ead against his
knees. Historians relate that a curious spectator counted twelve hundred
and forty-four of these motions, and then abstained through fatigue from
any farther tally, though the unwearied exhibition was still going on.
This "most holy aerial martyr," as Evagrius calls him, attained at last
his reward, and Mount Telenissa witnessed a vast procession of devout
admirers accompanying to the grave his mortal remains.

[Sidenote: The monks insist on celibacy.]

More commonly, however, the hermit declined the conspicuous notoriety of
these "holy birds," as they were called by the profane, and, retiring to
some cave in the desert, despised the comforts of life, and gave himself
up to penance and prayer. Among men who had thus altogether exalted
themselves above the wants of the flesh, there was no toleration for its
lusts. The sinfulness of the marriage relation, and the pre-eminent
value of chastity, followed from their principles. If it was objected to
such practices that by their universal adoption the human species would
soon be extinguished, and no man would remain to offer praises to God,
these zealots, remembering the temptations from which they had escaped,
with truth replied that there would always be sinners enough in the
world to avoid that disaster, and that out of their evil works good
would be brought. St. Jerome offers us the pregnant reflection that,
though it may be marriage that fills the earth, it is virginity that
replenishes heaven.

[Sidenote: Grazing hermits.]

If they were not recorded by many truthful authors, the extravagances of
some of these enthusiasts would pass belief. Men and women ran naked
upon all fours, associating themselves with the beasts of the field. In
the spring season, when the grass is tender, the grazing hermits of
Mesopotamia went forth to the plains, sharing with the cattle their
filth, and their food. Of some, notwithstanding a weight of evidence,
the stupendous biography must tax their admirers' credulity. It is
affirmed that St. Ammon had never seen his own body uncovered; that an
angel carried him on his back over a river which he was obliged to
cross; that at his death he ascended to heaven through the skies, St.
Anthony being an eye-witness of the event--St. Anthony, who was guided
to the hermit Paulus by a centaur; that Didymus never spoke to a human
being for ninety years.

[Sidenote: Insane hermits.]

From the Jewish anchorites, who of old sought a re