ey would be rewarded according to their faith,
like the woman who had anointed the feet of our Lord. He also tried to
justify the use of candles by those passages of the Scriptures where an
allusion was made to _lamps and lights_; as, for instance, the parable of
the virgins, the expression of the Psalm cxix. 105, "Thy word is a lamp
unto my feet, and a light unto my path."

The rest of the arguments which St Jerome employs in refuting what he
calls the errors and heresies of Vigilantius are of a similar nature to
those which have been given above; and it is really astonishing to see
that a man like this celebrated father, who is generally considered as one
of the great luminaries of the church, not only by Roman Catholics, but
also by some Protestants, could descend to such miserable shifts, and
indulge in such violent language as he did, in his answer to Vigilantius,
which bears a strong mark of having been dictated more by his personal
feelings against his former friend and benefactor, than by a conviction of
the justice of the cause which he was defending on that occasion. It is,
however, evident from the other writings of the same father of the church,
that his imagination was much more powerful than his reasoning faculties,
and that he had entirely forgotten the precept of St Paul, to "_refuse
profane and old wives' fables_"--(1 Timothy iv. 7)--because no one has ever
indulged in more absurd fables than this good father did, in his lives of
St Hilarion and St Paul, two celebrated monks, and of which the following
is a fair specimen:--

"A Christian citizen of Majuma, called Italicus, kept horses for racing,
but was continually beaten by his rival, a pagan ducumvir of Gaza, who, by
using certain charms and diabolical incantations, contrived always to damp
the spirits of the Christian's horses, and to give vigour to his own.
Italicus applied, therefore, for help to St Hilarion, who, thinking that
it was improper to make prayers for such a frivolous object, advised
Italicus to sell his horses, and to give their price to the poor, for the
salvation of his soul. Italicus represented, however, that he was
discharging against his inclination the duties of a public office, and
that as a Christian could not resort to magical means, he addressed
himself to a servant of God, particularly as it was important to defeat
the inhabitants of Gaza, who were known as enemies of Christ, and that it
was not so much for his own interes