From the Almighty. Therein they unhurt This part of the poem ends with Belshazzar's Feast. The rest of the MS., added in another handwriting, is founded on New Testament story, and has for its theme Christ and Satan. It tells partly what was known as the Harrowing of Hell from the apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus, and partly the Temptation in the Wilderness. As Cædmon's Paraphrase was produced during the rule of Abbess Hilda in the Whitby monastery, its date is probably between the years 670 and 680.1 Before the death of Cadmon, Aldhelm, another poet, had begun his work. He was well born, and entered young into a monastery founded by a poor Scot named Meildulf, obtained a grant of the place in the year 672, and gave his wealth and energy to its development, till Meildulf's settlement, Meildulfesburh (Malmesbury) became one of the chief religious centres of its time. In 705 Aldhelm was made the first bishop of Sherborne, and he died in 709. In that Benedictine house of Malmesbury there lived in the earlier half of the twelfth century (he died probably in 1142) a monk named William, whose History of the Kings of England gave him, for genius as a historian, the first place among old The whole of that part of Cadmon which relates the Creation and the Fall of Man was translated into rhymed heroic couplets by Mr. W. H. F. Bosanquet as "The Fall of Man, or Paradise Lost of Cædmon," and published in 1860, joined to a theory that Cædmon wrote ten-syllabled iambic lines with an occasional unaccented eleventh syllable, and that the English heroic liue was of Cadmon's invention. This is not a true theory, though it is true that the rhythm of the First-English alliterative verse, set in cadences for chanting to the thrum of a stringed instrument, often accorded with that of our own modern heroic measure; and I think it is most fairly represented in translation when that and kindred measures, which fall smoothly on the English ear, underlie the music of its short accented and alliterated lines. A full and excellent account of Cadmon and his works was published in 1875 by Mr. Robert Spence Watson, in a little book entitled "Cædmon, the First English Poet," which can be most heartily recommended to the reader. It is not unworthy of note that in the same year 1875 the story of Cædmon was made into a graceful little book of verse by a lady, as "A Dream and the Song of Cædmon. (A Legend of Whitby.) By J. M. J." The old poem itself was edited for the Antiquarian Society in 1832 by Mr. Benjamin Thorpe, with a literal English translation, and the same society published a valuable series of fac-similes of the pictures illustrating the one extant MS. of it in the Bodleian. K. W. Bouterwek published in 1849 a carefully edited text of Cadmon; followed in 1851 by an ample glossary to the poem, in which Latin is used for giving the meanings of words, and German for any comment upon them. Cædmon is of course included in Dr. C. W. M. Grein's "Bibliothek der Angelsächsischen Poesie in kritisch bearbeiteten Texten und mit vollständigen Glossar," published at Göttingen in 1857, 1858, 1861, and 1861. This work contains the whole body of First-English poetry, and its glossary serves as a full and critical concordance to it. It is a book that the more advanced student of First English cannot do without. A beginning of the study of First English might easily be made in schools with the help of a book written for the purpose, an "Anglo-Saxon Delectus," by the Rev. W. Barnes. This includes elements of grammar, graduated readings, and sufficient glossary. Or use might at once be made of "A Grammar of the Anglo-Saxon Tongue, from the Danish of Erasmus Rask, by Benjamin Thorpe," which in its second and cheaper edition has become a most convenient book for school and college use. In the mere study of English grammar there can be no thoroughness until its development is taught, as it can be taught most simply and easily, by beginning at the beginning. This is not adding to, but lessening the trouble given to a boy or girl who seeks to work with understanding. 66-VOL. II. English chroniclers. William of Malmesbury writes thus of Aldhelm. He has just mentioned a Leutherius, who was for seven years bishop of the West Saxons, and goes on :— WILLIAM OF MALMESBURY'S ACCOUNT OF ALDHELM. This circumstance I have thought proper to mention, because Beda has left no account of the duration of his episcopate, and to disguise a fact which I learn from the Chronicles would be against my conscience; besides, it affords an opportunity which ought to be embraced, of making mention of a distinguished man, who by a clear and divinely inspired mind advanced the monastery of Malmesbury, where I carry on my earthly warfare, to the highest pitch. This monastery was so slenderly endowed by Meildulf a Scot, as they say, by nation, a philosopher by erudition, a monk by profession-that its members could