te
myself to the teaching of the poor. Therein above all should I
perceive how it was the hand of God that had touched me, when I
should devote my life to the study of letters in freedom from the
snares of the flesh and withdrawn from the tumultuous life of this
world. Thus, in truth, should I become a philosopher less of this
world than of God.

The abbey, however, to which I had betaken myself was utterly
worldly and in its life quite scandalous. The abbot himself was as
far below his fellows in his way of living and in the foulness of
his reputation as he was above them in priestly rank. This
intolerable state of things I often and vehemently denounced,
sometimes in private talk and sometimes publicly, but the only
result was that I made myself detested of them all. They gladly
laid hold of the daily eagerness of my students to hear me as an
excuse whereby they might be rid of me; and finally, at the
insistent urging of the students themselves, and with the hearty
consent of the abbot and the rest of the brotherhood, I departed
thence to a certain hut, there to teach in my wonted way. To this
place such a throng of students flocked that the neighbourhood
could not afford shelter for them, nor the earth sufficient
sustenance.

Here, as befitted my profession, I devoted myself chiefly to
lectures on theology, but I did not wholly abandon the teaching of
the secular arts, to which I was more accustomed, and which was
particularly demanded of me. I used the latter, however, as a hook,
luring my students by the bait of learning to the study of the true
philosophy, even as the Ecclesiastical History tells of Origen, the
greatest of all Christian philosophers. Since apparently the Lord
had gifted me with no less persuasiveness in expounding the
Scriptures than in lecturing on secular subjects, the number of my
students in these two courses began to increase greatly, and the
attendance at all the other schools was correspondingly diminished.
Thus I aroused the envy and hatred of the other teachers. Those who
sought to belittle me in every possible way took advantage of my
absence to bring two principal charges against me: first, that it
was contrary to the monastic profession to be concerned with the
study of secular books; and, second, that I had presumed to teach
theology without ever having been taught therein myself. This they
did in order that my teaching of every kind might be prohibited,
and to this end they cont