To those instances of involuntary flagellations, during the times of the Eastern Anchorites, and the first Monks, we may, I think, safely add those which the Devil, jealous of their merit, has inflicted upon them: a case which has frequently happened, if we are to credit the Writers of those times. In the life of St. Anthony, which was written by St. Athanasius, we read that that Saint was frequently set upon, and lashed in his cell, by the Infernal Spirit. St. Hilarion was also often exposed to the same misfortune; as we are informed by St. Jerom, who wrote an account of his life. ‘This wanton Gladiator (says St. Jerom, speaking of the Devil) bestrides him, beating his sides with his heels, and his head with a scourge[49].’ A great many other Saints, which it would be too tedious to mention, have been exposed to the like treatment; and the priest Grimlaïcus, the Author of an ancient Monastic Rule, observes that Devils will often insolently lay hold of Men, and lash them, in the same manner as they used to serve the blessed Anthony. [Illustration: _Page._ 126.] That the above-mentioned instances of the wantonness of the Devil, with respect to Saints, were not willingly submitted to by the latter, needs not, I think, to be supported by any proof: it must certainly have been with great reluctance, that they felt themselves exposed to the lash of so formidable a Flagellator[50]. [Illustration: (end of chapter mark)] FOOTNOTES: [45] Conclusions against the antiquity of the _upper_ and the _lower_ disciplines, are frequent in the Abbé Boileau’s book; though I have thought it unnecessary to lay them all before the reader. Against the latter kind of discipline, he has been particularly zealous; and, besides his usual charge of novelty, he has, on one occasion, taxed it with being a remnant of idolatry and Pagan superstition. This imputation has much displeased a French Curate, who wrote an answer to him: he thought it reflected on those Saints who practised the discipline in question, and he animadverted on the Abbé in the following terms. _Quelle plus grande injure peut-on faire aux Saints & aux Saintes qui se disciplinent par en bas, que de dire qu’ils sont des idolatres & des superstitieux?... Peut on les deshonorer davantage, ces Saints, que d’en parler comme fait M. Boileau?_ ‘Can a greater insult be put upon those Saints of both Sexes who practise the lower discipline, than saying that they are superstitious persons and idolaters? Is it possible to shew more disrespect to those Saints, than speaking of them as Mons. Boileau does?’