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tremely numerous, that many persons have formed large collec tions; and they are still occasionally met with in great abundance.

In tracing the progression by which the town of ST. ALBAN'S arose from the ashes of Verulam, it becomes necessary to revert to the martyrdom of Albanus, whose sufferings and piety procured him an early admission into the calendar of Saints; and from whom the town itself derives its origin and name. Albanus is recorded to have been an eminent citizen of Verulam; and to have given shelter to a Christiau preacher, named Amphibalus, who had fled from Wales for security against the effects of the dreadful persecution that had then begun to rage under the edicts of Dioclesian. Being discovered in his retreat, the Judge of the city ordered some soldiers to arrest him; but Albanus having received notice of their coming, contrived to send his guest away in privacy, and, disguised in his habit, presented himself to the soldiers as the person for whom they were in search. Heedless of the deception, they bound and conveyed him before the Judge, when throwing off his cloak, and avowing his conversion to Christianity, he was severely scourged, to induce him to recant; but this availing not, he was ordered to be beheaded on a neighbouring hill:-that hill on which the Abbey Church of St. Alban's is now proudly exalted, and he was executed on the same day.

Thus far the history of our Saint is consistent and credible; but the circumstances recorded to have attended his execution, have too much of the marvellous to ensure general belief. The bridge over the river being too narrow to afford passage to the multitudes that crowded to witness the scene of his death, he is said to have. prayed that the stream might part, in order to admit sufficient room for them to cross on dry ground, through the midst of the channel,

-This

* This name was first assigned to the priest who sought refuge with St. Alban, by Geoffrey of Monmouth: in the more early writers on Ecclesiastical affairs, it does not occur: the remark of some modern authors, that it signifies nothing more than Albanus's cloak, is therefore. without foundation.

+ Called Holmhurst by the Saxons.

This was accomplished: and the executioner was so impressed by the sight, that he refused to perform his office, and, for this refu sal, was himself destined to die. Another executioner having been procured, the procession moved on; and on the top of the hill, Albanus besought Heaven for some water to quench his thirst, and immediately a fine spring gushed out of the earth at his feet. This second miracle had no effect on the obduracy of the Pagans; and the stroke of death being given, the head of the holy martyr was severed from his body; and, at the same instant, the eyes of him who had executed the bloody office, started from their sockets, and fell with it to the ground!

These, according to the early legends of superstition and ignorance, were not the only events of a miraculous complexion that threw lustre on the sanctity of Albanus. Offa, the great King of the Mercians, whose dominions had been enlarged by crime, whose power had been cemented by blood, was at length struck with remorse, and sought to relieve the horrors of a guilty conscience, and the dread of future punishment, by the customary mode of commuting guilt in his age, the foundation of a monastery. The particular act that most haunted his imagination, was the death of Ethelbert, Sovereign of the East Angles, who had been murdered under a complication of treacherous wiles, at Offa's own palace, when ♦ on a visit of friendship and proffered alliance. To regain his peace of mind, he, therefore, resolved to carry his design into immediate effect; and having, in answer to his prayers, received intimation from Heaven, that his intention was approved, began to reflect as to whom he should chuse as the patron Saint of his new establishment, Here his perplexity was again relieved by miraculous interposition: "for, after some time, being at Bath, in the rest and silence of the night, he seemed to be accosted by an Angel, who admonished him to raise out of the earth, the body of the first British martyr, ALBAN, and to place his remains in a shrine, with more suitable ornaments,”† ✔ This

* Sutton Walls in Herefordshire; See Beauties, Vol. VI. p. 586, and also same Vol. p. 459.

Hist. of the Abbey of St. Albans, by the Rev. P. Newcome, p. 25, from Matthew Paris.

This vision, according to Matthew Paris, was communicated to his Special Counsellors, Humbert, Archbishop of Lichfield, and Unwona, Bishop of Leicester; and a day was appointed to commence the search for the relics of the martyr, at Verulam; over which city, as the King journeyed, he saw a light shining, resembling a large torch. This appearance was considered as the harbinger of success: for the devastations committed by the Saxons, had occasioned the exact spot of the interment to be forgotten. "When the King, the clergy, and the people," continues the historian, "were assembled, they entered on the search with prayer, fasting, and alms, and struck the earth every where, with intent to hit the spot of burial:, but the search had not been continued long, when a light from Heaven was vouchsafed to assist the discovery; and a ray of fire stood over the place, like the star that conducted the Magi to find the Holy Jesus at Bethlehem. The ground was opened; and, in the presence of Offa, the body of Alban was found, deposited, together with some relics in a coffin of wood, just as Germanus had placed them 344 years before."

