DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.6913#0105
LIXDISFARN MONASTERY, DURHAM.
55
truth excites little surprise ; and yet the glory of the one is perishable, while that of
the other is eternal. The man who can voluntarily and continually endure solitude
*s considered in rude ages as something more than mortal; and a philosopher has
said, "that he must be either a god or a wild beast." By alternate pleading, fast-
ing, and retirement, Cuthbert had gained such an influence over the minds of his
hearers, as to acquire the fame of possessing supernatural powers. For twelve years
he was Abbot of Lindisfarn ; but thinking that life too public and luxurious, he
retired to the seclusion of the Farn Islands, in one of which he built himself a cell,
surrounded with a wall, which cut him off from the sight of every thing but heaven ;
ar>d yet this barren spot soon became fruitful, solely from his presence : the evil
spirits with which it was formerly haunted were bound in eternal darkness, and he
communed only with the angels of light: such are the effects of faith on the minds
°f the ignorant. In this solitude he lived for nine years, a more than Pythagorean
probation, when he was called by King ^Egfrid to the episcopal chair ; but, like a
true saint, he refused the proffered dignity, and set the example of Nolo Episcopari,
which his successors have followed, though perhaps not with equal sincerity. The
King, determining to overcome his pious scruples, sailed over to the island, accom-
panied by many nobles and religious men; and at length the coy, reluctant saint,
yielded to the tears, the prayers, and the entreaties of his sovereign, who, kneeling
before him, adjured him in the name, and for the sake of God, to take upon him the
§acred office. Whether all this reluctance was real or pretended, it becomes not us,
nor any other mortal, at this distance of time, nor at any time, to determine ; every
man's motives are best known to himself; the most that other men can venture on is
to conjecture, and our conjectures should always be charitable at least.
On the 7th of April, 685, St. Cuthbert was consecrated at York Bishop of Lindis-
farn, and King /Egfrid was present at his consecration. The short period of two years
which intervened between this event and his decease, was employed, we are told, in
acts of charity and devotion ; nor was he altogether unmindful of temporal concerns,
for he obtained from King Almfrid, a learned and pious monarch, several munificent
grants of land, which extended the authority and increased the revenues of the see :
the value of these and other gifts was also not a little enhanced by the immunities
with which they were attended; the whole was called St. Cuthbert's patrimony, and
forms the principal wealth and power of the present Bishopric of Durham.
To relate all the marvellous acts of this singular man, would swell this brief his-
tory to a volume : suffice it to say, that no saint ever so gloriously vanquished the
55
truth excites little surprise ; and yet the glory of the one is perishable, while that of
the other is eternal. The man who can voluntarily and continually endure solitude
*s considered in rude ages as something more than mortal; and a philosopher has
said, "that he must be either a god or a wild beast." By alternate pleading, fast-
ing, and retirement, Cuthbert had gained such an influence over the minds of his
hearers, as to acquire the fame of possessing supernatural powers. For twelve years
he was Abbot of Lindisfarn ; but thinking that life too public and luxurious, he
retired to the seclusion of the Farn Islands, in one of which he built himself a cell,
surrounded with a wall, which cut him off from the sight of every thing but heaven ;
ar>d yet this barren spot soon became fruitful, solely from his presence : the evil
spirits with which it was formerly haunted were bound in eternal darkness, and he
communed only with the angels of light: such are the effects of faith on the minds
°f the ignorant. In this solitude he lived for nine years, a more than Pythagorean
probation, when he was called by King ^Egfrid to the episcopal chair ; but, like a
true saint, he refused the proffered dignity, and set the example of Nolo Episcopari,
which his successors have followed, though perhaps not with equal sincerity. The
King, determining to overcome his pious scruples, sailed over to the island, accom-
panied by many nobles and religious men; and at length the coy, reluctant saint,
yielded to the tears, the prayers, and the entreaties of his sovereign, who, kneeling
before him, adjured him in the name, and for the sake of God, to take upon him the
§acred office. Whether all this reluctance was real or pretended, it becomes not us,
nor any other mortal, at this distance of time, nor at any time, to determine ; every
man's motives are best known to himself; the most that other men can venture on is
to conjecture, and our conjectures should always be charitable at least.
On the 7th of April, 685, St. Cuthbert was consecrated at York Bishop of Lindis-
farn, and King /Egfrid was present at his consecration. The short period of two years
which intervened between this event and his decease, was employed, we are told, in
acts of charity and devotion ; nor was he altogether unmindful of temporal concerns,
for he obtained from King Almfrid, a learned and pious monarch, several munificent
grants of land, which extended the authority and increased the revenues of the see :
the value of these and other gifts was also not a little enhanced by the immunities
with which they were attended; the whole was called St. Cuthbert's patrimony, and
forms the principal wealth and power of the present Bishopric of Durham.
To relate all the marvellous acts of this singular man, would swell this brief his-
tory to a volume : suffice it to say, that no saint ever so gloriously vanquished the