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Further

test.

And so of the Benedictine Literature from first to last. Ziegelbauer, who has just been mentioned, has written four folio volumes on the subject. Now one of them is devoted to a catalogue and an account of Benedictine authors;-of these, those on Scripture and Positive Theology occupy 110 pages; those on history, 300; those on scholastic theology, 12; those on polemics, 12; those on moral theology, 6. This surprising contrast may be an exaggeration of the fact, because there is much of repetition and digression in his survey, and his biographical notices vary in length; but, after all allowances for such accidental unfairness in the list, the result must surely be considered as strikingly confirmatory of the account which we have been giving.

But we must cut short an investigation, which, though Recapi imperfect for the illustration of its subject, is already tulation. long for the patience of the reader. All human works

are exposed to vicissitude and decay; and that the great Order of which we have been writing should in the lapse of thirteen centuries have furnished no instances of that general law, is the less to be expected, in proportion to the extent of its territory, the independence of its separate houses, and the local varieties of its constitution. To say that peace may engender selfishness, and humility become a cloak for indolence, and a country life may be an epicurean luxury, is only to enunciate the over-true maxim, that every virtue has a vice for its first cousin. Usum non tollit abusus; and the circumstance that Benedictine life admits of corruption into a mode of living which is not Benedictine, but its very contradictory, cannot surely be made an argument against its meritorious innocence, its resolute cheerfulness, and its strenuous tranquillity. We are told to be like little children; and where shall we find The a more striking instance than is here afforded us of that tines un- union of simplicity and reverence, that clear perception scientific of the unseen, yet recognition of the mysterious, which is and poe- the characteristic of the first years of human existence? tical,

Benedic

in their course of

life,

To the monk heaven was next door; he formed no plans, he had no cares; the ravens of his father Benedict were ever at his side. He "went forth" in his youth "to his work and to his labour" until the evening of life; if he lived a day longer, he did a day's work more; whether he lived many days or few, he laboured on to the end of them. He had no wish to see further in advance of his journey, than where he was to make his next stage. He ploughed

tecture,

in their

tures

and sowed, he prayed, he meditated, he studied, he wrote, he taught, and then he died and went to heaven. He in their made his way into the labyrinthine forest, and he cleared habitat, just so much of space as his dwelling required, suffering the high solemn trees and the deep pathless thicket to close him in. And when he began to build, his architecture was suggested by the scene, not the scientific and in their masterly conception of a great whole with many parts, as archithe Gothic style in a later age, but plain and inartificial,. the adaptation of received fashions to his own purpose, and an addition of chapel to chapel and a wayward growth of cloister, according to the occasion, with halfconcealed shrines and unexpected recesses, with paintings on the wall as by a second thought, with an absence of display and a wild, irregular beauty, like that of the woods by which he was at first surrounded. And when he would employ his mind, he turned to Scripture, the study of book of books, and there he found a special response to Scripthe peculiarities of his vocation; for there supernatural truths stand forth as the trees and flowers of Eden in a divine disorder, as some awful intricate garden or paradise, which he enjoyed the more because he could not catalogue its wonders. Next he read the Holy Fathers, and there again he recognized a like ungrudging pro- the Fafusion and careless wealth of precept and of consolation. thers, And when he began to compose, still he did so after that mode which nature and revelation had taught him, avoiding curious knowledge, content with incidental ignorance, passing from subject to subject with little regard to in their system, or care to penetrate beyond his own homestead of style of thought, and writing, not with the sharp logic of dis- compoputants, or the subtle analysis of philosophers, but with the one aim of reflecting in his pages, as in a faithful mirror, the words and works of the Almighty, as they confronted him, whether in Scripture and the Fathers, or in that "mighty maze" of deeds and events, which men call the world's history, but which to him was a Providential Dispensation.

sition.

Instance

Here the beautiful character in life and death of St. Bede naturally occurs to us, who is, in his person and his writings, as truly the pattern of a Benedictine, as is of St. St. Thomas of a Dominican; and with an extract from the Bede, letter of Cuthbert to Cuthwin concerning his last hours, which, familiarly as it is known, is always pleasant to read, we break off our subject for the present.

Account

last

days.

"He was exceedingly oppressed", says Cuthbert of St. of his Bede, "with shortness of breathing, though without pain, before Easter Day, for about a fortnight; but he rallied, and was full of joy and gladness, and gave thanks to Almighty God day and night and every hour, up to Ascension Day; and he gave us, his scholars, daily lectures, and passed the rest of the day in singing the Psalms, and the night too in joy and thanksgiving, except the scanty time which he gave to sleep. And as soon as he woke, he was busy in his customary way, and he never ceased with uplifted hands giving thanks to God. I solemnly protest, never have I seen or heard of any one who was so diligent in thanksgiving.