scarcely procure their daily subsistence; but Leutherius, after long and due deliberation, gave it to Aldhelm, a monk of the same place, to be by him governed with the authority then possessed by bishops. Of which matter, that my relation may obviate every doubt, I shall subjoin his own words. "I, Leutherius, by divine permission bishop supreme of the Saxon see, am requested by the abbots who, within the jurisdiction of our diocese, preside over the conventual assemblies of monks with pastoral anxiety, to give and to grant that portion of land called Meildulfesburh to Aldhelm the priest, for the purpose of leading a life according to strict rule in which place, indeed, from his earliest infancy and first initiation in the study of learning, he has been instructed in the liberal arts, and passed his days, nurtured in the bosom of the holy mother church; and on which account fraternal love appears principally to have conceived this request wherefore assenting to the petition of the aforesaid abbots, I willingly grant that place to him and his successors, who shall sedulously follow the laws of the holy institution. Done publicly near the river Bladon, this seventh of the kalends of September, in the year of our Lord's incarnation six hundred and seventy-two." But when the industry of the abbot was superadded to the kindness of the bishop, then the affairs of the monastery began to flourish exceedingly; then monks assembled on all sides; there was a general concourse to Aldhelm; some admiring the sanctity of his life, others the depth of his learning. For he was a man as unsophisticated in religion as multifarious in knowledge; whose piety surpassed even his reputation; and he had so fully imbibed the liberal arts, that he was wonderful in each of them, and unrivalled in all. I greatly err, if his works written on the subject of Virginity, than which, in my opinion, nothing can be more pleasing or more splendid, are not proofs of his immortal genius; although, such is the slothfulness of our times, they may excite disgust in some persons, not duly considering how modes of expression differ according to the customs of nations. The Greeks, for instance, express themselves involvedly, the Romans clearly, the Gauls gorgeously, the Angles turgidly. And truly, as it is pleasant to dwell on the graces of our ancestors and to animate our minds by their example, I would here, most willingly, unfold what painful labours this holy man encountered for the privileges of our church, and with what miracles he signalised his life, did not my avocations lead me elsewhere; and his noble acts appear clearer even to the eye of the purblind, than they can possibly be sketched by my pencil. The innumerable miracles which at this time take place at his tomb, manifest to the present race the sanctity of the life he passed. He has therefore his proper praise; he has the fame acquired by his merits: my history pursues its course. William of Malmesbury wrote a life of Aldhelm, in which he says that he was unequalled as an inventor and singer of English verse, and that a song ascribed to him, which was still familiar among the people in King Alfred's days, had been sung by him on the bridge between Malmesbury and the country, to prevent people from running away after mass was sung without waiting to hear the sermon. He began the song as a gleeman, with matter to which they listened for their pleasure, gradually blended words of Scripture with his jesting, and "so brought health to their minds when he could have done nothing if he had thought to manage them severely and by excommunication." It is not improbable that among extant First-English poems are some of Aldhelm's pieces, but there is no piece known to be his. Latin works remain, including the books in praise of virginity, to which William of Malmesbury referred. One is in prose, and after a long introduction in praise of purity proceeds to celebrate some holy men and many holy women who were distinguished for their exaltation of the soul over the flesh. In his poem, "De Laudibus Virginitatis," there is a shorter introduction, and it consists of a series of little celebrations, many of course honouring saints who had already been celebrated in his prose. Aldhelm's poem, "Of Maidens' Praise," begins thus with AN INVOCATION.' Almighty Maker, Master of the World, Who shap'st the starry Heaven's shining dome, These are the lines themselves : Omnipotens genitor, mundum ditione gubernans, Da pius auxilium, clemens, ut carmine possim, His In differing notes their many voices raise The central line of religious thought in the old First-English times, traceable from Cadmon to Aldhelm, whose work was commenced in Cadmon's lifetime, passes on from Aldhelm to Bede, who began his work in Aldhelm's lifetime, and was thirty-six years old when Aldhelm died. Bede was born in, or within a few months of, the year 673, about the time when Cædmon's