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Anglo-Saxon Literature by John Earle
page 108 of 297 (36%)
conduct was maintained in the Northumbrian churches for some time after
this date. But I have said enough." (iii., 26.)

The fourth book goes down to the death, A.D. 687, of the saint
of whom Bede had previously written, both in verse and in prose, the
Saint of Northumbria, St. Cuthbert.

This book contains another passage to show that Bede looked wistfully
back to a blessed time that had been, and for which he was born too
late. He has been speaking of Theodore and Hadrian, and he is about to
speak of Wilfrid and Æddi, when he thus breaks out:--"Never, never,
since the Angles came to Britain, were there happier times; brave and
Christian kings held all barbarians in awe; the universal ambition was
for those heavenly joys of which men had recently heard; and all who
desired to be instructed in sacred learning had masters ready to teach
them." (iv., 2.)

This book also contains the history of Cædmon, which is perhaps the most
frequently quoted piece of all Bede's writings:--

"In the monastery of this abbess [Hild], there was a certain brother,
eminently distinguished by divine grace, for he was wont to make songs
fit for religion and piety, so that, whatever he learnt out of Scripture
by means of interpreters, this he would after a time produce in his own,
that is to say, the Angles' tongue, with poetical words, composed with
perfect sweetness and feeling. By this man's songs often the minds of
many were kindled to contempt of the world and desire for the celestial
life. Moreover, others after him in the nation of the Angles tried to
make religious poems, but no one was able to equal him. For he learnt
the art of singing not from men, nor through any man's instructions, but
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