und him, but
they could not burn so much as a hair of his head. This preservation
still more enraged the heathen, who threw him into a close hot oven,
and kept him there till next day. To their surprise, when the oven
was opened, they found the saint safe--neither his body being scorched
nor his clothes singed.

_St. Dunstan_ was thought by the ignorant people to be in league with
infernal spirits. When a boy, disease brought him to the point of
death, but he was restored to health by medicine brought to him by a
spirit riding in a storm. Feeling himself well again, Dunstan repaired
to the church to return grateful thanks. Satan met him on the way,
surrounded him with numerous fierce-looking black dogs, and
endeavoured to defeat his pious intention. Nothing daunted, the holy
saint pursued his way, and, by the assistance of an angel that came to
his help, he defeated the devil and his black dogs. Dunstan found the
church door shut; and to save time, lest Satan should overtake them
before entering the sacred edifice, the angel carried him through the
roof to the proper place of devotion. At another time, while St.
Dunstan was working at his forge, the devil attempted to lead him into
evil paths. The evil spirit appeared, not in a hideous form, but as a
beautiful young lady, all smiles and endearments. Though the hook was
skilfully concealed, the deception did not succeed: the saint knew the
arch-fiend, and suddenly taking a pair of red-hot tongs from the fire,
seized the fiend's nose with them, whereby the nasal organ was
disfigured for ever. The AEolian harp is thought to have been invented
by St. Dunstan, and he is said to have been able to play upon that
instrument without touching a string thereof. At one time, in
consequence of the high esteem in which harps were held, every person
of rank was supposed to possess one of these instruments, and to be
able to perform on it. Slaves were prohibited from performing on this
sacred instrument. Creditors were prevented by law from seizing for
debt a gentleman's harp, though everything else he possessed might be
sold to discharge his obligations.

_St. Columba_ was the apostle of the Highlands and Western Islands of
Scotland, and founder of the famous cathedral of Iona, long regarded
as the mother church of the Picts. Concerning this building he wrote
the prophetic lines, which have been in part verified:

"O sacred dome of my beloved abode!
Whose walls now echo to