of suffering. He frequently repeated the text, God scourgeth every son whom He receiveth,' [Heb. xii. 6,] and many other passages of holy Scripture. He also quoted the sentiment of St. Ambrose :-' I have not so lived that I am ashamed to continue longer among you; nor do I fear to die, because our God is merciful.' § 37. "In addition to the lessons which we received from him, and the singing of psalms, he strove all this time to finish two very important works-the Gospel, namely, of St. John, which he was translating into Saxon for the use of the church, and certain extracts from the books of the Rotæ of St. Isidore. I am unwilling,' he said, that my children should read what is not The Saxon verses from which these lines are translated occur only in a few copies, and in these they are very considerably modernized and reduced to the dialect used in Wessex. But a MS. of great antiquity, and probably of Northumbrian origin, now belonging to the monastery of St. Gall, in Switzerland, has preserved them in a much purer and earlier form, approaching very closely to the language used by Beda himself. I am indebted to John M. Kemble, Esq., for a transcript of this precious document. 2 Dr. Lingard, here adopting a different text, reads, "He also chanted the antiphons according to his and our custom;" and appends the following note:"I conceive that by these words-'his and our custom'-Cuthbert alludes to the difference in the choral services; the Roman course having been introduced at Wearmouth and Jarrow, and the Scottish being probably retained in Cuthwin's monastery. The antiphon in the letter is that for the Magnificat on the feast for the Ascension according to the Roman course."-Anglo-Saxon Church, ii. 197, ed. 1845. 3 The quinquagesimal days were the fifty days between Easter and Whitsunday, and were ordered to be kept as days of joy and triumph in honour of the resurrection. Lingard, ibid. See also Martene, De Antiq. Monach. Ritibus, III. xviii. This work has not been identified. true, and after my death should labour unprofitably in this matter.' But when the third day of the week before our Lord's Ascension [24th of May] had arrived, his breathing became more laborious, and a slight swelling appeared in his feet; yet, during the whole of that, he taught and dictated cheerfully, and, among other remarks, sometimes said, Learn quickly, for I know not how long I may abide, nor how soon He who created me may take me away.' To us it appeared that he was well aware of his departure; and so he passed the night wakefully in the giving of thanks to God. § 38. "At the dawn of the fourth day of the week [Wednesday], he commanded us to write diligently that which we had begun, and this we did until the third hour [nine o'clock]. From that hour we walked in procession with the relics of the saints, as the custom1 of that day demanded. But one of us remained with him, and said to him, Dearly beloved master, one chapter is still wanting; and it appears to be painful to you that I should ask any further questions.' But he said- It does not trouble me. Take your pen, and be attentive, and write quickly.' At the ninth hour he said to me, I have a few things in my coffer which are of some value; namely, spices, and stoles, and incense; but run quickly, and bring to me the presbyters of our monastery, that I may distribute among them these presents, trifling ones indeed, yet such as God hath given me. The rich men of this world are anxious to make presents of gold and silver, and other precious things; but I, with much love and joy, give to my brethren what I have received from God.' And this I did with trembling. He addressed each of the brethren individually, admonishing and entreating them that they should be diligent in celebrating masses and praying for him; and this they readily promised. § 39. They all mourned and wept, chiefly because he told them that they should no longer see his face in the world; but they rejoiced when he said, 'It is time that I returned to Him who made me who created me, and formed me out of nothing. I have had a long life upon the earth; the merciful Judge has also been pleased to ordain for me a happy life. The time of my departure is at hand, for I have a desire to depart, and to be with Christ.' And with many such like remarks he passed the day until eventide. Then the boy whom we have already mentioned said to him, 'Still one sentence, dear master, remains unwritten.' He replied, Write quickly.' After a little while, the boy said, Now the sentence is finished.' He answered, 'You have spoken the truth-it is indeed finished. Raise my head in your hands, for it pleases me much to recline opposite to that holy place of mine in which I used to pray, so that, while resting there, I may call upon God my Father.' And being placed upon the pavement of his cell, he said, Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost'-and as soon as he had named the name of the Holy Spirit, he breathed out his own spirit, and so departed to the kingdom of heaven.3 "That is, the rubric for the Wednesday in Rogation week." Lingard, ii. 199. ? Instances of the distribution of similar gifts occur in the Epistles of Boniface. 