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on such expressions as 'the conjecture which I venture to interpolate,' this provisional working hypothesis,' 'I conjecture, though I cannot prove,' imagination may picture,' and the like. The exercise of the imagination is one of the highest privileges of humanity, and we would not for a moment desire to deny this privilege to a commentator or a biographer. But we leave it to the average English reader' and to others to decide whether such surmises as the following are likely to add to our knowledge of the great poet, or to our appreciation of his poem.

'I find in Dante, by this hypothesis' [namely, the 'provisional working hypothesis,' that the poet exile and Cardinal da Prato were in close correspondence as chief conspirators in the scheme for securing the election of Henry of Luxemburg], 'the master mind that was working behind the scenes, and pulling the wires that moved the puppets in the great drama which was now unfolding' (Life, p. xcviii).

Or take the following:

'I may seem to be unduly influenced by local prepossessions, but to me it does not seem an incredible hypothesis that when Dante was in England he may have been attracted by the fame of Peter Lightfoot, the maker of the clock, to visit Glastonbury. . . and may have worshipped within the walls of my own cathedral' (ib. p. lviii).

Strange indeed is ofttimes the phenomenon of a human mind under the influence of' working hypotheses'!

ART. VIII. THE CODEX AMIATINUS, WHEN AND WHERE WRITTEN.

1. The Guardian, February 16, March 2. (London, 1887.) 2. The Academy, February 26, March 5. (London, 1887.) 3. Venerabilis Beda Opera Historica ad fidem Codicum Manuscriptorum recensuit JOSEPHUS STEVENSON. (English Historical Society.)

Vita beatorum Abbatum, Benedicti, Ceolfridi, &c.

Historia Abbatum Gyrvensium, Auctore anonymo (Appendix). (London, 1841.)

THERE is in the Laurentian or Mediceo-Laurentian Library at Florence a manuscript of the whole Bible in Latin, which has

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long been recognized by critical scholars as the oldest 1 and best copy of the Latin version of St. Jerome, commonly called the Vulgate. It is in fact one of the chief ornaments of that collection. It has recently been established beyond any doubt that this book was written at Wearmouth or Jarrow under the superintendence of the Abbat Ceolfrid, the instructor of the Venerable Bede, and that it was intended by the abbat as a gift to the see of St. Peter at Rome. We propose in the following pages to give a brief narrative of the various steps by which this discovery has been made, passing by for the present all critical details. Our readers will find it to be truly a marvellous history. It may not be amiss, however, first to give some account of St. Ceolfrid himself, whose history is most interesting, and in some passages affecting. There are two authorities for his life besides what we are told concerning him in Bede's Ecclesiastical History? The first is Bede's own most beautiful work, The Lives of the Abbats of Wearmouth and Jarrow. The second is an anonymous tract, evidently written by a monk of Wearmouth or Jarrow. It also is inscribed in printed copies The Lives of the Abbats, but it is really a Life of St. Ceolfrid, the others being noticed only so far as their history was connected with his.1 It supplies some particulars not to be found in Bede.

1I.e. of the whole Bible; as to the New Testament, the Codex Fuldensis is older.

2 Hist. Eccl. iv. 18; v. 21, 24.

3 Bede's Lives of the Abbats is printed in Dr. Smith's edition of Bede's Historical Works, 1722; in the edition of the Hist. Works published by the English Historical Society, edited by Jos. Stevenson, 1841; in the Works of the Venerable Bede, edited by Dr. Giles, 1843; and in Dr. Hussey's edition of the Hist. Eccl., 1846.

