he said, these his labours should be found profitable to many, it was his hope, that, together with those whom he had thus profited, he should himself receive many things in reward from the Lord: but, even were it otherwise, the labour would not be in vain, seeing that it would have preserved him from idleness, and from all vain things during the time in which he had been thus* employed. That Bede delighted in his occupation is certain; no man would have undertaken and persevered through such tasks, unless he had found a reward in the labour itself. He says, that because the annotations of the fathers were so copious that they could be obtained by none but the rich, and so profound that they could be understood by the learned only, Acca had charged him to gather from their writings, as from the fields of paradise, such things as might be serviceable for the feeble. Yet he entered upon these long compilations with a feeling of dismay† at the labour which they required, and when he had finished one of them‡ felt like a man who lays down a heavy burden, * Ib. 168. † Operis immensitate perterritus.—t. v. 625. Tandem relevatus laboriosæ explanationis onere, ac veluti deposito grave fasce respirans.-t. iv. 633. having reached his place of rest. It appears also that though Bede had no temporal cares to distract his attention, the cloister, even in those early days, was not always the abode of peace. Convents had their politics and their intrigues as well as courts,... perhaps more of them in that age; and the election of an Abbot was more frequently a matter of contention than the succession to a kingdom. He complains of such affairs, both as interrupting his studies, and disturbing the rest which he would some * t. v. 625. Obstrepentium causarum (quas tu melius nósti) necessitate præpeditus: He is addressing Bishop Acca. "Tertio in beatum Samuclem completo volumine, putabam me aliquandiu reparatá per quietum meditandi vel scribendi voluptate, sic demum ad inchoationem quarti manum esse missurum. Verum hæc eadem mihi quies, si tamen quies dicenda est, inopinata mentis anxietas, prolixior multo quàm decreveram, nová circunstantium rerum mutatione pervenit; maximè discessu Abbatis mei reverendissimi, qui post longam monasterialis curæ observantiam, subitus Romam adire, atque inter loca beatorum Apostolorum ac Martyrum Christi corporibus sacra, extremum senex halitum reddere disponendo, non parvá commissorum sibi animos, et eo majore, quo improvisa conturbatione stupefecit. Sed qui Moysi longævo ab humanis rebus tollendo Jesus Naue in ducatum, qui Eleazarum in sacerdotium Aaron patri substituit, ipse provecto ætate Ceolfrido, ad beatorum Apostolorum limina sancta properanti, Huetberthum juvenem, cui amor studiumque pietatis jam olim Eusebii cognomen indidit, ad regendas sacerdotio ducatuque spiritali fidelium animas Abbatis vice substituit. Ejusdemque substitutionis gradum post elec times fain have allowed himself, in order that his mind might come refreshed and with recovered vigour to new undertakings.. When Bede was advanced in years, he composed a Book of Retractations, after the example of St. Augustine; .. it might have been well for the world if the Saint had been more frequently followed in this than in some of his opinions. Bede's book applies only to his Commentary upon the Acts of the Apostles, and consists chiefly of such criticisms as a comparison of the original with the Latin versions enabled him to make. But he warns the reader to take these remarks merely as critical observations, for which they are offered; and he requests him not to insert any of them in his own book as emendations, unless he should find them supported by some older manuscript of the Latin. In another of his tworks he requests, that whosoever may think it worth while to transcribe it, will carefully preserve the marginal notations. In such labours the whole of his long life was tionem fraternam sud per tuum, dilectissime Antistes, officium benedictione confirmavi. Redeunte temporum statu tranquilliore, redit et mihi otium pariter ac delectatio mirabilia scripturæ sanctæ totá animá solerti intentione scrutandi.—t. iv. 293. * t. iv. p. 1. + t. v. p. 92. employed; nor did he discontinue them till he was in the very act of death. At last, when he had attained a good old age, he was afflicted, about a fortnight before Easter, with a shortness of breath, unaccompanied with other pain, but sufficient to render his sleep short and broken, and to indicate approaching dissolution. Of this he was well aware, as were his pupils also ; sometimes when they were reading to him they could not refrain from bursting into tears, and sometimes wept while they read. He himself often expressed a thankfulness for his sufferings, saying, that God chasteneth whom he loveth; and frequently he repeated the saying of St. Ambrose,.."I have not so lived as that I should be ashamed to remain among you; but neither do I fear to die, for we have a merciful Lord." At this time he was employed upon two works; the one was a collection of extracts from St. Isidore, the other a translation of St. John's Gospel into the Anglo-Saxon tongue. With these works he went on notwithstanding his illness, and continued to give daily lessons as usual to his pupils. On the Tuesday before Ascension day his feet began to swell, his sickness became more distressing, and his breathing more difficult: but he was cheerful, and persisted in teaching or in dictating all that day, saying sometimes, be diligent, for I know not how long I may last. The following night he had no sleep, but past it wholly in prayer and thanksgiving. Very early in the morning he called his young men to their tasks, that they might complete the version upon which he was engaged. They were employed with him thus till nine o'clock, and then left him, as the office of the day required, to go in procession with the relics: one of them, however, remained, because a chapter of the translation was not finished, and though the youth observed that it must be painful for him to dictate, Bede bade him take his pen and write. About three in the afternoon he called Wilberth, (the disciple by whom the details of his illness and death were recorded,) and told him to fetch a little box, in which he kept a few precious things, such as pepper, incense, and *oraries, that he might * Oraria. The meaning of the word in this place is doubtful. In its common acceptation it simply means a handkerchief to wipe the face-a cleanly synonyme for sudarium. In its ecclesiastical sense it is derived ab orando, and signifies a scarf or tippet, worn by deacons on the left shoulder, and on both by priests and the higher clergy. (Bingham, B. 13. c. 8. § 2.) But it is evident that neither of these things can be intended here, for they would not have been kept among things of value in a casket.. quædam pretiosa in capsella. Cressy says, "some interpret it handkerchiefs, others stoles; and some likewise chaplets, for numbering of prayers, which, say they, therefore |