Page:Historical Works of Venerable Bede vol. 2.djvu/155

 THE

LIVES OF THE HOLY ABBOTS

OF

WEREMOUTH AND JARROW,

BENEDICT, CEOLFRID, EOSTERWINE, SIGFRID, AND HWÆTBERHT.

§ 1. pious servant of Christ, Biscop, called Benedict, with the assistance of the Divine Grace, built a monastery in honour of the most holy of the Apostles, St. Peter, near the mouth of the river Were, on the north side. The venerable and devout king of that nation, Æcgfrid, contributed the land; and Biscop, for the space of sixteen years, amid innumerable perils in journeyings and in illness, ruled this monastery with the same piety which stirred him up to build it. If I may use the words of the blessed Pope Gregory, in which he glorifies the life of the abbot of the same name, he was a man of a venerable life, Blessed (Benedictus) both in grace and in name; having the mind of an adult even from his childhood, surpassing his age by his manners, and with a soul addicted to no false pleasures. He was descended from a noble lineage of the Angles, and by corresponding dignity of mind worthy to be exalted into the company of the Angels. Lastly, he was the minister of King Oswin, and by his gift enjoyed an estate suitable to his rank; but at the age of twenty-five years he despised a transitory wealth, that he might obtain that which is eternal. He made light of a temporal warfare with a donative that will decay, that he might serve under the