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seminary was restored, and soon boasted of a 'crowd of students, and a great store of books.' Among other pupils educated under Master Stephen were two friends, named Wolfgang and Henry. Wolfgang was a student of Bruno's type, possessing an avidity for all sorts of learning; and though he began his school life at seven, he is said in a few years not only to have acquired an extensive acquaintance with the letter of the Scriptures, but to have penetrated into the pith and marrow of their mystical sense. His father had thought it sufficient to place him under a certain priest, to receive a very scanty elementary education, but Wolfgang entreated that he might be sent to Reichenau, which then enjoyed a high reputation; and here he first met with his friend Henry. Henry was the younger, brother of Bishop Boppo, and easily persuaded Wolfgang to migrate with him to Wurtzberg, for the sake of studying under the famous Master Stephen. It soon appeared, however, that the disciple was more learned than the master, and when the Wurtzburg students found Master Stephen's lectures very dull, or very obscure, they were in the habit of applying to Wolfgang, who possessed that peculiar gift of perspicacity which marked him from his boyhood as called to the functions of teaching. Moreover, he was so kind, and so willing to impart his knowledge, that his companions declared he made daylight out of the darkest matters; when Stephen's prosy abstruseness had fairly mystified them, five words from Wolfgang seemed like the Fiat lux, and these observations reaching the ears of Stephen, had the proverbial fate of all comparisons. At last, one day, when Wolfgang was surrounded by a knot of his school-fellows, who entreated him to expound a passage in Marcian Capella, Master Stephen, moved to jealous anger, forbade Wolfgang any longer to attend the lectures. This ungenerous command obliged him to continue his studies alone, but he seems to have lost little by being deprived of the benefit of an instructor, whom he had already far outstripped in learning.

Henry and Boppo were both of them relatives of Otho, who, in 956, caused the former to be raised to the archbishopric of Treves. Henry insisted on carrying his friend with him into his new diocese, and wished to load him with benefices and honors, all of which, however, Wolfgang refused. He would accept of no other employment than that of teaching youth, for which he knew his aptitude, and which he heartily loved; and, in the true spirit of a Christian teacher, he chose to discharge this office gratuitously, not as a means of private gain, but as a work for souls, even supporting many of his scholars out of his own purse. He cared as much for their spiritual as their intellectual progress, and set them the example of a holy and mortified life. The archbishop, is despair at not being able to promote him as he desired, at last got him to accept the office of dean to a certain college of canons. Wolfgang did not allow the dignity to be a nominal one, but obliged his canons to embrace community life, and to commence a course of sacred studies, assuring them that the sustenance of the inner man is as necessary as that of the body. Archbishop Henry dying in 964, Wolfgang, who had only remained at Treves out of affec-. tion to him, prepared to return into Swabia, which was his native country. But Bruno had his eye on him, and inviting him to Cologne, offered him every dignity, even the episcopate itself, if he would only remain in his duchy. Wolfgang, though he persisted in refusing to accept any promotion, felt himself obliged to pass some time at the prince-bishop's court, and testified afterwards

to the fact of his great sanctity. Finding that he could not move the resolution of his friend, Bruno at last reluctantly allowed him to return to Swabia, where he remained only just long enough formally to renounce his hereditary possessions, after which he withdrew to Einsidlen, and took the monastic habit under the English abbot Gregory.

ST. UDALRIC OF AUGSBURGH.

Udalric was a scholar of St. Gall's, and had given marks of sanctity even during his school days. A minute account of his manner of life when archbishop, is given in the beautiful life written by his friend Gerard. Let it suffice to say, that besides singing the Divine Office in the cathedral with his canons, and daily celebrating two or three masses (a privilege then permitted to priests, as we learn from Walafrid Strabo), he every day recited the entire Psalter, the Office of our lady, together with that of the Holy Cross, and of All Saints; that he entertained a number of poor persons at his table, exercised hospitality on a right loyal scale, administered strict justice to his people, and courageously defended them against the oppression of their feudal lords; finally, that he took particular care of the education of his clergy, and directed the studies of his cathedral school in person, noue being better fitted to do so than himself. When he made the visitation of his diocese, he traveled in a wagon drawn by oxen, which he preferred to riding on horseback, as it enabled him to recite the Psalms with his chaplains with less interruption. In this arrangement he certainly displayed a sound discretion, for in the ancient chronicles of these times, more than one story is preserved of the disasters which befell traveling monks and bishops, owing to their habit of reading on horseback. His cathedral city of Augsburgh was repeatedly attacked by the Huns; and during one of their sieges, the holy bishop, sending the able-bodied men to the walls, collected all the infants in arms whom he could find, and laying them on the floor of the cathedral, before the altar, prostrated himself in prayer, hoping that their tender cries might ascend as prayer before the Throne of God. His prayers were heard, and Augsburgh was delivered. Such was the prelate who at last succeeded in drawing Wolfgang out of his retirement, and compelling him to receive priestly ordination. And in 972 the Emperor Otho II., at the united entreaties of his bishops, appointed him Bishop of Ratisbon, which he governed for twenty-two years, never, however, laying aside his monastic habit. Henry, duke of Bavaria, thoroughly understood his merits, and knowing his love of the office of teaching, entreated him to take charge of his four children, St. Henry, afterwards emperor of Germany, St. Bruno, who succeeded Udalric in the diocese of Augsburgh, and the two princesses, Gisela and Brigit, who both died in the odor of sanctity. The singular blessing which attended bis labor with these and other noble children committed to his care, gave rise to a proverb which deserves remembrance: 'Find saints for masters, and we shall have saints for emperors.'

