182 



the same issue to his endeavours, immediately after the passage above 

 cited. Tlius was the great harvest of conversion in Ireland reserved 

 for Saint Patrick.* 



It would be idle to occupy much space here with the litigated 

 discussion of his birth-place. Armoric Gaul, Scotland, Wales, 

 England, and Ireland, respectively contend for the honour. (" Non 

 nostrum est- afnyll i<f yi^ tantas componere lites.") The certain- 

 ties of his biography are sufficient for the purpose of this little sketch. 

 He was carried captive into Ireland, (" captivus apud Scotos,")-|- at 

 the age of sixteen, when wholly ignorant of the true God ; (" anno- 

 rum eram tunc fere sedecim, Deum verum ignorabam ; et Hiberione 

 in captivitate adductus sum;")|| and there it was, as he admits, that 

 Christianity revealed itself to him -,1^ while the employment, in which 

 he was occupied by his master, afforded ample opportunities for conti- 

 nued rumination, "quotidie pecora pascebam;"|| or as Nennius has it, 

 " porcarius illo erat."§ From this bondage he effected his escape, 

 and although he was again led into slavery, (" iterum post annos 

 non multos capturam dedi,")ll the same providential interposition 



* "Earn " (Hibemiam) says Erric of Auxerre, (De mirac. S. Germani, c. 12.) " doctrina, 

 miraculis nunc quoque et in perpetuam mirificis apostolatus sui illustrabat (Patricius) privi- 

 legiis;" and Nennius (Hist. Britt. c. 58,) goes more into detail, "Sanctus itaque Patricius 

 evangelium Christi • * * « praedicabat, virtutes apostolicas faciebat, coecos illuminabat, 

 leprosos mundabat, surdos audire faciebat, dsmones ex obsessis corporibus fugabat, mortuos 

 ix. suscitavit, captivos multos utriusque sexus suis propriis sumptibus redemit," which miracles 

 Matthew of Westminster (ad. ann. 491,) and others reiterate." 



■]- Nennius, Hist. Britt. c. 54, and vide Ann. Inisf. ad. ann. 388. 



X " Et ibi Dominus aperuit sensum incredulitatis meae, ut vel sero remunerarem delicta 

 mea, et ut converterer toto corde ad Dominum meum : qui respexit humilitalem meam, et miser- 

 tus est adolescentiae et ignorantiae meae, et custodivit me antequam saperem vel distinguerem 

 inter bonum et malum, et munivit me, et consolatus est me, ut pater filium." — Confessio. 



§ Hist. Britt c, 54. 



11 Confessio. 



