62 Durham, Cathedral, by Rev. William Green well. 



Venerable Beda, as lie is commonly called. He wrote a ''Life 

 of St. Cuthbert," and he tberefore becomes very intimately con- 

 nected with, tbe great Saint of the North. Beda was a man of 

 high attainments and culture. He was not, perhaps, a man of 

 action, and I do not know but that he passed his whole life more 

 or less in seclusion, not mixing in the world. He was em- 

 phatically a student, and remarkable for great personal religion. 

 He is, indeed, an instance of, for his time, extraordinary learn- 

 ing, much simplicity of life and character, and of eminent and 

 unselfish piety. Who is there that can read the account of his 

 parting moments, and the story of his death without emotion ? 

 I think there can be nothing more affecting. He was a great 

 writer, and second to none as an Historian. His history con- 

 tains, no doubt, many things which modern investigation have 

 shewn to be incorrect. That arose, however, not from any fault 

 in his own mind, but because the data did not then exist from 

 which he could draw his facts. As an historian, he may almost 

 stand side by side with Herodotus. He was also a great 

 theologian, and indeed was well versed in every branch of 

 literature then known. He was truly a great man, and amongst 

 the most eminent of the scholars who lived at that time. We 

 possess at Durham not only the bones of Cuthbert, but also of 

 Beda. You will- see the tomb which encloses them in the Galilee. 

 He died at Jarrow, in A.D. 735, and was buried there. There 

 lived, however, in the monastery at Durham, a monk, Elfred, 

 who was greatly attached to the memory of St. Cuthbert, and 

 who had charge of his body. He thought that two such men 

 should rest together. Can we blame him for his wish, or for the 

 way in which he attained its fulfilment ? He took an opportunity 

 of carrying off the body from Jarrow, and removed it to Durham, 

 and here it still remains. 



I must now pass over a considerable period, and come to the 

 year 875, when our connection with Lindisfarne ceases to a cer- 

 tain extent. At that time the great Scandinavian invasions were 

 beginning to take place, and, among other places, the Danes 

 landed upon the coast of Northumbria, and harried the country. 

 The monks fled from Lindisfarne. I mentioned before that I 

 thought Lindisfarne had been selected by Aidan because of its 

 great resemblance to lona. I think there was probably another 

 reason, — its neighbourhood to the Castle of Bamburgh, the seat 



