york00orns

'
3° YORK.
austere and hard upon hearers who possess but scant
knowledge and have had but few opportunities of
instruction. Thou shouldest have borne in mind the
Apostle's words, and nourished them first, as babes,
with the milk of God's word— its simplest and plainest
precepts—till they should be capable of more advanced
instruction and of receiving a sublimer teaching."
The speaker ceased, but he had struck a chord
which vibrated long. The eyes of all were fastened
upon him, and they speedily agreed that no one could
be so fitted for the work as the brother who had given
such wise and loving counsel.
[a.d. 635.] Aidan was accordingly consecrated
bishop, and sent into Northumbria in the summer of
635. On his arrival the king assigned him, at his own
request, the small island of Lindisfarne as his episcopal
seat. To Aidan it commended itself in all
probability from its likeness to the Isle of Hii, or
lona, which had for him all the charms of early associations.
Its seclusion, moreover, specially adapted
it to be the home of a monastic family. Twice every
day it was encircled with water :
' For with the flow and ebb, its style
Varies from continent to isle." Marmion, c. 2.
Oswald's choice of it in preference to York as the
seat of the bishop was possibly owing to its proximity
to the royal fortress of Hamburgh rising proudly on
its lofty basaltic rock. The organisation of the
church over which Aidan presided was the same as
the Columban church of lona. The bishop was a
monk, and led a monastic life with his people. The