devil by the nose with a pair of tongs. Sir Francis Palgrave supposes
that St. Dunstan's seclusion at the time had led him to believe, like so
many solitaries, that he was attacked in person by the fiend, and that
he related his visions, which were accepted as absolute facts by his
credulous hearers. Hence the author has assumed the currency of some of
these marvellous legends in his tale, and has introduced a later one
into the text of the present chapter. But the whole life of the saint,
as related by his monkish biographers, is literally full of such
legends, some terrible, some ludicrous. One of the most remarkable
deserves mention, bearing, as it does, upon our tale. It is said that he
learned that Edwy was dead, and that the devils were about to carry off
his soul in triumph, when, falling to fervent prayer, he obtained his
release. A most curious colloquy between the abbot and the devils on
this subject may be found in Osberne's "Life of Dunstan."

xvii The Benedictine Rule.

St. Benedict, the founder of the great Benedictine Order, was born in
the neighbourhood of Nursia, a city of Italy, about A.D. 480. Sent to
study at Rome, he was shocked at the vices of his fellow students, ran
away from the city, and shut himself up in a hermitage, where he
resigned himself to a life of the strictest austerity. Three years he
spent in a cave near Subiaco, about forty miles from Rome, where he was
so removed from society that he lost all account of time. He did not,
however, lead an idle life of self contemplation; he instructed the
shepherds of he neighbourhood, and such were the results of his
instruction that his fame spread widely, until, the abbot of a
neighbouring monastery dying, the brethren almost compelled him to
become their superior, but, not liking the reforms he introduced,
subsequently endeavoured to poison him, whereupon he returned to his
cave, where, as St. Gregory says, "he dwelt with himself" and became
more celebrated than ever. After this the number of his disciples
increased so greatly, that, emerging from his solitude, he built twelve
monasteries, in each of which he placed twelve monks under a superior,
finally laying the foundation of the great monastery of Monte Cassino,
which has ever since been regarded as the central institution of the order.

Here was drawn up the famous Benedictine rule, which was far more
adapted than any other code to prevent the cloister from becoming the
abode of idlen