urried off from
Cucusus, with the intention of removing him to a still wilder and more
desolate place at the farthest border of the empire. He had to travel
rapidly in the height of summer, and the great heat renewed the ailments
from which he had often suffered. At length he became so ill that he
felt his end to be near, and desired the soldiers who had the charge of
him to stop at a town called Comana. There he exchanged his mean
travelling dress for the best which he possessed; he once more received
the sacrament of his Saviour's body and blood; and, after uttering the
words "Glory be to God for all things," with his last breath he added
"Amen!" (September 14th, 407).

Thirty years after this, Chrysostom's body was removed to
Constantinople. When the vessel which conveyed it was seen leaving the
Asiatic shore of the Bosphorus, a multitude, far greater than that
which had hailed his first return from banishment, poured forth from
Constantinople, in shipping and boats of all kinds, which covered the
narrow strait. And the emperor, Theodosius II., son of Arcadius and
Eudoxia, bent humbly over the coffin, and lamented with tears the guilt
of his parents in the persecution of the great and holy bishop.

CHAPTER XXI.

ST. AUGUSTINE.

A.D. 354-430.

PART I.

The church in the north of Africa has hardly been mentioned since the
time of St. Cyprian.[28] But we must now look towards it again, since in
the days of St. Chrysostom it produced a man who was perhaps the
greatest of all the old Christian fathers--St. Augustine.

[28] Chapter VIII.

Augustine was born at Thagaste, a city of Numidia, in the year 354. His
mother, Monica, was a pious Christian, but his father, Patricius, was a
heathen, and a man of no very good character. Monica was resolved to
bring up her son in the true faith: she entered him as a catechumen of
the Church when a little child, and carefully taught him as much of
religious things as a child could learn. But he was not then baptized,
because (as has been mentioned already)[29] people were accustomed in
those days to put off baptism, out of fear lest they should afterwards
fall into sin, and so should lose the blessing of the sacrament. This,
as we know, was a mistake, but it was a very common practice
nevertheless.

[29] Page 39.

When Augustine was a boy, he was one day suddenly taken ill, so that he
seemed likely to die. Remembering what his mother had taught him, he
begged that