A:D. 714.] LIFE OF ST. GUTHLAC. 133 of Christ to the very jaws of hell. On beholding the torments of hell, he forgot all the pains he had suffered in comparison of those which were far greater. They then began to insult the saint, and said, " See, we have power to thrust thee into the midst of these pains, where thou will suffer eternal punishment for thy sins." " Fie upon you," said he, " ye sons of darkness ; if ye possess this power, why do ye delay ?" As they were preparing to do so, behold !' St. Bartholomew came suddenly upon them with great splendor, and commanded the demons straightway to take back the servant of God to his own habitation ; they fulfilled the command of the apostle quicker than it was spoken ; and whilst he was being carried through the air, a voice was heard as of persons singing, " The saints shall advance from virtue to virtue ; the God of gods shall be seen in Sion." It happened in the days of Ceolred, king of the Mercians, that the blessed Guthlac seemed to hear about the time of dawn an uproar of riotous people ; on which the man of God went forth from his cell, and perceived a multitude of people who talked in the British tongue, approaching his abode, which he presently saw to be in flames. .As he hastened to its rescue, he was caught by the arms and lifted up into the air. At length he perceived it to be a snare of the enemy, and began to say this verse of the psalm, " The Lord is my helper, and I will set my enemies at naught." A t another time, while engaged in nightly prayer, he felt the island tremble with a great noise, and presently he heard a sound as of herds rushing along, and straightway he saw enter figures of divers monsters, as wild beasts, serpents, and other animals ; as they made a horrible din around the servant of Christ, he said, "Why, most wretched Satan, dost thou feign a strength that is not thine own ? In the name of Jesus Christ, I command thee to desist;" and, after these words, the whole appearance immediately vanished. A certain bishop, named Hebba, camé to converse with the holy man, having in his company a certain clerk, named Wilfrid ; the latter, hearing his servants discoursing of the virtues and miracles of the blessed Guthlac, remarked to some of them who doubted in whose power he did such things, that, if he should see him, he would be able to discern whether he were a true worshipper of God, or only a specious pretender to sanctity. The afore