‘And they were baptized, and a white garment put upon their heads. And they asked to see the face of Christ, and the Saint said unto them, “Ye cannot see the face of Christ except ye receive the sacrifice.” And they answered, “Give us the sacrifice, that we may behold the Son, our Spouse.” And they received the Eucharist of God, and they slept in death. “The articles of the Creed recited in this extract are those alone, it has been observed, which are to be found in symbols of the very highest antiquity, and the dialogue illustrates, what has been already noticed, the Celtic belief in genii or aerial beings, inhabiting mountains, plains, rivers, lakes, and fountains, and the existence of nature-worship in its simplest form.”—_See_ the works of SKENE, TODD, CUSACK, HENNESY, FOSTER, SHERMAN, and for special purposes WHITLEY STOKES, MISS STOKES, G. T. STOKES, along with MACLEAR’S “CELTS.” [Illustration: (decorative end-of-chapter icon)] CHAPTER II. SOUTH ALBIN GAELS—BRIGIT. It has been usually taken too much for granted that the early Christian preachers of Britain and Ireland succeeded in fully Christianising the districts in which they laboured, and with which their names are associated. This is a very imperfect apprehension of the results of their efforts. No missionary of the cross could excel Patrick and Columba in their enthusiasm for work, in their devotion to the Gospel cause, and in their resolute attempt to conquer the whole land for Christ. Yet we find that their evangelisation of the races to which they were respectively sent was very incomplete. Patrick writes of the large numbers who were converted under his preaching, but there is no evidence that Christianity was universally adopted by the whole people. On the contrary it is clear that the Ardri, or chief king of Ireland, continued to be a Pagan during the whole period of the mission of Patrick. It was only in the year 513 that a Christian sovereign exercised rule for the first time from the throne of Tara. This was some time after the death of the apostle of Ireland, which occurred in 493. While Patrick was labouring to lay the foundations of the Irish Church, spiritual decay appears to have crept over the heart of his own native church among the Gaels of Strathclyde. The poetic and literary flowering of this period we have in the person of the celebrated Brigit. In those who are familiar with the revivals and declensions of church life, as unfolded in history, such a decay can excite no surprise. In our own times, with all the rich aids of civilization and Christian literature, enkindling and preservative that we possess, we find that one generation of earnest believers in a district is frequently succeeded by an apathetic one. So the living church of Strathclyde from which Patrick went forth, was in a decadent condition when his name began to shine and burn brightly on the shores of Erin.