ST. BERNWARD OF HILDESHEIM.

Emperor Otho II. was brought up among the canons of Hildesheim, and acquired there a taste for letters, which was still further increased by his marriage with the Greek princess Theophania, who was brought up at Constantinople, then the center of all that remained of the old imperial civilization. She

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infused into the court circle a rage for Greek literature, and Gerbert speaks in one of his letters of the "Socratic conversation" which he found among the learned men who thronged the company of the empress. As guardian of the young Emperor Otho III., she secured the services, as tutor, of a noble Saxon named Bernward. He was nephew to Folcmar, bishop of Utrecht, who sent him when a child of seven years old to be educated in the episcopal school of Hildesheim, by the grave and holy master Tangmar. This good old man, who afterwards wrote his life, received him kindly, and to test his capacities, set him to learn by heart some of the select passages from Holy Scripture which were usually given to beginners. Little Bernward set himself to learn and meditate on them with wonderful ardor, and associating himself to the most studious of his companions, tried with their help thoroughly to master, not only the words, but the hidden sense of his lessons. As he was not yet judged old enough to join any of the classes, he sat apart by himself, but listened attentively to the lecture of the master, and the explanations which he gave, and was afterwards found reproducing the same in a grave and sententious manner for the edification of his younger school-fellows. Surprised and delighted at these marks of precocious genius, Tangmar spared no pains in the cultivation of so promising a scholar, and had him constantly by his side. Whenever I went abroad on the business of the monastery,' he says, 'I used to take him with me, and I was always more and more struck by his excellent qualities. We often studied the whole day as we rode along on horseback, only more briefly than we were used to do in school; at one time exercising ourselves in poetry, and amusing ourselves by making verses, at another, arguing on philosophic questions. He excelled no less in the mechanical than in the liberal arts. He wrote a beautiful hand, was a good painter, and an equally good sculptor and worker in metals, and had a peculiar aptitude for all things appertaining to household and domestic affairs.' Under the care of so devoted a master, the boy Bernward, as the old man always called him, grew up to be a wise and learned man. He had that singular ardour for acquiring knowledge which seems one of the gifts poured out over ages in which its pursuit is hedged about with difficulties that must necessarily discourage a more ordinary amount of zeal. Bernward always read during meal times, and when unable to read himself, he got some one to read to him. His reputation determined Theophania to choose him as tutor to her son, who made great progress under his care, and was then sent to finish his education in the school of the famous Gerbert. Bernward meanwhile was appointed bishop of Hildesheim, and in the midst of his episcopal functions, continued to cultivate literature and the fine arts. He made time by employing the day in business and the night in prayer. He founded scriptoria in many monasteries, and collected a valuable library of sacred and profane authors. He tried to bring to greater perfection the arts of painting, mosaic work, and metal work, and made a valuable collection of all those curiosities of fine art which were brought to Otho's court as presents from foreign princes. This collection Bernward used as a studio, for the benefit of a number of youths whom he brought up and instructed in these pursuits. It is not to be said what he did for his own cathedral, supplying it with jeweled missals, thuribles, and chalices, a huge golden corona which hung from the center of the roof, and other like ornaments. The walls he painted with his own hands. The visitor to Hildesheim may still admire the rich

bronze gates, sixteen feet in height, placed in the cathedral by its artist-bishop, the crucifix adorned with filagree-work and jewels, made by his own hands, and the old rose-tree growing on the cloister, which tradition affirms him to have planted.

His manner of life is minutely described by his old tutor Tangmar. After high mass every morning he gave audience to any who desired to speak to him, heard causes, and administered justice with great readiness and promptitude. Then his almouer waited on him, and accompanied him to the distribution of his daily alms, for every day a hundred poor persons were fed and relieved at his palace. After this he went the round of his workshops, overlooking each one's work and directing its progress. At the hour of nine he dined with his clerks. There was no worldly pomp observable at his table, but a religious silence, all being required to listen to the reading, which was made aloud.

