It is clear that the attack was made in Ireland (cp. App. C, 5). It seems probable that the persons described as _seniores mei_ were ecclesiastics in Ireland, and this view has been adopted in the text. But in another passage we read that _aliquanti de senioribus meis_ were offended by his persistence in the determination to go to Ireland (367₂₉), and this might suggest the view that they came from Britain (_uenerunt_) for the purpose of attacking him. It seems impossible to decide. The vision which Patrick saw the night after an interview with the _seniores_ has caused some difficulty; he tells it so badly. “That night I saw in a vision of the night a writing which had been written against me,[352] dishonouring me.[353] And at the same time I heard the answer of God saying to me, ‘We have seen with displeasure the face of’ the person aforesaid [viz. the friend], revealing his name.”[354] The passage immediately following deserves attention. The writer gives thanks for two things: [1] ut non me (sc. Deus) inpediret a profectione quam statueram, et [2] de mea quoque opera quod a Christo Domino meo dediceram, sed magis ex eo sensi in me uirtutem non paruam. Here he designates as two great crises the attempts to dissuade him from his missionary purpose, and the attack afterwards made upon him, to which _ex eo_ refers. P. 206.—Patrick regrets his want of education (_Conf._ 359₂₆): quatinus modo ipse adpeto in senectute mea quod in iuuentute non conparaui; quod obstiterunt peccata mea ut confirmarem quod antea perlegeram (_sc._ the rudiments he had learned before his captivity). P. 206.—Scriptural quotations in the _Confession_ and _Letter_. A full conspectus of these has been furnished by Rev. N. J. D. White in his edition. His results as to the text used by Patrick may be summed up as follows. For the Old Testament there is no evidence that he used the Vulgate (cp. above, p. 293 _ad fin._), while there are distinctively Old Latin citations. The New Testament citations are not so clear: some passages seem certainly to imply the Vulgate; others have Old Latin support. As there can be little doubt that Patrick quoted largely from memory, I am inclined to conjecture that he had been trained on an Old Latin version in Gaul, but that he possessed in Ireland a copy of the New Testament Vulgate, in which he looked up some of his references. This would explain the twofold character of the New Testament quotations, but I put forward the conjecture with great diffidence.