“See, my dearest son, by God’s favour you have all that man could hope for, and more than all that our small desert dared hope for. Now, then, act as a man and a strong man. The work of God which is put into your hands do to the full, for the profit of your own soul and the welfare of many souls. Let not your tongue cease from preaching; nor your foot from going about among the flock committed to you; nor your hand from labouring that alms be given and the holy Church of God be everywhere exalted. Be the outward expression of the well-being of all. In thee let there be the example of most holy manner of life; in thee let there be the solace of the miserable; in thee the strengthening of the doubting; in thee the rigour of discipline; in thee the confidence of truth; in thee the hope of every good. Let not the pomp of the world lift thee up; nor luxury of food enervate thee; nor the vanity of vestures make thee soft; nor the tongues of flatterers deceive thee; nor the gainsaying of detractors disturb thee; nor troubles break thee; nor joys lift thee up. Be not a reed shaken by the wind; be not a flower falling with the gale; be not a tottering wall; be not a house built upon the sand; but be the temple of the living God, built on the firm rock, whose indweller be the very Spirit, the Paraclete. “How many days do you suppose you have to live? Put it in your mind at fifty years. Even that has its end; and you cannot expect to live so long as that. Let the weakness of your body make you strong in soul; be with the Apostle,—‘when I am weak, then am I strong.’ Let the affliction of your body be the gain of your soul. Show yourself gentle and humble to the better; hard and rigid to the proud; all things to all men that you may gain all. Have in your hands honey and wormwood; let each man eat which he chooses. Let him who would live on pious preaching have the honey; let him who needs hard invective drink of the wormwood, but so that he may hope for the honey of pardon to follow, if the blush and confusion of penitence go before.” Alcuin would have been an excellent man to have as preacher at the consecration of a bishop. In a letter which quickly followed, Alcuin begged Eanbald to read frequently the above letter, and expressed the hope that if there was anything in it which could be regarded as less than quite affectionate, the Archbishop would feel sure that it was unintentional. One thing, and only one, he wished to add:— [Sidenote: Ep. 73. A.D. 796.] “Do not allow the nobleness of mind which I so well know to be in you, and the integrity of faithfulness which is your wont to all, by any advice of friends, by any ambition of secular desires, to be corrupted or changed. Not every friend is fit to be an adviser; the Scripture[164] says, Let thy friends be many, thine adviser one only. Do not allow your goodness to be clouded by the wickedness of others.” In yet another letter he finds a good deal to add:— [Sidenote: Ep. 74. A.D. 796.]