50 FOUKTH PEKIOD. A. D. 590 TO 1049.
" 5. I bind to myself to-day, —
The Power of God to guide me, The Might of God to uphold me, The Wisdom of God to teach me, The Eye of God to watch over me, The Ear of God to hear me, The Word of God to give me speech, The Hand of God to protect me, The Way of God to go before me, The Shield of God to shelter me, The Host of God to defend me,
Against the snares of demons,
Against the temptations of vices,
Against the lusts of nature,
Against every man who meditates injury to me. Whether far or near, With few or with many.
6. I have set around me all these powers, Against every hostile savage power, Directed against my body and my soul, Against the incantations of false prophets, Against the black laws of heathenism, Against the false laws of heresy, Against the deceits of idolatry,
Against the spells of women, and smiths, and druids. Against all knowledge which blinds the soul of man.
7. Christ protect me to-day Against poison, against burning, Against drowning, against wound, That I may receive abundant reward.
8. Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ within me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ at my right, Christ at my left, Christ in the fort [i. e. at home],
Christ in the chariot-seat [travelling by land], Christ in the poop [travelling by water] .
9. Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me, Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks to me, Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.
3 14. THE CONVERSION OF IRELAND. 51
10. I bind to myself to-day
The strong power of an invocation of the Trinity, The faith of the Trinity in Unity, The Creator of [the elements].
11. Salvation is of the Lord,
Salvation is of the Lord,
Salvation is of Christ ;
May thy salvation, O Lord, be ever with us."
The fourth and last document which has been claimed as authentic and contemporary, is a Latin " Hymn in praise of St. Patrick" (Hymnus Sancti Patricii, Episcopi Scotorum] by St. Sechnall (Secundinus) which begins thus :
" Auditc, omnes amantes Dcum, sancta merita Viri in Christo bead Patricii Episcopi: Quomodo bomun ob aclum simulatur angclls, Perfcctamque proptcr uitam cequatnr Apostolic."
The poem is given in full by Haddan & Stubbs, 324-327, and assigned to "before A. D. 448 ( ? )," in which year Sechnall died. But how could he anticipate the work of Patrick, when his mission, according to the same writers, began only eight years earlier (440), and lasted till 493? The hymn is first mentioned by Tyrechanus in the " Book of Armagh."
The next oldest document is the Irish hymn of St. FiacconSt. Patrick, which is assigned to the latter part of the sixth century, (1. c. 356-361). The Suichus Mor is attributed to the age of St. Patrick ; but it is a code of Irish laws, derived from Pagan times, and gradually modified by Christian ecclesiastics in favor of the church. The Canons attributed to St. Patrick are of later date (Haddan & Stubbs, 328 sqq.).
It is strange that St. Patrick is not mentioned by Bede in his Church History, although he often refers to Hibcrnia and its church, and is barely named as a presbyter in his Martyrology. He is also ignored by Columba find by the Roman Catholic writers, until his mediaeval biographers from the eighth to the twelfth century Romanized him, appealing not to his genuine Confession, but to spurious documents and vague traditions. He is said to have converted all the Irish chieftains and bards, even Ossian, the blind Homer of Scotland, who sang to him his long epic of Keltic heroes and battles. He founded 365 or, according to others, 700 churches, and consecrated as many bishops, and 3,000 priests (when the whole island had probably not more than two or three hundred thousand inhabitants ; for even in the reign of Elizabeth it did not exceed 600,000)^
1 See Killen, I. 76, note. Montalembert says, III. 118, note: "Irish narra tives know scarcely any numerals but those of three hundred and three thousand."