GLASTONBURY ABBEY. 97 
of St. Paul himself; and ifso, how much more noble 
than the splendid fabrie which the christians of 
after days raised in its vicinity, the ruins of which, 
evenin their present state, declare how magnificent 
was the piety of our ancestors. 
However this may be, whether Glastonbury was 
honoured by the presence of the great Apostle of 
the Gentiles or no, certain it is, that christianity 
was introduced into this country at a very early 
period, and took firm and abiding root here. As 
early as a.n. 314, British bishops took part in 
the Couneil of Arles, and the flourishing state of 
religion in these islands is mentioned by many of 
the primitive christian writers. During the first 
three centuries our holy faith was of course exposed 
to the same fiery trial in this island, as in the rest of 
the christian world; but itis probable that Avalon, 
as it had received the word gladly, still held it 
firmly ; for in the fifth century, at no long interval 
from the first introduction of monachism into 
Britain by the Welshman Morgan, better known 
by the name of Pelagius,—we find the historian 
Gildas, driven from his retreat on the Holmes by 
the terrors of northern piracy, taking refuge at 
Glastonbury, and there ending, we will hope in 
peace, a life which the calamities of his country, 
the sins of her rulers, and the dangers of the church, 
appear to have combined to render miserable. Here 
too, about A. n. 533, St. Patrick, the apostle of 
Ireland, is said to have retired, together with a 
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