Paraphrase was written. When he was a child, Benedict Biscop founded the twin monasteries of St. Peter and St. Paul at Wearmouth and Jarrow. St. Peter's at Wearmouth was first ready, and Bede entered it when he was seven years old. St. Paul's, on a bank of the Tyne about five miles from St. Peter's, was ready for opening when Bede was ten, and he was one of those inmates of St. Peter's who were removed to it. From the age of ten for the next fifty-two years, until his death in the year 735, Bede's home was in the Jarrow monastery, humbly fulfilling all his duties as a monk, and giving to useful studies all the time that was not spent in the exercises of religion. He compiled clear Latin treatises upon all branches of knowledge cultivated in his day, and digested into manuals the essence of the Scripture teaching of the Fathers. His labour supplied the best text-books for the monastery schools, which were the centres of education in all parts of the country, and the readiest aids for elder men to an exact study of the Bible. A book of his on the Nature of Things was for centuries the accepted manual for the learning of what was then known of the laws of nature; and his Ecclesiastical History, which ends with the year 731, is our first history of England. In it all information then to be obtained was collected and arranged with scholarly care and clearness, and this book is in our own day the chief source of information as to the events of which it treats. The chapter of it in which Cadmon's story is told has been already quoted." Bede's fame spread in his own day over the Christian world, yet he refused to be made abbot at Jarrow, because, he said, "the office demands household care, and household care brings with it distraction of mind, which hinders the pursuit of learning." At the end of his Ecclesiastical History of England, which he was finishing in the year 731, he wrote: Thus much of the ecclesiastical history of Britain, and more especially of the English nation, as far as I could learn either from the writings of the ancients, or the tradition of our ancestors, or of my own knowledge, has, with the help of God, been digested by me, Bede, the servant of God, and priest of the monastery of the blessed apostles, Peter and Paul, which is at Wearmouth and Jarrow; who being born in the territory of that same monastery, was given, at seven years of age, to be educated by the most reverend Abbot Benedict, and afterwards by Ceolfrid; and spending all the remaining time of my life in that monastery, I wholly applied myself to the study of Scripture, and amidst the observance of 2 On page 4. regular discipline, and the daily care of singing in the church, I always took delight in learning, teaching, and writing. In the nineteenth year of my age, I received deacon's orders, in the thirtieth, those of the priesthood, both of them by the ministry of the most reverend Bishop John, and by order of the Abbot Ceolfrid. From which time, till the fifty-ninth year of my age, I have made it my business, for the use of me and mine, to compile out of the works of the venerable Fathers, and to interpret and explain according to their meaning, these following pieces : The list of his works follows, to which he adds—— And now, I beseech thee, good Jesus, that to whom thou hast graciously granted sweetly to partake of the words of thy wisdom and knowledge, thou wilt also vouchsafe that he may some time or other come to thee, the fountain of all wisdom, and always appear before thy face, who livest and reignest world without end. Amen! Tradition explained the word "Venerable" joined always to the name of Bede, by saying that after his death one of his pupils sought to write his epitaph in a line of metrical Latin, and left space for the adjective he had not yet found to fit his verse while it expressed his meaning. "In this grave are the bones of Bede." "Hac sunt in fossa Bedæ ossa." The student slept over his unfinished line, and when he awoke, found that an angel had finished his verse with a word added in lines of light—“Hac sunt in fossa Bedæ VENERABILIS Ossa."1 A pupil of Bede, named Cuthbert, described to a fellow-student the death of their beloved master in a letter that is extant. It faithfully paints to us the religion of this humble, indefatigable scholar CUTHBERT'S LETTER ON THE DEATH OF VENERABLE BEDE. To his fellow-reader Cuthwin, beloved in Christ, Cuthbert, his schoolfellow; health for ever in the Lord. I have received with much pleasure the smali present which you sent me, and with much satisfaction read the letters of your devout erudition; wherein I found that masses and holy prayers are diligently celebrated by you for our father and master, Bede, whom God loved: this was what I principally desired, and therefore it is more pleasing, for the love of him (according to my capacity), in a few words to relate in what manner he departed this world, understanding that you