3 This seems to require a little explanation, for it is said that Beda died on § 40. All those persons who either witnessed the death of our blessed father, or have heard of it, affirm that they have never seen any one meet death with so great devotion and tranquillity. For, as you have just heard, so long as the spirit was in the body he continued to sing Glory be to the Father,' and other spiritual songs, and ceased not, with outstretched hands, to render thanks to the living and the true God. Be assured of this also, dearest brother, that I could tell you many other things of him; but want of skill constrains brevity." § 41. Beda's remains were interred at Jarrow, and, according to Malmesbury,' the following lines were placed over his tomb:"Presbyter hic Beda requiescit carne sepultus. Dona, Christe, animam in cœlis gaudere per ævum: Suspiravit ovans intento semper amore." Besides this epitaph, Mabillon 2 has printed a second, from a manuscript formerly belonging to De Thou; and others probably are in existence. 3 § 42. The relics of such a man as Beda soon became of the greatest importance, even in a pecuniary point of view, to the establishment in which they were preserved, by attracting to his shrine a crowd of visitors with offerings. The cupidity or the jealousy of the neighbouring church of Durham was excited, and a presbyter, named Alfred, the son of Westou, stole the bones of our historian, and deposited them in the cathedral church, in which they now remain. When the relics of St. Cuthbert were translated in the year 1104, the bones of Beda were discovered in the same coffin, from which they were then removed; and some few years afterwards were placed by Hugh Pudsey, bishop of Durham, in a casket of gold and silver, and by him deposited in that part of the cathedral called the Galilee," the building of which he had just then completed. He caused the following lines to be inscribed over them "Continet hæc theca Beda Venerabilis ossa; Petrus opus fecit; præsul dedit hoc Hugo donum. Holy Thursday, and yet the narrative plainly informs us that the event took place on the evening of Wednesday. This apparent difficulty will vanish if we remember that the Saxons calculated their days from sunset to sunset, conse quently Beda's dissolution having occurred after the sunset of Wednesday, was referred by Cuthbert to the Thursday, which had then, according to this estimate, actually commenced. 1 De Regibus, i. 92, § 62, ed. Hardy. 2 Acta SS. III. i. § 504. 3 This theft was perpetrated between the years 1021 and 1041, and is confirmed as well by writers of considerable antiquity and authority, (Acta SS. Mart. iii. 133; Maii, vi. 723; Reginald. Dunelm. 57, ed. 1835,) as by the received tradition of many centuries. We hence gain an approximation to the date of the Saxon poem on the city of Durham, printed by Hickes in his Thesaurus, (Gram. Anglo-Sax. p. 179, ed. 1703,) since it speaks of the remains of Beda as resting in that church when these lines were written. 4 Acta SS. ut supra, p. 139. 6 Godwin, De Præsulibus Angliæ, p. 736. 5 Ibid. p. 140. 7 From a copy in the handwriting of Stowe, the antiquary, in the Harleian MS. 367, fol. 76. Another translation would seem to have taken place in the year 1370, the record of which is preserved in the following inscription, copied from the same volume of transcripts made by Stowe :--1 "Anno milleno tercentum septuageno Postquam Salvator carnem de Virgine sumpsit, De Castro dicto Bernardi, cujus et ossa Non procul hinc lapide sub marmoreo requiescunt." § 43. In November, 1541, the shrine of Beda, along with other relics, was removed from the cathedral church of Durham. It is not difficult to anticipate the fate of the rich casket of bishop Pudsey's donation; the stone, however, on which it rested still remains, and is now transferred to the south side of the nave." "The portion of the tunic of St. Beda the doctor," which is mentioned in the elaborate catalogue of the relics there deposited, disappeared at the same time. Of greater interest are the personal memorials of a literary character, with which the name of Beda is associated, but considerable doubt hangs over the whole of them. At least two manuscripts are still extant, which claim the honour of having been transcribed by his pen. In the Cottonian library are a few leaves written in a very ancient hand, an early possessor of which has stated that they formed a portion of St. Paul's Epistles, of which Beda was the copyist. Durham,-in which the smaller monastic