Page:The ecclesiastical history of England and Normandy vol 2.djvu/335

an excellent example to all who were under his government. Geoffrey was of middle stature, tall and thin, so that not being burdened with flesh, his activity was remarkable. In his humility he heard with attention the words of instruction and doctrine which fell from the lips of others, and frequently made diligent inquiries from his equals and inferiors on subjects with which he was very well acquainted, listening to them with the deference of a disciple. He handled the lessons of the divine law with overflowing eloquence, and skilfully explained the most profound doctrines by his lucid dissertations. Having assumed the profession of a monk when he was a young man of the age of twenty-three years, he was a soldier of the most high King forty-six years, and gave to the world the fruits of his penetrating genius and deep meditations in metrical poems, eloquent epistles, and other works. I will extract from them, and insert' in this book of mine, an account of one miracle which he learnt when he was at Thorney Abbey in England with Abbot Robert,^[1] and committed to writing, at the request of the bishop of Ely^[2] and the convent of monks. The following is the text of the letter:^[3]—

"To all the faithful sons of holy church, and especially to those who are subject to the rule of the excellent father Benedict, Hervey, the humblest servant of the servants of God and the unworthy minister of the church of Ely, sendeth greeting, and trusts that what is well begun may be happily ended. It is our wish to publish for the praise and honour of St. Benedict, the patron of monks, a circumstance worthy to be recorded as most agreeable to those who hear it, most useful to those who retain it in their memories, and perhaps very profitable to those who are at present ignorant of it.

"In the time of Henry, king of England and duke of Normandy, in the sixteenth year of his reign over England and the tenth of his government of the duchy,^[4] there was on the

 

1. Robert was abbot of Thorney (in Cambridgeshire), 1113–1151.
2. Hervey, first bishop of Ely, 1108–1130, Henry I. having erected the bishopric in October; 1108.
3. This letter, though bearing the name of the bishop of Ely, was in fact written by Warin des Essarts, as our author tells us.
4. Henry I., crowned king of England, August 5, 1100, obtained