Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 3.djvu/88

Rh tion. He engaged restlessly in philosophical studies, and passed from one phase of thought to another, unable to find satisfaction in any. Manichaeism first enthralled him. Its doctrine of two principles, one of good and one of evil, seemed to answer to the wild confusion of his own heart, and the conflict of higher and lower impulses which raged within him. It seemed to solve the mysteries which perplexed him in his own experience and in the world. He became a member of the sect, and entered into the class of auditors. His ambition was to be received among the number of the Elect, and so get to the heart of what he believed to be their higher knowledge. But falling in with Faustus, a distinguished Manichaean bishop and disputant, and entering into discussion with him, he was greatly dis appointed. The system lost its attraction for him; he gradually became disgusted, and abandoned it. But before this he had left Carthage, shocked with the licence of the students, and had betaken himself for a time to Borne in the pursuit of his profession. There he also soon became dis satisfied, and accepted an invitation to proceed to Milan, where the people were in search of a teacher of rhetoric. He travelled thither at the public expense, and was welcomed by friends who already seetn to have recognised his distinction (Confess., i. 16). At Milan the conflict of his mind in search of truth still continued. He was now in his thirtieth year, and for eleven years he had been seeking for mental rest, unable to find it. &quot; To-morrow, &quot; he said to himself, &quot; I shall find it : it will appear manifestly, and I shall grasp it &quot; (Con fess., vi. 18). But it still eluded his grasp, and he sunk back again into despondency. The way, however, was being prepared for his conversion. Ambrose was bishop of Milan, and, although he had a weak voice, was noted for his eloquence. Augustine was attracted by his reputa tion, and went to hear the famous Christian preacher in order, as he himself relates (Confess., v. 23), &quot; to see whether his eloquence answered what was reported of it. I hung on his words attentively, &quot; he adds, &quot; but of the matter I was but an unconcerned and contemptuous hearer.&quot; He confesses his delight so far : &quot; The bishop s eloquence was more full of knowledge, yet in manner less pleasurable and soothing, than that of Faustus.&quot; He wished an opportunity of conversation with him, but this was not easily found. Ambrose had no leisure for philosophic discussion. He was accessible to all who sought him, but never for a moment free from study or the cares of duty. &quot;Augustine used to enter, as all persons might, without being announced ; but after staying for a while, afraid of interrupting him, he departed again.&quot; He continued, however, to hear Ambrose preach, and gradually the gospel of divine truth and grace was received into his heart. First Plato and then St Paul opened his mind to higher thoughts, and at length certain words of the latter were driven home with irresistible force to his conscience. He was busy with his friend Alypius in studying the Pauline epistles. His struggle of mind became intolerable; the thought of divine purity fighting in his heart with the love of the world and of the flesh. He burst into an incontrollable flood of tears and rushed out into his garden, flinging himself under a fig tree that he might allow his tears to have full vent, and pour out his heart to God. Suddenly he seemed to hear a voice calling upon him to consult the divine oracle, &quot; Take up and read, take up and read.&quot; He left off weeping, rose up, and sought the volume where Alypius was sitting, and opening it read in silence the following passage : &quot; Not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh to fulfil the lusts thereof &quot; (Rom. xiii. 13, 14). He adds, &quot; I had neither desire nor need to read farther. As I finished the sentence, as though the light of peace had been poured into my heart, all the shadows of doubt dispersed. Thus hast Thou converted me to Thee, so as no longer to seek either for wife or other hope of the world, standing fast in that rule of faith in which Thou so many years before hadst revealed me to my mother &quot; (Confess., viii. 30). After his conversion, which is supposed to have occurred in the summer of, Augustine gave up his profession as a teacher of rhetoric, and retired to a friend s house in the country, in order to prepare himself for baptism. His religious opinions were still to some extent unformed, and even his habits by no means altogether such as his great change demanded. He mentions, for example, that during this time he broke himself off a habit of profane swearing, and in other ways sought to discipline his character and conduct for the reception of the sacred rite. He received baptism in Easter following, in his thirty-third year ; and along with him his son Adeodatus and his friend Alypius were admitted to the Christian church. Monica, his mother, had rejoined him, and at length rejoiced in the fulfilment of her prayers. Dying before his return to his native country, her last hours were gladdened by his Christian sympathy. She implored him to lay her body anywhere, but wherever he might be to remember her &quot; at the altar of the Lord,&quot; a devout duty which he invites others to share with him, so that her last request may, &quot;through the prayers of many,&quot; receive a more abundant fulfilment. Augustine went back to Rome for a short period and then returned to his native city, where he took up his abodw in retirement, forming, with some friends who joined him in devotion, a small religious community, which looked to him as its head. They had all things in common, as in the early church, and fasting and prayer, Scripture reading and almsgiving, formed their regular occupations. Their mode of life was not formally monastic according to any special rule, but the experience of this time of seclusion was, no doubt, the basis of that monastic system which Augus tine afterwards sketched, and which derived from him its name. Solitary monasticism had sprang up in the Egyptian deserts before this. The life of St Anthony by Athanasius had widely diffused the fervour for religious solitariness, and greatly touched Augustine at this period of his pro fession. It did not remain for him, therefore, to originate the monastic idea ; but the association of monks in com munities under a definite order and head received a special impulse both from Ambrose and his illustrious convert. As may be imagined, the fame of such a convert in such a position soon spread, and invitations to a more active ecclesiastical life came to him from many quarters. He shrank from the responsibility, but his destiny was not to be avoided. After three years spent in retirement he took a journey to, to see a Christian friend, who desired to converse with him as to his design of. quitting the world and devoting himself to a religious life. He was the less reluctant to make this journey, because there being already a bishop at he hoped to escape all solicitation. But although the Christian community there had a bishop, they wanted a presbyter ; and Augustine being present at the meeting called to choose a presbyter, the people unanimously chose him. He burst into tears, and would fain have escaped ; but the church could not spare his services. He was ordained to the presbyterate, and in a few years afterwards he was made coadjutor to the bishop, and finally became sole bishop of the see. Henceforth Augustine s life is filled up with his ecclesiastical labours, and is more marked by the series of his numerous writings and the great controversies in which they engaged him than by anything else. Already he had distinguished himself as an author. He had written several 