4 The anonymous Life of St. Ceolfrid was first printed in the appendix to the English Historical Society's edition of the Hist. Works from Harleian MS. No. 3020, and is reprinted by Dr. Giles in his appendix. Mr. Stevenson asserts that it was the source from which the Venerable Bede derived much of his information for his Lives of the Abbats. It is difficult to understand how anyone acquainted with both Lives could say So. Mr. S. seems to have been thinking of what is commonly said of Bede's Life of St. Cuthbert and the anonymous Life by a monk of Lindisfarne. But the two cases are widely different. St. Cuthbert lived at a considerable distance from Jarrow, and died when Bede was very young. Bede spent all his life after the age of seven in the monastery of Jarrow; he must have been an eye and ear witness of most of what he sets down, and it is not easy to see what need he had for help from anyone in recording events of which he could most emphatically say, were he so inclined, 'quorum pars magna fui.' All that he could not be acquainted with from personal knowledge is the early history of St. Benedict Biscop, of which the anonymous writer says nothing. On the other hand, the latter gives a brief account of the early life of St. Ceolfrid, of which Bede says nothing. The anonymous Life has all the appearance of a sermon

St. Ceolfrid, whose name, Alban Butler says,' is the same as Galfrid, Gaufrid, or Geoffrey, was born of noble and religious parents about the year 642, seven years after the arrival of St. Aidan, about thirty before the birth of his illustrious pupil the Venerable Bede. His father was a 'comes,' or ealdorman, high in the service of the King, and was even more distinguished by his piety and his kindness to the poor than by his social position. On one occasion,3 in expectation of a visit from the King, he had prepared a magnificent banquet; but the exigencies of war having called the King away in another direction, all his costly preparations seemed to be rendered useless. To most men this would have been a dire disappointment; but, far from murmuring, the good man gave thanks to Him who ordereth all things rightly, then called together the poor and the afflicted from far and near, and offered the banquet, which he had prepared for his earthly sovereign, to the King of Heaven in the persons of His poor members. He waited on the men himself, while his wife served the women, thus affording a notable instance of the change the Gospel had wrought, even so soon, in our fierce and haughty forefathers. From his early days Ceolfrid had striven to lead a godly life, and at the age of eighteen he resolved to give himself up entirely to the service of God. It is hardly necessary to say that in those rough days, when war was almost the only employment for a layman, especially for a nobleman, a monastery was the only resource for a devout youth. At Gilling, near Richmond, in Yorkshire, there was a monastery founded by King Oswy, at the instance of his gentle queen, Eanfleda, as an act of penitence for the foul murder of King Oswin. Till recently this house had been under the charge of Cynifrid, Ceolfrid's elder brother; but zeal in the pursuit of Divine learning had drawn Cynifrid away to Ireland. His successor was his kinsman Tunberct, afterwards first Bishop of Hexham. Hither it was that Ceolfrid directed his steps. Perhaps we may infer from this that he was a native of Yorkshire. Being kindly received by his kinsman, Ceolfrid gave himself up with all his energy to reading, working, and to learning his monastic duties. After a time Tunberct and for the Natalitia of the saint. The writer begins with a text, and a most appropriate one, Heb. xiii. 7, and his subject is St. Ceolfrid alone, others being mentioned only incidentally.

References are here made to the English Historical Society's edition. B. H. E. Bede's Ecclesiastical History; B. V. A. = Bede's Lives of the Abbats; V. A. = Anonymous Life of St. Ceolfrid.

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1 Lives of the Saints, September 25.

3 Ibid. 331.

2 V. A. 318.
4. Ibid. 318.

Ceolfrid, with some others of the brethren, were invited 1 by the famous Wilfrid, then Bishop of York, to his monastery at Ripon, and there in his twenty-seventh year Ceolfrid was ordained priest by Wilfrid. He now paid a visit to Kent, to perfect himself in the monastic rule and the duties of the priesthood. He also visited with a like purpose the Abbat Botulf2 at Ikanhoe, in Lincolnshire, from whom the town of Boston (Botulf's Town) derives its name—a man, we are told, who was everywhere famous for his singularly good life as well as for his learning, ' a man full of the Holy Spirit.' Having profited as much as he could by a short visit, Ceolfrid returned home; and thinking more of the duty of humility than of his worldly rank, of his learning, or of his station as a priest, he hesitated not to employ himself in the menial services of the monastery. He became the baker of the community, and was employed in winnowing corn, in kindling and cleansing the oven, and baking the bread. So were the English of that day, who thought all such work degrading, taught the dignity of labour, when they saw a man of noble birth, of great learning, and a priest, so employing himself. While thus engaged, he was at the same time most assiduous in learning and practising all the duties of the priesthood; and in time, on account of his learning, the fervour of his godly zeal in instructing the ignorant, and dealing wisely with the obstinate, he was appointed to a high charge in the monastery.

