anquilly under the dominion of the Gospel."

It is probable that St. Patrick was born in 387, and that in 403 he was
made captive and carried into Ireland. Those who believe Alcuith or
Dumbarton to have been his birthplace, are obliged to account for his
capture in Gaul--which has never been questioned--by supposing that he
and his family had gone thither to visit the friends of his mother,
Conchessa. He was sold as a slave, in that part of Dalriada comprised in
the county of Antrim, to four men, one of whom, Milcho, bought up their
right from the other three, and employed him in feeding sheep or swine.
Exposed to the severity of the weather day and night, a lonely slave in
a strange land, and probably as ignorant of the language as of the
customs of his master, his captivity, would, indeed, have been a bitter
one, had he not brought with him, from a holy home, the elements of most
fervent piety. A hundred times in the day, and a hundred times in the
night, he lifted up the voice of prayer and supplication to the Lord of
the bondman and the free, and faithfully served the harsh, and at times
cruel, master to whom Providence had assigned him. Perhaps he may have
offered his sufferings for those who were serving a master even more
harsh and cruel.

After six years he was miraculously delivered. A voice, that was not of
earth, addressed him in the stillness of the night, and commanded him to
hasten to a certain port, where he would find a ship ready to take him
to his own country. "And I came," says the saint, "in the power of the
Lord, who directed my course towards a good end; and I was under no
apprehension until I arrived where the ship was. It was then clearing
out, and I called for a passage. But the master of the vessel got angry,
and said to me, 'Do not attempt to come with us.' On hearing this I
retired, for the purpose of going to the cabin where I had been received
as a guest. And, on my way thither, I began to pray; but before I had
finished my prayer, I heard one of the men crying out with a loud voice
after me, 'Come, quickly; for they are calling you,' and immediately I
returned. And they said to me, 'Come, we receive thee on trust. Be our
friend, just as it may be agreeable to you.' We then set sail, and after
three days reached land." The two Breviaries of Rheims and Fiacc's Hymn
agree in stating that the men with whom Patrick embarked were merchants
from Gaul, and that they landed in a place called Tregui