establishments of Jarrow and Wearmouth merged, contains another treasure of the same character, namely, a copy of Cassiodorus upon the Psalter, (MS. B, ii. 30,) the penmanship of which is ascribed by a hand of the fourteenth century to Beda; and it must be admitted that this tradition, originating in such a locality, and corroborated by the appearance of the manuscript itself, which is of his age, is entitled to some degree of credit. Wanley mentions that he had heard it reported that the celebrated Rushworth copy of the Gospels had once belonged to our historian; but he does not inform us of the evidence (if any,) upon which this statement was supported. All which we can assert is, that the manuscript is certainly of Beda's own time, and that the language in which it is glossed is Northumbrian. 5 6 § 44. It took no long time for Beda's reputation to extend itself over Europe. Boniface, the apostle of Germany, Beda's contemporary, designated him as the candle sent by God for the spiritual illumination of the church, and requested to be furnished. with copies of some of his writings for his own edification.' The like request was frequently urged by Lullus, the successor of 1 From a copy in the handwriting of Stowe, the antiquary, in the Harleian MS. 367, fol. 76. * See Raine's St. Cuthbert, (4, Durh. 1828,) pp. 98, 178, and also pp. 60, 94, 168. * Smith's Beda, p. 742. MS. Cott. Vitell. C. viii. fol. 83. Wanley, in his Catalogue of Saxon MSS. appended to Hickes' Thesaurus, when describing this fragment (p. 241), remarks that he had formerly seen a copy of St. Paul's Epistles written by the same hand, and at that time deposited in the library of Trinity College, Cambridge. * Rud's Catalogue of the Durham MSS. p. 128. Catalogue of Saxon MSS. p. 82. 7 Epp. 37, 38. Boniface in the see of Mentz, who presented to Cuthbert, abbot of Jarrow, (the author of the letter which has been translated above,) a cloth of silk in which to place the relics of his sainted master.1 Towards the end of the same century in which Beda died, his praises were frequently and warmly celebrated by Alcuin; and his sanctity was supposed to be established by the miracles which were believed to have been performed by his relics. It is unnecessary to cite the testimonies to the same effect which might be collected from the writings of Benedict of Anagni (A.D. 801), Hildewin (A.D. 814), Lupus (A.D. 830), Walafrid Strabo (A.D. 842), Paschasius Radbert (A.D. 844), Hincmar of Rheims (A.D. 845), and many others. The epithet of "venerable," by which he has been so universally distinguished, and which alone is sufficient to testify the estimation in which he was held, appears first to have been bestowed upon him in the ninth century, and is frequently employed by Amalarius of Treves (A.D. 810), Jonas, bishop of Orleans (A.D. 821), and other authors of the same period. § 45. Beda's high reputation was not unmerited; for the writings which he has left behind him give proof that he was distinguished alike by diversified genius, extensive reading, and sincere piety. He has left commentaries upon many of the books of the Old and New Testaments, exhibiting an intimate acquaintance with the Scriptures and the writings of the early fathers; and which are of great value in showing both the doctrine and discipline of the Anglo-Saxon church. His treatises upon chronology, arithmetic, astronomy, and cosmography, are more clear, comprehensive, and accurate, than those of his contemporaries or immediate successors; he was skilled in the theory and practice of music, and was no mean adept in the arithmetic and mathematics of his age. But we are more especially concerned in ascertaining his qualifications as the author of the historical works now brought before the public, which we shall proceed to consider in their order as they occur in the present volume. § 46. The scope of the ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY OF The English NATION is sufficiently indicated by its title. After some observations upon the position, inhabitants, and natural productions of Britain, the author gives a rapid sketch of its history from the earliest period until the arrival of Augustine in A.D. 597, at which era, in his opinion, the ecclesiastical history of our nation had its commencement. After that event, he treats, as was to be expected, for a time exclusively of the circumstances which occurred in Kent; but, as Christianity extended itself over the other kingdoms into which England was then divided, he gradually includes their history in his narrative, until he reaches the year 731. Here he concludes his work, which embraces a space of one hundred and thirtyfour years, with a general outline of the ecclesiastical state of the island. 1 Bonif. Epp. 114, 117, 121, 123. 2 Poema De Pontiff. Ecclesiæ Ebor. 1. 1315, ap. Alcuini Opp. ii. 254. |