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It was about this time that Benedict Biscop was planning the foundation of the famous Abbey of Wearmouth. This remarkable man had three times made a journey to Rome, and had, in his visits to no less than seventeen most ancient and famous monasteries, acquainted himself with the rules and the details of the monastic life. In these journeys Benedict had not only seen much that was interesting and instructive, but he had also collected great numbers of books and relics and ecclesiastical ornaments. When he came home he gave an account of all to King Ecgfrid, who was so much pleased with what Benedict had to tell him, and to show him, that he made him a large grant of land at the mouth of the river Wear, on which to build a monastery. Upon this 2 Ibid.

V. A. 319.

3 Benedict had really been four times at Rome. In his second journey he returned as far as Lerins, where he stayed some time and received the tonsure, and then went back to Rome. Bede reckons the journeys as 'from Britain,' 'de Brittania Romam.' He made in all five journeys, or six according as the second from Britain, during which he was twice at Rome, is counted as one or as two.

4 B. V. A. 150; V. A. 320.

5 Ibid. 143.

Benedict, having heard much of Ceolfrid's learning and devotion, and skill in government, sought and obtained him from Wilfrid as a fellow worker in his new enterprise.' Ceolfrid therefore removed to Wearmouth. After the monastery was erected, Benedict crossed the sea to Gaul to find masons to build a church to be named in honour of St. Peter. During his absence Ceolfrid began to tire of his work. Some young noblemen in the monastery gave him a great deal of trouble by their intractability and reluctance to submit to regular discipline. So he gave up his charge and withdrew to Ripon, whence he had come. Benedict, however, on his return followed him, and prevailed on him to come back. Benedict brought not only masons from Gaul,2 but also workers in glass, who, besides glazing the windows of the church, taught the English the art of working in glass, of which they had previously been entirely ignorant.3

When St. Peter's Church was finished, Benedict, taking Ceolfrid with him, set out on a fourth journey to Rome.1 Here Ceolfrid had the opportunity of vastly increasing his stores of knowledge. They returned laden with books, pictures, and ecclesiastical furniture, bringing with them also John, the 'archicantor,' or precentor, of St. Peter's at Rome, that he might introduce the knowledge of church music into the north of England.

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And now Ecgfrid made a further donation of land at the mouth of the Tyne, for the foundation of a new monastery. This was Jarrow, and thither Ceolfrid was sent with a number of monks to begin the new establishment, which, we are constantly reminded, was not a separate community, but formed part of the one society in two places. When the monastery had been built at Jarrow, and a church, which was named in honour of St. Paul, as the church of Wearmouth had been in honour of St. Peter, Benedict, designing a fifth journey to Rome, appointed Ceolfrid to the charge of Jarrow, and a young nobleman named Eosterwini, his own cousin, to that of Wearmouth. He then set out for Rome, and in due time came back, as usual, with a rich cargo of books, and pictures, and church furniture for the adornment of his two monasteries. Heavy tidings awaited him on

1 V. A. 320.

2 B. V. A. 143.

3 Since it was thus introduced by Benedict Biscop the manufacture of glass has been a leading industry on the spot. It is now fast retiring to Belgium. Was Belgium the part of Gaul from which Benedict fetched it?

▲ V. A. 321.

5 B. V. A. 145; V. A. 322.

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