treaty, in the old Pagan form--"by the Sun, and the Wind,
and all the Elements." The party of the Druids at first
sought to stay the progress of Christianity by violence,
and even attempted, more than once, to assassinate Patrick.
Finding these means ineffectual they tried ridicule and
satire. In this they were for some time seconded by the
Bards, men warmly attached to their goddess of song and
their lives of self-indulgence. All in vain. The day of
the idols was fast verging into everlasting night in
Erin. Patrick and his disciples were advancing from
conquest to conquest. Armagh and Cashel came in the wake
of Tara, and Cruachan was soon to follow. Driven from
the high places, the obdurate Priests of Bel took refuge
in the depths of the forest and in the islands of the
sea, wherein the Christian anchorites of the next age
were to replace them. The social revolution proceeded,
but all that was tolerable in the old state of things,
Patrick carefully engrafted with the new. He allowed much
for the habits and traditions of the people, and so made
the transition as easy, from darkness into the light, as
Nature makes the transition from night to morning. He
seven times visited in person every mission in the kingdom,
performing the six first "circuits" on foot, but the
seventh, on account of his extreme age, he was borne in
a chariot. The pious munificence of the successors of
Leary, had surrounded him with a household of princely
proportions. Twenty-four persons, mostly ecclesiastics,
were chosen for this purpose: a bell-ringer, a psalmist,
a cook, a brewer, a chamberlain, three smiths, three
artificers, and three embroiderers are reckoned of the