also desire and ask the same. He was much troubled with shortness of breath, yet without pain, before the day of our Lord's resurrection, that is, about a fortnight, and thus he afterwards passed his life, cheerful and rejoicing, giving thanks to Almighty God every day and night, nay, every hour, till the day of our Lord's ascension, that is, the seventh before the kalends of June [twenty-sixth of May], and daily read lessons to us his disciples, and whatever remained of the day, he spent in singing psalms; he also passed all the night awake, in joy and thanksgiving, unless a short sleep prevented it; in which case he no sooner awoke than he presently repeated his wonted exercises, and ceased not to give thanks to God with uplifted hands. I declare with truth, that I have never seen with my eyes, nor heard with my ears, any man so earnest in giving thanks to the living God. 1 "In this grave are the bones of the Venerable Bede." "For the journey we must all take no man becomes wiser of thought than he needs be to consider before his going hence for what good or evil his soul shall be judged after its departure." He also sang antiphons according to our custom and his own, one of which is, "O glorious King, Lord of all power, who, triumphing this day, didst ascend above all the heavens; do not forsake us orphans; but send down upon us the Spirit of truth which was promised to us by the Father. Hallelujah." And when he came to that word," do not forsake us," he burst into tears, and wept much, and an hour after he began to repeat what he had commenced, and we, hearing it, mourned with him. By turns we read, and by turns we wept, nay, we wept always whilst we read. In such joy we passed the days of Lent, till the aforesaid day; and he rejoiced much, and gave God thanks, because he had been thought worthy to be so weakened. He often repeated, "That God scourgeth every son whom he receiveth;" and much more out of Holy Scripture; as also this sentence from St. Ambrose, "I have not lived so as to be ashamed to live among you; nor do I fear to die, because we have a gracious God." During these days he laboured to compose two works well worthy to be remembered, besides the lessons we had from him, and singing of Psalms; viz., he translated the Gospel of St. John as far as the words, "But what are they among so many," &c. [St. John vi. 9], into our own tongue for the benefit of the church; and some collections out of the Book of Notes of Bishop Isidorus, saying: "I will not have my pupils read a falsehood, nor labour therein without profit after my death." When the Tuesday before the ascension of our Lord came, he began to suffer still more in his breath, and a small swelling appeared in his feet; but he passed all that day and dictated cheerfully, and now and then among other things, said, "Go on quickly, I know not how long I shall hold out, and whether my Maker will not soon take me away." But to us he seemed very well to know the time of his departure. And so he spent the night, awake, in thanksgiving; and when the morning appeared, that is, Wednesday, he ordered us to write with all speed what he had begun; and this done, we walked till the third hour with the relics of saints, according to the custom of that day. There was one of us with him, who said to him, "Most dear master, there is still one chapter wanting: do you think it troublesome to be asked any more questions?" He answered, "It is no trouble. Take your pen, and make ready, and write fast." Which he did, but at the ninth hour he said to me, "I have some little articles of value in my chest, such as pepper, napkins, and incense run quickly, and bring the priests of our monastery to me, that I may distribute among them the gifts which God has bestowed on me. The rich in this world are bent on giving gold and silver and other precious things. But I, in charity, will joyfully give my brothers what God has given unto me." He spoke to every one of them, admonishing and entreating them that they would carefully say masses and prayers for him, which they readily promised; but they all mourned and wept, especially because he said, "They should no more see his face in this world." They rejoiced for that he said, "It is time that I return to Him who formed me out of nothing: I have lived long; my merciful Judge well foresaw my life for me; the time of my dissolution draws nigh; for I desire to die and to be with Christ." Having said much more, he passed the day joyfully till the evening; and the boy, above mentioned, said: “Dear master, there is yet one sentence not written." He answered, "Write quickly." Soon after, the boy said, "The sentence is now written." He replied, "It is well, you have said the truth. It is ended. Receive my head into your hands, for it is a great satisfaction to me to sit facing my holy place, where I was wont to pray, that I may also sitting call upon my Father." And thus on the pavement