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have exhibited towards their own husbands or parents; such was the regard in which they held his devout constancy of mind. He received an hundredfold houses and lands, when he obtained possession of these sites on which to build his monasteries. And had he left his wife for the sake of Christ, even this also would have been made up to him an hundredfold; because then the merit of the love of chastity in him, as among those who are continent on account of the fruit of the spirit, would have been an hundredfold greater than had he continued among those who formerly were wanton through the lust of the flesh. The sons which he did not care to have according to the flesh, these he was permitted to have an hundredfold according to the spirit (for the number one hundred,' as has often been said, figuratively represents perfection); for we are the children of this affectionate steward, since he brought us into this abode of monastic devotion; we are his sons, whom, though born after the flesh of many parents, he has spiritually knit together into one holy family by our profession; we are his sons, if we imitate his example by walking in the same path of virtue, and wander not, in our heedlessness, from that road which by his rule he taught us.

§ 3. For we well remember, brethren, we who can recollect him, how it has been frequently told, in the hearing of those whom God's mercy gathered into this our congregation after his death, that as long as he enjoyed bodily health, he never ceased to labour for the glory of God's holy church, and chiefly for the peace, honour, and quiet of this monastery; and how frequently soever he crossed the sea, he never (like too many) came home again emptyhanded and unprofitable, but brought with him a large supply, at one time of holy books, at another, of the relics of the blessed martyrs of Christ,-a venerable gift! how he introduced, on one occasion, architects for the building of the church, on another, glass-manufacturers, for the ornament and security of its windows, on a third, instructors for teaching singing and the services of the church during the whole year; and further, how he brought home with him an epistle of privileges sent by the lord pope, by which our liberty should be protected from all external invasion. At one time he imported the paintings of the holy histories, which should serve not only for the ornamenting of the church, but for the instruction of the beholders; so that those persons who could not learn from books what had been done by our Lord and Saviour, might be thus far instructed by the representations placed around them.

§ 4. And all this studious toil he expended on these and kindred matters, for the end that no need for such like labour might devolve upon us; so frequently did he journey into foreign lands, that we, in our abundance of all the supplies of healthful knowledge, might be enabled to repose within the cloisters of our monastery, and in our

1 Beda frequently spiritualises upon the allegorical meanings of numbers. See in Genes. Expositio, "Quod autem trecentorum cubitorum erat longitudo arcæ, centenarium numerum significat esse perfectum et plenum." Opp. iii. 33. Again, "Quia enim centenarius numerus est perfectus, ipse centum oves habuit." vii. 70. See also col. 234.

secure liberty to serve Christ the Lord. And even when he was severely chastened and afflicted by bodily infirmity, in the midst of his thanksgivings to God, it was a constant pleasure to him to speak upon our adherence to the monastic rules which he had learned and taught; and it pleased him to linger upon the remembrance of the ecclesiastical observances which he had noticed in various cities, but chiefly at Rome, and in the holy places which he recollected having visited in his youth. And thus supported and exercised by the long study of virtue, and purged by the lengthened martyrdom of a year of infirmity, after having received one hundredfold the gifts of grace during this present life, he passed to that which is eternal.

§ 5. And therefore, brethren, it is necessary that we, like good children, and worthy of such a father, be careful to follow his example and precept in all things, and that none of the snares of the spirit or flesh seduce us from walking in the steps of such a guide; but that we, who have left the affections of the flesh and an earthly inheritance,-who, out of love for the conversation of angels, have scorned to marry wives and to beget children after the flesh,-advancing in the virtues of the spirit, may be permitted to receive an hundredfold in the society of the saints in this life, and in the world to come to obtain the life which is eternal. And this by the grace of our Redeemer, who liveth and reigneth with the Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. AMEN.

THE CHRONICLE

OF

THE VENERABLE PRESBYTER BEDA,

THE ANGLO-SAXON;

OR,

CONCERNING THE SIX AGES OF THE WORLD.

IN a former1 part of this work, we briefly, in drawing a comparison between them and the week of the creation, glanced at the six ages of this world, and the seventh, or, as some maintain, the eighth, of a life of rest in heaven; and now again, in comparing them with a man's life, called in Greek by philosophers a microcosm, that is, a world in minature, we propose to dwell upon the same subject somewhat more at large.

The first age of this world, then, extends from Adam to Noe, and embraces, according to the Hebrew Scriptures, 1656, according to the Septuagint, 2242 years, and according to both versions ten generations. This age was put an end to by the universal deluge, just as the first age of man's life is wont to be sunk and lost in the waters of oblivion; for how few of us are there who can recollect our own infancy!

The second age, extending from Noe to Abraham, embraces, according to the authority of the Hebrew, ten generations, and 292 years; whereas the Septuagint version gives a longer period, and includes 1072 years, and eleven generations. This age may be called the childhood of God's people; and, accordingly, in it, language, that is, the Hebrew language, was invented. For in emerging from infancy, so named from infants not possessing the power of speech, into childhood, men first are capable of uttering significant sounds.