BENNON, BISHOP OF MISNIA-ST. MEINWERC OF PADERBORN. Bishop Bennon of Misnia belonged to the family of the counts of Saxony, and was placed under the care of St. Bernward at five years of age. The restored monastery of Hildesheim, dedicated to St. Michael, of course possessed its school, which was presided over by Wigger, a very skillful master, under whose careful tuition Bennon thrived apace. Now as the age was learned,' writes the good canon Jerome Enser-who little thought in what light that same age would come to be regarded—' as the age was learned, and cultivated humane letters, as may be seen by the lives and writings of so many eminent men, Wigger would not allow the child committed to his care to neglect polite letters; so he set him to work at once to learn to write, being careful to transcribe his copies himself. And how well Bennon profited from these early lessons might yet be seen by any who chose to examine the fine specimens which were preserved in the Church of Misnia when Jerome Enser wrote his biography. After this Wigger exercised his pupil in the art of reading, and that of composing verses, taking care to remove from his way every thing offensive to piety or modesty. Bennon had a natural gift of versification, and soon learnt to write little hymns and poems by way of amusement. His progress

and his boyish verses endeared him to his masters, and indeed, adds Jerome, 'he was beloved by God and man.' None showed him more affection than St. Bernward, who was now overwhelmed with the infirmities of old age, though his mind was as bright and active as ever. During the last five years of his life he was entirely confined to his bed, and all this time little Bennon proved his chief solace. Sometimes he read aloud to his beloved father. Sometimes he made verses, or held disputations to entertain him; never would he leave his side, discharging for him all the offices of which his youth was capable. When at last death drew near, Bernward called the child to him together with his master Wigger, and addressed to him a touching exhortation. 'If by reason of thy tender age,' he said, 'thou canst not thyself be wise, promise me never to depart from the side of thy preceptor that he may be wise for thee, and that so thou mayest be preserved from the corruptions of the world whilst thy heart is yet soft and tender. Yea, if thou lovest me, love and obey him in all things, as holding the place of thy father.' Then he kissed the child's little hand, and placed it in that of Wigger, and soon after departed this life, rich in good works, and secure of a heavenly reward.

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St. Meinwerc, who like Bennon was a pupil of Hildesheim, where he studied along with his cousin St. Henry of Bavaria, and the prince, even after he became emperor, remembered their school-boy days together, and was fond of putting him in mind of them by sundry tricks that savored of the grown-up school-boy. Meinwerc was not much of a scholar himself, but when he became bishop of Paderborn, he showed a laudable zeal in promoting good scholarship among his clergy. In fact, he was the founder of those famous schools of Paderborn which are described as flourishing in divine and human science, and which were perfected by his nephew and successor, Imadeus. The boys were all under strict cloisteral discipline; there were professors of grammar, logic, rhetoric, and music; both the trivium and quadrivium were there taught, -together with mathematics, physics, and astronomy.

ST. ADALBERT OF PRAGUE.

St. Adalbert of Prague was sent to Magdeburg by his parents for education. They were of the Bohemian nation, and had vowed to offer their son to God, should be recover of a dangerous sickness. Before he left his father's house he had learnt the Psalter, and under Otheric, the famous master then presiding over the school of Magdeburg, he made as much progress in sanctity as in learning. He had a habit of stealing away from the school-room in the midst of his studies to refresh his soul with a brief prayer in the church, after which he hastened back and was safe in his place again before the coming of his master. To conceal his acts of charity from the eyes of others, he chose the night hours for visiting the poor, and dispensing his abundant alms. It often happened that when Otheric was out of the school, the boys would divert them. selves with games more or less mischievous, to relieve the weary hours of study. Adalbert seldom took part in these pastimes, neither would he share in those stealthy little feasts, which they sometimes held in obscure corners, where they contrived to hide from Otheric's quick eye the sweets and other dainties furnished them, as we must suppose, by some medieval tart-woman. However, if Adalbert was proof against this last-named temptation, it appears he was not altogether superior to the love of play, and that when his master's back was turned, he did occasionally throw aside his books and indulge in a game of ball. When such delinquencies came to the ears of Otheric, he did not spare the rod, and on these occasions, observes his biographer, with cruel pleasantry, Adal, bert was often known to speak in three languages. For it was a strict rule that the boys were always to talk Latin in the school-room, and never allow the ears of their master to catch the sound of a more barbarous dialect.. When the rod was produced, therefore, Adalbert would begin by entreating indul. gence in classic phraseology, but so soon as it was applied, he would call out for mercy in German, and finally in Sclavonic. After nine years' study at Magdeburg, Adalbert returned to Bohemia, with the reputation of being spec-ially well read in philosophy, and taking with him a useful library of books, which he had collected during his college career. After his consecration as

bishop of Prague, at the early age of twenty-seven, he is said never again to have been seen to smile. Twice the hard-heartedness of his people compelled him to abandon his diocese, and after his departure the second time, he traveled as missioner into the then heathen and barbarous provinces of Prussia, where he met with his martyrdom in the year 997. A Sclavonic hymn formerly sung by the Poles when going into battle, is attributed to this saint.

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