He

works to

"He sang that sentence of the blessed Apostle Paul, 'It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God', and many other passages of Scripture, in which he warned us to shake off the slumber of the soul, by anticipating our last hour. And he sang some verses of his own in English also, to the effect that no one could be too well prepared for his end, viz., in calling to mind, before he departs hence, what good or evil he has done, and how his judgment will lie. And he sang too the antiphons, of which one is, 'O King of Glory, Lord of Angels, who this day hast ascended in triumph above all the heavens, leave us not orphans, but send the promise of the Father upon us, the Spirit of Truth, alleluia'. And when he came to the words, 'leave us not orphans', he burst into tears, and wept much. He said, too, God scourgeth every son whom He receiveth', and, with St. Ambrose, I have not so lived as to be ashamed to have been among you, nor do I fear to die, for we have a good Lord'.

"In those days, besides our lectures and the Psalmody, he was engaged in two works; he was translating into the end. English the Gospel of St. John as far as the words, But what are these among so many', and some extracts from the Nota of Isidore. On the Tuesday before Ascension Day, he began to suffer still more in his breathing, and his feet were slightly swollen. However, he went through the day, dictating cheerfully, and he kept saying from time to time, Take down what I say quickly, for I know

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39 The Bollandists have not been able to determine which of St. Isidore's works is here intended; it is not wonderful that we have as little succeeded in the attempt.

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may

not how long I am to last, or whether my Maker will not take me soon'. He seemed to us to be quite aware of the time of his going, and he passed that night in giving of thanks, without sleeping. As soon as morning broke, that is on the Wednesday, he urged us to make haste with the writing which we had begun. We did so till nine o'clock, when we walked in procession with the Relics of the Saints, according to the usage of that day. But one of our party said to him, 'Dearest Master, one chapter is still wanting; can you bear our asking you about it?' He answered, 'I can bear it; take your pen and be ready, and write quickly'. At three o'clock he said to me, Run fast, and call our priests, that I divide among them some little gifts which I have in my box'. When I had done this in much agitation, he spoke to each, urging and intreating them all to make a point of saying Masses and prayers for him. Thus he passed the day in joy until the evening, when the above-named youth said to him, 'Dear Master, there is yet one sentence not written'; he answered, 'Write quickly'. Presently the youth said, 'Now it is written'; he replied, 'Good, thou hast said the truth; consummatum est; take He dies my head into thy hands, for it is very pleasant to me to working and givsit facing my old praying place, and thus to call upon my ing Father'. And so, on the floor of his cell, he sang, thanks, 'Glory be to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost', and, just as he had said 'Holy Ghost', he breathed his last, and went to the realms above".

It is remarkable that this flower of the Benedictine like St. school died on the same day as St. Philip Neri,-Thursday, Philip May 26; which in Bede's instance was Ascension Day, Neri. and in Philip's the feast of Corpus Christi. It was fitting that two saints should go to heaven together, whose mode of going thither was the same; both of them singing, praying, working, and guiding others in joy and exultation, till their very last hour.

JOHN H. NEWMAN.

[To be continued.]

50

Physical

causes

ART. II. On the influence which the Physical Geography, the Animal and Vegetable Productions, etc., of different regions exert upon the Languages, Mythology, and early Literature of Mankind, with reference to its employment as a test of Ethnological Hypotheses.

EYOND the ordinary phenomena of organic life,

the contact of soul and matter. Placed upon the everchanging surface of the globe, and composed, physically speaking, of the same materials as that globe, and affording in their arrangement the example of the greatest complexity of organization known, man must necessarily be subject to all the agencies which operate upon matter. That the different characters of the food, clothing, amusements, and tastes of different peoples, depend in a influence marked degree upon the climate, geographical position, the food, and physical conformation of each country, will, we are sure, be at once conceded. So doubtless will also be the proposition, that the size, strength, colour, and the outlines of the external form of men, must in some measure be influenced by the action of surrounding nature. Might we not also add, that the diseases to which mankind is subject change in kind and in intensity within certain limits, when the physical conditions under which life is carried on are altered?

etc., of

man

kind,

and also

the mind.

The above propositions being admitted, the corollary the ope- to them,-that the operations of the mind itself must be rations of likewise more or less influenced by the action of the physical agencies which govern the life of our bodies,must, we think, be accepted as true. But how is this influence exerted, to what extent does it act, and how far has it operated in bringing about the phenomena recorded in the history of nations? These are among the greatest questions which can engage the attention of philosophers, alike important as the subjects of abstract Pheno- science and of every-day life. In the action of history, history leaving out of consideration the direct government of the result Providence, we see the results of two sets of causes, of of two very different value it is true, but both requiring nevertheless to be carefully studied: 1. the absolute action of the mind; and 2. the disturbing action of the physical causes above mentioned. Unless the philosophic historian

mena of

sets of

causes.

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