of his little cell, singing, Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost," when he had named the Holy Ghost, he breathed his last, and so departed to the heavenly kingdom. All who were present at the death of the blessed father, said they had never seen any other person expire with so much devotion, and in so tranquil a frame of mind. For as you have heard, so long as the soul animated his body, he never ceased to give thanks to the true and living God, with expanded hands exclaiming, "Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost!" with other spiritual ejaculations. But know this, dearest brother, that I could say much concerning him, if my want of learning did not cut short my discourse. Nevertheless, by the grace of God, I purpose shortly to write more concerning him; particularly of those things which I saw with my own eyes, and heard with my own ears. 64 The torch passed from Bede to Alcuin, born, probably, in the year of the death of Bede, A.D. 735. Alcuin, like Cadmon and Bede, was a North countryman. He was taken as an infant into the monastery at York, there trained to the service of the Church, and when his studious character had declared itself, he acquired charge over the minster school and the library, then one of the best in England. On the library wall Alcuin caused four lines to this effect to be inscribed in Latin verses of his own : ON A LIBRARY. "Small is the space which contains the gifts of heavenly Wisdom Which you, Reader, rejoice piously here to receive; Richer than richest gifts of the kings this treasure of Wisdom; Light, for the seeker of this, shines on the road to the Day." Charlemagne was in those days establishing his rule; and looking to First-English civilisation for the guidance of his own attempts to civilise his empire, he drew to his side the learned Yorkshireman as a sort of Minister of Public Instruction. Alcuin established discipline in the monasteries under Charlemagne's dominion, wrote text-books for their schools, attacked what he believed to be heresies of the time, was not less religious than Bede, though less gentle, for he was stern of opinion and energetic in administration, while recognising all the Christian graces, and labouring to temper even Charlemagne's delight in war with the spirit of mercy. His phrase for himself was "the humble Levite." He was in a position favourable in the highest degree to selfseeking, but there is not a trace in his life or writing of any thought that set advantage of his own before the well-being of humanity. He gathered to himself no riches, but spent shrewd energies, that would have enabled him to compass any low object of worldly ambition, in strenuous labour to serve God by establishing His kingdom in the hearts of men. Alcuin died in the year 804. One of his books (written in Latin) is a short treatise "On the Virtues and Vices," written for Wido, Margrave of Brittany, governor, therefore, of the province that contained the Abbey of Tours, in which Alcuin died. This treatise, written at Wido's request to help him in the government of his own life, began with Wisdom 1 The Four Virtues. He means the four Virtues called cardinal, which were Prudence or Wisdom, Justice, Courage, Temperance. In Plato's Republic the orders in a state are said to be three-Guardians, Auxiliaries, Producers; the virtues of a state three-Wisdom (quality of the Guardians), Courage (of the Auxiliaries), Temperance (of the Producers and of all); Justice, the fourth Virtue, being the Harmony of All. These virtues correspond also, said Plato, in the individual to things, as far as that is given to man; by which is to be understood what a man should avoid, or what he should do: and this is what is read in the Psalm, Depart from evil and do good. Justice is a nobility of the mind, ascribing to each thing its proper dignity. By this, the study of divinity, rights of humanity, just judgments, and the equity of our whole life may be preserved. Courage is a great patience of the mind and long suffering, with perseverance in good works, and victory over all kinds of vices. Temperance is the measure of the whole life, lest a man love or hate too much, but that a considerate attention temper all varieties of life. But to those who shall keep these in faith and charity, are promised the rewards of eternal glory by the truth itself in Christ Jesus. There is no better Prudence than that by which God is understood and feared according to the measure of the human mind, and his future judgment is believed. And what is more Just than to love God and keep his commandments? through whom, when we were not, we were created, and when we were lost we were created anew, and freed from the bondage of sin; who freely gave us all the good we have. And in this Courage what is better than to overcome the devil, and triumph over all his suggestions, to bear firmly in God's name all the troubles of the world? A