f Benedict's library; and the
many Latin and Greek books, which he refers to in the course of his
writings, were doubtless derived from that source.[251] Ceolfrid, the
successor of Benedict, "a man of great zeal, of acute wisdom, and bold in
action," was a great lover of books, and under his care the libraries of
Wearmouth and Jarrow became nearly doubled in extent; of the nature of
these additions we are unable to judge, but probably they were not
contemptible.[252]

Wilfrid, bishop of Northumbria, was a dear and intimate friend of
Biscop's, and was the companion of one of his pilgrimages to Rome. In his
early youth he gave visible signs of a heart full of religion and piety,
and he sought by a steady perusal of the Holy Scriptures, in the little
monastery of Lindesfarne, to garnish his mind with that divine lore with
which he shone so brightly in the Saxon church. It was at the court of
Ercenbyrht, king of Kent, that he met with Benedict Biscop; and the
sympathy which their mutual learning engendered gave rise to a warm and
devoted friendship between them. Both inspired with an ardent desire to
visit the apostolic see, they set out together for Rome;[253] and it was
probably by the illustrious example of his fellow student and companion,
that Wilfrid imbibed that book-loving passion which he afterwards
displayed on more than one occasion. On his return from Rome, Alfred of
Northumbria bestowed upon him the monastery of Rhypum[254] in the year
661, and endowed it with certain lands. Peter of Blois records, in his
life of Wilfrid, that this "man of God" gave the monastery a copy of the
gospels, a library, and many books of the Old and New Testament, with
certain tablets made with marvellous ingenuity, and ornamented with gold
and precious stones.[255] Wilfrid did not long remain in the monastery of
Ripon, but advanced to higher honors, and took a more active part in the
ecclesiastical affairs of the time.[256] But I am not about to pursue his
history, or to attempt to show how his hot and imperious temper, or the
pride and avarice of his disposition, wrought many grievous animosities
in the Saxon church; or how by his prelatical ambition he deservedly lost
the friendship of his King and his ecclesiastical honors.[257]

About this time, and contemporary with Bede, we must not omit one who
appears as a bright star in the early Christian church. Boniface,[258]
the Saxon missionary, was remarked by his parents to manifest a