in money for his own ransom, and that so no loss might be sustained by the slave's desertion. He also hoped to gain him as a convert, and thus bestow on him a richer kind of wealth. This charitable project was frustrated by the strange conduct of the master. He heard that Patrick was approaching, and he knew that his former slave's persuasive powers were such that he could convince him of anything that he wished. Lest therefore he should be converted by the instrumentality of him who had once been his bondsman, he gathered all his valuables together into a house, set fire to it, and himself perished in the flames.
Having thus ineffectually endeavoured to discharge what he considered to be his first duty, Patrick hastened to present himself at the court of King Leary, the monarch of all Ireland. This was an undertaking of the greatest risk, but it was one which if successful would open the way as nothing else could for the spread of the Gospel.
It may be well here to explain that there were at this time five kings in Ireland, each of whom ruled over one of the provinces, nearly conterminous with those into which Ireland is at present divided, except that a fifth province, Meath, now included in Leinster, was then a separate kingdom. One of these kings—generally the ruler of Meath—was styled Ard-Righ, or chief king; and to him the provincial kings were supposed to render the same loyalty as was in turn paid to them by the lesser chieftains who held sway in their several districts.
The story as told by the biographers is a striking one, though overloaded with those embellishments of miracle which they deemed essential to the proper dignity of a saint. They tell us that on Easter Eve in the year 433, Saint Patrick found himself on the