very noble virtue is Temperance, in which stands among men all the honour of this life; that a man shall, in whatever cause, think, speak, and do all things with regard to his well-being. But these things are light and sweet to the man loving God, who says, Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly of heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls; for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Is it not better and happier to love God, who is eternal beauty, eternal fragrance, eternal rapture, eternal harmony, eternal sweetness, honour perpetual and happiness without an end, than to love the vain shows and disquiets of this age-the fair appearances, sweet savours, soft sounds, fragrant odours and things pleasant to the touch, the passing delights and honours of the world, that all recede and vanish as a flying shadow, deceive the lover of himself, and send him to eternal misery? But he who faithfully loves God and the Lord, unceasingly worships Him, and steadily fulfils His commandments, shall be made worthy to possess eternal glory with His angels. CHAPTER XXXVI.—Peroration of the Work. These things have I set down for you, my sweetest son, in short discourse, as you requested; that you may have them always in your sight as a little handbook, in which you may consider with yourself what you ought to avoid, or what to do, and be exhorted in each prosperous or adverse accident of this world how you should mount to the height of perfection. And do not let the quality of the lay habit or secular companionship deter you, as if in that dress you could not enter the gates of heaven. Since there are preached, equally to all, the blessings of the kingdom of God, so to every sex, age, and person equally, according to the height of merit, does the way into the kingdom of God lie open. There it is not distinguished who was in this world layman or clerk, rich man or poor, youth or elder, master or slave; but each one according to the merit of his deeds shall be crowned with eternal glory. Amen. three qualities-Wisdom to the Rational, Courage to the Spirited, Temperance to the Appetitive; while Injustice disturbs their Harmony. It is the Just aim alike of a Man and of a State to be Temperate, Brave, and Wise. In his Protagoras Plato added to these four cardinal virtues Holiness (oσorns); the evoé ßcia frequently mentioned as a virtue by the Socrates of Xenophon. Aristotle omitted this, distinctly separating Ethics from Religion. Apart from Cædmon's Paraphrase, the religious poetry of the First English is now chiefly in two collections: the one known as the "Vercelli Book," because it was discovered in 1823 by Dr. Friedrich Blume, in a monastery at Vercelli; the other known as the "Exeter Book," because it is in the Chapter Library of Exeter Cathedral, to which it was given, with other volumes, by Bishop Leofric between the years 1046 and 1073. The Exeter Book" begins with a fine poem, in nearly 3,400 lines, on Christ, by Cynewulf, who is represented also in the "Exeter Book" by a long poem on the Legend of St. Juliana, and in the "Vercelli Book" by nearly 3,000 lines on the Legend of St. Helen, or the Finding of the Cross. Jacob Grimm was probably right in suggesting that this poet was a Cynewulf, Bishop of Lindisfarne, who died in the year 780. He associated his name with his work by scattering the letters of it conspicuously over some short passage in each of his longer poems. Other metrical legends in these books are that of St. Andrew, in 3,444 There lines, and a shorter legend of St. Guthlac. are also two poems of a form that survived FirstEnglish times, Addresses of the Soul to the Body, several religious allegories, of the Phoenix, of the Panther, concerning whom a fable is applied to the Resurrection, and the Whale, "cruel and fierce to seafarers," who is described as a type of the Devil. Of him the fable is that he draws his prey by sending a sweet odour from his mouth. "Then suddenly around the prey the grim gums crash together. So it is to every man who often and negligently in this stormy world lets himself be deceived by sweet odour. Hell's latticed doors have not return or escape, or any outlet for those who enter, any more than the fishes sporting in ocean can turn back from the whale's grip." In the First-English artist's illustration to Cadmon's Fall of the Angels1 and other drawings of his, the open jaws of the whale represent the mouth of hell. We shall find this symbol retained in medieval literature. Among the shorter poems is one called "The Sea-farer." This builds an allegory upon our English desire towards the sea, and represents under the figure of seafaring the leaving earth behind and its unstable joys, for lonely watching and striving, against all cold discouragements and through all trial in the tumults of the spiritual storm, uncared for by those who choose earth and its pleasures. Let me try to translate |