The third age extends from Abraham to David, and embraces, according to both authorities, fourteen generations, and 942 years. This may be termed the youth of God's people, because with this age man begins to possess the powers of generation: and, therefore, Matthew, the evangelist, commences his genealogy from Abraham, who, when his name was changed, was made the father of nations.

The fourth age extends from David to the carrying away into captivity to Babylon, and embraces, according to the Hebrew,

Namely in chapter x. of his book "De Temporum Ratione," (ed. Giles, vi. 166,) from which the present treatise is an excerpt.

Scripture, 473, according to the Septuagint translation twelve more years, and, according to both versions, seventeen generations, which, for a mystery's sake, the evangelist Matthew numbers as fourteen. In this, which may be called the age of the world's youth, kings began to reign over God's people. For this is the period of man's life in which he becomes fit for performing the function of government.

The fifth period resembles that of old age, and extends from the carrying away into Babylon, to the incarnation of our Lord the Saviour, through fourteen generations, and 589 years. In this the Hebrew people, as though borne down by the weight of old age, is broken by a rapid succession of evils.

The sixth age, in which we now live, is bounded by no fixed limits of generations, or of years; but, like decrepit old age, must meet its termination in the dissolution of the whole world; and, lastly, every one who has, by a happy death, triumphantly passed through the numberless cares and toils of these ages, is already received into the seventh age of an unbroken sabbath, and waits for the eighth age of the joyful resurrection, in which he may reign for ever with the Lord.

THE FIRST AGE.1

In the first age of the world, and on the first day of it, God made the light, which He called day. On the second day He suspended the firmament of heaven in the midst of the waters, which, with the earth, and the heaven above, and the powers that are therein, to glorify their Maker, had been created before the commencement of these six days. On the third day, He gathered the waters, which before had covered the whole face of the earth, into their place, and commanded the dry land to appear. On the fourth day, (which, as we conjecture from the equinox, is the 12th of the kalends of April) [21st March], He placed the stars in the firmament of heaven. On the fifth day, He created the fishes of the sea and the birds of the air. On the sixth day, (which I believe to be the 10th of the kalends of April) [23d March], He created the beasts of the field, and man himself, Adam, from whose side, as he slept, He produced Eve, the mother of all living.

From these considerations, in the absence of more convincing proof, the opinion of the blessed Theophilus,' which he enunciated in his disputation on Easter with the bishops of Palestine, and many of those of other countries, is worthy of credit, namely, that the crucifixion of our Lord took place on the same tenth day of the kalends of April [23d March]. For it was fitting that on one and

1 It has been considered expedient to retain only the general outline of this and the following Ages up to the Sixth, and to omit the particulars which follow in the original.

See

2 He was bishop of Cæsarea, in Palestine, and flourished about A.D. 192. Cave, Hist. Lit. i. 87. He is mentioned by Eusebius, H. E. v. 23. There is a further notice of him in the present treatise, A.D. 194.

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the same day, not only of the week, but also of the month, the second Adam, falling asleep in a death which was destined to give us life, should, by the heavenly sacraments produced from his side, sanctify to Himself the church as a bride, for the salvation of man; for on this day it was that He himself had created the first Adam, the father of mankind, and, by a rib taken from his side, built up for him a woman, by whose cooperation the human race might be propagated.

THE SECOND AGE.

In the second age of the world, and on the first day of it, namely, on the 27th of the second month, Noah came out of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. To the mention of which event the blessed apostle Peter [1 Pet. iii. 21] in his epistle forthwith subjoins the following apt remark: "The like figure whereunto, even baptism, doth also now save us, not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience towards God, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is on the right hand of God:" thereby teaching, that in the water of the deluge, baptism was figured; as also, in the ark and those whom it contained, the church and its saints, and in the number of eight souls, the mystery of our Lord's resurrection, in the faith of whom we are baptized.

THE THIRD AGE.

THE third age of the world commences with the nativity of the patriarch Abraham, who, when he was seventy-five years old, left his country, and came by the command of God to the land of Chanaan; receiving the double promise, that from his seed should be born a Saviour, in whom all the nations of the earth should be blessed, and that he himself should become a great nation; of which promises, the one is spiritual, the other temporal. In this period Ninus and Semiramis reigned over Assyria.

THE FOURTH AGE.

THE fourth age of the world opens not only with the rise of the Jewish kingdom, but also with the renewal of the promise formerly given to the patriarchs, and marks the commencement of the reign of Christ; the Lord swearing, "That of the fruit of his body, would He set upon his throne.' [Ps. cxxxii. 11.]

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THE FIFTH AGE.

THE fifth age commences with the carrying away of the Jews into captivity: the period of their expatriation lasting, according to the prophecy of Jeremiah, seventy years.

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