A.D . 465.] VISION OF VORTIGERN. 15 assuring me that it would then stand." " Command," said Merlin, " thy magicians to come before me, and I will convict them of inventing lies; for, not knowing what is under the foundation of thy work, they thought to satisfy thee by falsehood. But call thy workmen, my lord Ο king, and command them to dig into the earth, and thou shalt discover a pool underneath, which is the cause that thy work does not stand ;" which being done, it was found exactly as Merlin had said. Whereupon Merlin turned to the magicians and said, " Tell me, now, ye base sycophants, what is there lying at the bottom of the pool ?" To this they made no reply, on which he turned to the king and said, " Give orders that the pool be drained, and thou wilt find at the bottom two hollow stones with two dragons asleep in them." On the faith of his words, the king commanded the pool to be drained, when, to the astonishment of all, what Merlin had asserted was found to be the truth. How Victorinus framed a cycle of Easter. Γη the year of grace 465, Hilary sat in the Roman chair six years, three months, and ten days ; after which it remained vacant for ten days. A t his request, Victorinus drew up a cycle of Easter extending through five hundred and thirty-two years. The prophecy of Merlin. At that time, while king Vortigem was sitting by the bank of the pool that had been drained, the two dragons came forth; one of them was white, the other red. As soon as they approached each other, they commenced a dreadful combat, breathing forth flames. The white dragon had the better of the contest, and pursued the red one unto the margin of the pool, when the latter, indignant at the repulse, turned on the white dragon and forced him to retire. While they were thus fighting, the king commanded Merlin Ambrosius to say what the battle between the dragons meant. Whereupon, bursting into tears, and full of the spirit of prophecy, he thus began :—" Woe to the red dragon, for his banishment approaches ! The white dragon, which signifies the Saxons, whom thou hast invited over, shall possess his caverns;