Transcribed from the 1891 Macmillan and Co. edition by David Price, email ccx074@pglaf.org [Picture: St. Brendan setting Sail.—P. 26] THE HERMITS * * * * * BY CHARLES KINGSLEY * * * * * _ILLUSTRATED_ * * * * * London MACMILLAN AND CO. AND NEW YORK 1891 _The Right of Translation is Reserved_ * * * * * RICHARD CLAY AND SONS, LIMITED, LONDON AND BUNGAY. _First printed in parts_ 1868. _Reprinted in_ 1 _Volume_, _Crown_ 8_vo._ 1871, 1875, 1880, 1885, 1890, 1891. CONTENTS. PAGE INTRODUCTION 1 SAINT ANTONY 21 THE LIFE OF SAINT PAUL, THE FIRST HERMIT 83 HILARION 104 ARSENIUS 149 THE HERMITS OF ASIA 155 BASIL 162 SIMEON STYLITES 167 THE HERMITS OF EUROPE 219 ST. SEVERINUS, THE APOSTLE OF NORICUM 224 THE CELTIC HERMITS 246 ST. MALO 278 ST. COLUMBA 282 ST. GUTHLAC 300 ST. GODRIC OF FINCHALE 309 ANCHORITES, STRICTLY SO CALLED 329 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ST. BRENDAN SETTING SAIL _Frontispiece_ LIFE OF ST. ANTHONY _To face_ 35 “And having committed his sister to known and faithful virgins, and given to her wherewith to be educated in a nunnery,” &c. PAUL, THE FIRST HERMIT _To face_ 92 “For entering the cave he saw, with bended knees, erect neck, and hands spread out on high, a lifeless corpse. And at first, thinking that it still lived,” &c. INTRODUCTION ST. PAPHNUTIUS used to tell a story which may serve as a fit introduction to this book. It contains a miniature sketch, not only of the social state of Egypt, but of the whole Roman Empire, and of the causes which led to the famous monastic movement in the beginning of the fifth century after Christ.