22 Mr. Sutherland’s Account of Jersey. 
pyramids of shot and shells piled up at the embrazures. The gate 
stood open, inviting all who listed to enter, and native or foreigner 
might institute what scrutiny he pleased without interruption. 
This fearless exposition of our national strongholds to the inquisi- 
_torial eyes, whether of friend or foe, is peculiarly British. It is 
in the bravery and unfettered spirit of her people, not in walls and 
ramparts, that she trusts; and a war of twenty years has proved 
that her defences are of adamant. 
The hermitage of St. Elericus, the patron saint of Jersey, a holy 
man who suffered martyrdom at the time the pagan Normans in- 
vaded the island, is said to have occupied an isolated peak, quite 
detached from the fortifications, which commands a noble seaward 
view of the bay. A small arched building of rude masonry, having 
the semblance of a watch-tower, covers a sort of crypt excavated in 
the reck, into which, by dint of perseverance, a man might intro- 
duce himself ; and this, if we are to credit tradition, is the cave 
and bed of the ascetic. Here, like the inspired seer of Patmos, he 
could congratulate himself on having shaken off communion with 
mankind. Cliffs shattered by the warfare of the elements,—a 
restless and irresistible sea, intersected by perilous reefs,—and the 
blue firmament,—were the only visible objects to distract the so- 
lemn contemplations of his soul. The voluntary privations of the 
early anchorites have now fallen into disrepute, and he who strug- 
gles with temptations in the busy haunts of life, is understood to 
discharge more faithfully his temporal duties, than he who expiates 
past transgressions in a monastic cell. But granting this to be 
true, it does not follow that we are to overlook the advantage that 
accrued to mankind from the self-imposed penances of the early 
hermits. Austere and blameless in their lives, and actuated by a 
spirit as fervent as it was pure, they acquired an influence over 
the minds of unenlightened men, which no other mede of existence 
could have purchased, and by that means essentially contributed 
to the propagation of Christianity. The “ dweller of the rock” is 
a character now unknown, and even the appellation “ hermit” has 
in some measure lost its ancient signification; but the geuuine 
propagators of a blessed creed are nobly represented by those self- 
devoted men, who at the present day fearlessly cast themselves, 
- “without staff or scrip,” among barbarous tribes, to forward the 
great work of salvation. 
An Abbey, dedicated to Saint Elericus, once occupied the site 
of Elizabeth Castle. The fortress was founded on the ruins of 
this edifice in 1551, in the reign of Edward the Sixth, and ac- 
cording to tradition, all the bells in the island, with the reserva- 
tion of one to each church, were seized by authority, and ordered 
to be sold, to defray in part the expense of its erection. The con- 
fiscated metal was shipped for St. Malo, where it was expected 
to bring a high price, but the vessel foundered in leaving the har- 
bour, to the triumph of all good Catholics, who regarded the dis- 
aster as a special manifestation or divine wrath at the sacreligious 
spoliation. | 
