ere heaped up, for such is the expression of his biographer, the
documents accumulated by his Society during forty years. How vast their
number must have been is manifest from this one fact that Bollandus
possessed upwards of four hundred distinct Lives of Saints, and more
than two hundred histories of cities, bishoprics, and monasteries in the
Italian language alone, whence our readers may judge of the size of the
entire collection which dealt with the saints and martyrs of China,
Japan, and Peru, as well as those of Greece and Home.

Bollandus was summoned to his life's work in 1629. He at once entered
upon a vigorous pursuit of fresh manuscripts in every quarter of the
globe, wherein he was mightily assisted by the organization of the
Jesuit Society, and by the liberal assistance bestowed upon his
undertaking by successive abbots of the great Benedictine Monastery of
Liessies, near Cambray, specially by Antonius Winghius, the friend and
patron, first of Rosweid, and then of Bollandus. Indeed, it was the
existence and rich endowments of those great monasteries which explains
the publication of such immense works as those of Bollandus, Mabillon,
and Tillemont, quite surpassing any now issued even by the wealthiest
publishers among ourselves, and only approached, and that at a distance,
by Pertz's "Monumenta" in Germany.

New material was now poured upon him from every quarter, from English
Benedictines even and Irish Franciscans; though indeed, as regards the
latter, Bollandus seems to have cherished a wholesome suspicion as to
the genuineness of many, if not most, of the Irish legends. But
Bollandus, though he worked hard, and knew no other enjoyment save his
work, was only human. He soon found the labour was too great for any one
man to perform, while, in addition, he was racked and torn with disease
in many shapes; gout, stone, rupture, all settled like harpies upon his
emaciated frame, so that in 1635 he was compelled to take Henschenius as
his assistant. This was in every respect a fortunate choice, as
Henschenius proved himself a man of much wider views as to the scope of
the work than Bollandus himself. Bollandus had proposed simply to
incorporate the notices of the Saints found in ancient martyrologies and
manuscripts, adding brief notes upon any difficulties of history,
geography, or theology, which might arise. To Henschenius was allotted
the month of February. He at once set to work, and produced under the