Page:The ancient Irish church.djvu/77

 John the Baptist stood before the highest in the land and rebuked them to their face. Like the Baptist, too, he attracted great multitudes to his preaching, and even the princes whom he reproved were contented to hear him gladly, and sometimes, like Herod, 'did many things,' though it is to be feared without any real change of heart. Still further bearing out the resemblance, it was through the interference of a wicked woman that his labours were in the end brought to an abrupt termination, though happily, in his case, they were not ended by martyrdom. Refusing to give his blessing to the illegitimate children of Theodoric II., which were presented to him by Brunehault, the queen regent, he excited her resentment, and this resentment followed him persistently, until she had prevailed on her grandson to banish the fearless monk from his dominions. He was placed on board a vessel, the intention being to send him to Ireland; but after it had put to sea a contrary wind drove them back again, and the master of the ship, taking this as a Divine intimation that Columbanus was not to go to Ireland, landed him at the mouth of the Loire, and went on his journey without him. From thence Columbanus made his way to Switzerland, where one of his followers, Saint Gall, was left behind, and founded the establishment which has given name to one of the cantons. Eventually, he settled in North Italy, where he founded the famous monastery of Bobbio, near which he died in the year 615.

The incidents in the life of Columbanus are full of interest, but are for the most part outside the scope of this present work. He was the great competitor with Benedict in the reformation of the monastic system; and such was his success and the