It must have been a loveable character of which such
tales could be told and cherished from generation to
generation.

Both Education and Nature had well fitted Columbkill to
the great task of adding another realm to the empire of
Christendom. His princely birth gave him power over his
own proud kindred; his golden eloquence and glowing
verse--the fragments of which still move and delight the
Gaelic scholar--gave him fame and weight in the Christian
schools which had suddenly sprung up in every glen and
island. As prince, he stood on equal terms with princes;
as poet, he was affiliated to that all-powerful Bardic
Order, before whose awful anger kings trembled, and
warriors succumbed in superstitious dread. A spotless
soul, a disciplined body, an indomitable energy, an
industry that never wearied, a courage that never blanched,
a sweetness and courtesy that won all hearts, a tenderness
for others that contrasted strongly with his rigour
towards himself--these were the secrets of the success
of this eminent missionary--these were the miracles by
which he accomplished the conversion of so many barbarous
tribes and Pagan Princes.




CHAPTER VI.

KINGS OF THE SEVENTH CENTURY.