92 CHRONICLES OF CORNISH SAINTS. IV. — S. SAMSON. 



prayers for the blessing of a son. At an early age he was sent to 

 S. Iltutus, to be educated by him in the famous monastery of 

 Llanilltut, in Glamorganshire. There he remained till he had 

 grown to manhood, studying with great diligence, and constantly 

 rising higher and higher in spiritual attainments and in the loA^e 

 of the brethren. At the request of Iltutus, he received both 

 deacon's and priest's orders from the hands of Dubricius, Arch- 

 bishop of Caerleon," "a dove on each occasion," says the old 

 writer, '^ descending from heaven, and resting on his right 

 shoulder." There were in the monastery two nephews of Iltutus, 

 one a presbyter, and the other the butler of the community, who 

 were envious of Samson's popularity, and, fearing that he would 

 be chosen Abbot after the death of their uncle, they made an 

 attempt to poison him ; but, through Divine interposition, their 

 evil design was frustrated ; for though he drank the deadly cup 

 which they had prepared for him, he received no hurt. One of 

 them sul)sequently confessed the crime to the Saint, and with 

 grief and tears besought pardon. Soon afterwards, when the 

 monastery had become famous throughout the land, Samson with- 

 drew from it, with the consent of the Abbot, to a smaller and 

 stricter fraternity, which had been recently established on a 

 neighbouring island by an aged presbyter named Piro, He was 

 welcomed by the old man as though he were an angel sent from 

 Gou, and spent liis time there in religious exercises and manual 

 toil by dciy, and in profound study of the Scriptures hj night. 

 An incident, hoAvever, is recorded, which is very inconsistent with 

 the ascetic character of this monastery. In the life before us it is 

 tenderly characteiized as a " res inoinnaki" ; but all subsequent 

 biographers of the Saint seem to haA^e taken a graA^er A/ieAV of the 

 matter, for they pass it by in silence, none of them making any 

 allusion whateA^'er to it. '' One gioonij^ night," so runs the nar- 

 rative, " the A^enerable Abbot Pho took a solitary stroll into the 

 grounds of the monastery ; but, AAdiat is still more serious," adds 

 our author, '' he Avas in a very tijisy condition, and tumbled head- 

 long into a deep pit. The bretliren Avere alarmed by his loud 

 cries for help, and, hurrying to the spot, they dragged him out of 

 the hole in a hopeless state, and before morning he was dead." 

 Thereupon Samson is unanimously elected Abbot of the monastery. 