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The united testimonies of venerable Bede, and Matthew Paris, establish the fact of a Church having been built on the spot where Albanus suffered, and that within a short period of the time of his martyrdom. This fabric, Bede describes as of " admirable workmanship, and worthy of such a martyr;"* and as even existing in his days, as appears from the words that immediately follow: • in quo videlicet loco,' at the tomb of St. Alban, usque in hanc diem, curatio infirmorum et frequentium operatio virtutum celebrari non desinit.' As the death of Bede occurred only fifty-five years previous to Offa's visit to Verulam, (anno 790, or 791,) and, as Matthew Paris records, that the remains of Albanus, when raised from the earth, were conveyed in solemn procession to a certain . Church, small in its size, that had been formerly constructed by the new converts to Christianity, without the walls of Verulam, in honor of the blessed martyr, and on the very spot where he suf

fered;'

Ecclesia est mirandi operis, atque ejus martyrio condigna, extructa.
Bede i. 7.

fered; it would seem that the words of both historians refer to the same building; though Paris, unconscious of the circumstancé, infers, that the original Church, built in honor of Albanus, had been destroyed by the Saxons long before.

Into this Church, then, was the raised body of the martyr now translated, and deposited in a shrine enriched with plates of gold and silver: Offa himself is recorded to have placed a circle of gold round the scull of Albanus, inscribed with his name and title. The walls of the Church were also hung with pictures, tapestries, and other ornaments.

The next step taken by the Mercian Sovereign, was to assemble the prelates, nobles, and chief personages of his kingdom, for the purpose of concerting the most effectual means of accomplishing his design. In this assembly it was determined, that he should proceed to Rome, to solicit the approbation of the Roman Pontiff, and to procure the requisite immunities and privileges for his intended foundation. His mission was attended with success; but is the more memorable, perhaps, from its having been the occasion of entailing, for many centuries, upon the English nation, the tax called Peter-pense, which Ina had originally granted for the maintenance of a Saxon College at Rome, and which Offa now conferred in perpetuity on the Papal See.

On his return to England, Offa again assembled his nobles and prelates at Verulam, (a circumstance which strongly intimates, that this ancient city was not even then wholly destitute of inhabitants,) and with them determined on further measures for the foundation of his Monastery. He resolved that its endowments should be ample, that its means of exercising hospitality might be sufficient for the entertainment of the numerous travellers whom its vicinity to the Watling Street would probably attract during their respective journies either to the Metropolis, or to the north. From houses of the most regular discipline, he assembled a convent of monks

Quandam ecclesiolam, ibidem extra, urbem Verolamium a neophytis in honorem beati martyris constructum, &c. M. Paris, p. 984.

monks to the tomb of the martyr; and appointing his relation, Willegod, as the Abbot, he began the establishment of his Monastery. The first stone of the new building was laid with great solemnity, and by his own hand. He recommended, with fervent prayer, the protection of his foundation to the Saviour and to St. Alban; pronounced maledictions on all who should disturb it, and invoked eternal blessings on those who should become its benefactors. "It is a curious fact, though completely in opposition to the general belief, and even contrary to the testimonies of several authors who have written expressly on the subject, that Offa did not erect a Church at St. Alban's; neither for the use of his monastery, nor for the greater honor of the Saint, for whose remains he had pro cured the glories of canonization. For. the knowledge of this circumstance, and for the perspicuity of the statement by which it commands assent, we are indebted to the Rev. Mr. Whitaker,* who, on perusing the pages of Matthew Paris with those keen principles of investigation which, springing from the comprehensiveness of his judgment, accompany his progress through all the mazes of laborious research, elicited the long hidden truth.† Offa, says the original historian, "at his own expense, constructed all the buildings, except an old edifice,which he found erected formerly out of the ancient edifices of the heathens.”‡ This edifice, though

Paris

* See his Ancient Cathedral of Cornwall,' Vol. II. p. 164—166.

t It must not be denied, however, that Mr. Whitaker, who has un dertaken to prove that the Church, constructed by the converted Britons on the site of St. Alban's martyrdom, forms a very considerable part of the Abbey Church now standing, has failed in resting his deductions, in support of this opinion, on the same basis of unimpeachable accuracy. This failure is, perhaps, to be attributed to his not having had an opportunity of personally inspecting the building, of the British origin of which he is so strenuous an advocate.

+ Adificia omnia præterquam pristinum, quod invenit de veteribus ædificiis Paganorum pridem factum; sumptibus propriis construxit. Matt. Paris, 986.

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