Saint Patrick | Page 5

sight.
As Patrick grew older, wonders multiplied. He came as an apostle of
the faith to Strangford Lough. Dichu, the prince of that province,
forewarned by the Druids, raised his sword at Patrick; but instantly his
hand was fixed in the air, as if carved of stone; then light came to
Dichu's soul, and from a foe he became a loving disciple.
Then comes the story of the fast upon the mountain. It was on the
height ever since called Cruachan Patrick, which looks to the north
upon Clew Bay, and to the west on the waters of the Atlantic. It was
Shrove Saturday, a year and a little more from the apostle's first landing
in Ireland. Already he had carried the gospel from the eastern to the
western sea. But his spirit longed for the souls of the whole Irish nation.
Upon the mountain he knelt in prayer, and as he prayed, his faith and
his demands assumed gigantic proportions. An angel came down and
addressed him. God could not grant his requests, the message ran, they
were too great. "Is that his decision?" asked Patrick. "It is," said the
angel. "It may be his," said Patrick, "it is not mine; for my decision is
not to leave this cruachan until my demands are granted."

The angel departed. For forty days and forty nights Patrick fasted and
prayed amid sore temptations. The blessing must fall upon all his poor
people of Erin. As he prayed, he wept, and his cowl was drenched with
his tears.
At last the angel returned and proposed a compromise. The vast
Atlantic lay before them. Patrick might have as many souls as would
cover its expanse as far as his eyes could reach. But he was not satisfied
with that; his eyes, he said, could not reach very far over those heaving
waters; he must have, in addition, a multitude vast enough to cover the
land that lay between him and the sea. The angel yielded, and now bade
him leave the mountain. But Patrick would not. "I have been
tormented," he said, "and I must be gratified; and unless my prayers are
granted I will not leave this cruachan while I live; and after my death
there shall be here a care-taker for me."
The angel departed. Patrick went to his offering.
At evening the angel returned. "How am I answered?" asked Patrick.
"Thus," said the angel: "all creatures, visible and invisible, including
the Twelve Apostles, have entreated for thee,--and they have obtained.
Strike thy bell and fall upon thy knees: for the blessing shall be on all
Erin, both living and dead." "A blessing on the bountiful King that hath
given," said Patrick; "now will I leave the cruachan."
It was on Holy Thursday that he came down from the mountain and
returned to his people.

III.
One afternoon at about this time you might have seen Mr. Cole, the
missionary of the Day-Star,--a small, lithe man, with a red
beard,--making his way up town. He walked rapidly, as he always did,
for he was a busy man.
He was an exceedingly busy man. During the past year, as was shown
by his printed report, he had made 2,014 calls, or five and one-half calls

a day; he had read the Scriptures in families 792 times; he had
distributed 931,456 pages of religious literature; he had conversed on
religious topics with 3,918 persons, or ten and seven-tenths persons per
day, Sabbaths included. It was perhaps because he was so busy that
there was complaint sometimes that he mixed matters and took things
upon his shoulders which belonged to others.
Mr. Cole's rapid pace soon brought him to a broad and pleasant
cross-street; he went up the high steps of one of the houses, rang the
bell, and was admitted.
Rev. Mr. Martin was in his study, and the missionary was shown up.
Precisely what the conversation was has not been reported; but certain
it is that the next day after Mr. Cole's call, Mr. Martin began to prepare
himself for an address upon the life of Saint Patrick. It was an entirely
new topic to him; but he soon found himself in the full current of the
stream, considering--First, did such a man really exist, or is Saint
Patrick a mere myth, floating in the imagination of the Irish people?
Second, what was his nationality? Third, where was he born, and,
herein, how are we to reconcile his escape from captivity in 493, with
his visit to his kinsman, Saint Martin of Tours, after his escape from
captivity, in 490? Fourth, to what age did he live? Fifth,--and so forth.
Mr. Martin had begun his labors by taking down his encyclopaedia and
such books of reference as he had thought could help him,