St. Ammon of Arabia was a Christian hermit, who was originally a man of rank and wealth, and who travelled in the latter part of the eighth century through France, Spain, and Italy. At the age of forty-eight, he betook himself to a solitary part of Arabia Felix, where he built himself a hut, and observed the most austere rules of discipline. He was often visited by groups of Christian pilgrims, who were delighted with the courteousness of his demeanour, and the erudition of his conversation. He has left a biographical sketch of his life and travels, from which it appears that he had been led to dip into the writings of Celsus and Porphyry, and that the orthodoxy of his creed had been considerably damaged by this step. He describes the progress of his own doubts with great feeling; but he seems to have come out of this contest unscathed and harmless. His declarations on this point are, however, very curious. "No one can more firmly believe in all the doctrines and mysteries of the Church than I do at the present moment; but then it is a belief bolstered up and supported by an immense framework of discussion and argumentation. It does not sit easily on my mind, like unto my former and first belief. I live, as it were, like a soldier in a foreign and hostile land, where I have always to be prepared for conflicts, and can never anticipate from what quarter opposition may spring. I am like a monarch, surrounded on all sides with insidious foes, and having an extended territorial line to defend."

He says,

This solitary is chiefly known for a poem on the "Burning of the Alexandrian Library." There are translations of it in Spanish. It commences by de

scribing the death-like stillness which prevailed ere the fire was discovered; its progress from one part of the building to another, and the general consternation which seized all classes of the people of Alexandria, when they saw that the entire stock of books and manuscripts was doomed to be for ever lost. We shall make an effort to give the sense of the author, in two or three quotations from this singular production :

Alas! what mental treasures perish'd there,
And shone their last in that destroying glare!
Beneath yon ashes Philo's laurels lie,
And works immortal deem'd for ever die.
The surging waves of that remorseless fire,
Pile o'er man's noblest toils their funeral pyre.
From hall to hall the insatiate fury flies,
Now climbs the roof, and now the walls defies;
Runs up the battlements of yon tall tower;
And flouts the trophies of Egyptian power;
Darts in fierce triumph on each temple's pride,
And showers with mad delight perdition wide;
Flares in grim rapture o'er the sacred dome,
Where mild-eyed science built her favourite home;
And on those groves its direst vengeance flung,
Where sages mused and long-lost poets sung.

In another paragraph of the poem, the fancy of the writer carries him back to the many distinguished men who had obtained their education at this university, and had consulted the literary treasures the library contained, and which were now consumed by the devouring elements:

:

Oh! sacred pile! oh philosophic porch!

Where ancient learning burnt her steadiest torch,
Here did the Christian Church her children rear,
And train'd their spirits for their work of fear,

And wisely taught her sons the sword to wield,
Which human wisdom to their grasp must yield.
Here did the martyr Justin yearn in youth

To drink deep draughts from streams of holiest truth.
Here did the bright-soul'd Origen assay

His mental weapons for a sterner day.
The bold Tertullian, he of soul sublime,

Fierce as his race, and fiery as his clime,

Here steep'd his boyish heart in musings sweet,

And felt the influence of the Paraclete;

Began his high career of fame and pride,
And bound his spirit to the crucified.
Here, too, the faith unfurl'd its standard high,
Against the banded ranks of heresy ;
Here Athanasius did the Church reform,
And stem the torrent wide of Arian storm.

*

At length 'tis done. The dying embers red
On many a rood of smoking ruin spread;
But choked and dimm'd beneath these ruins lie
Old Egypt's learning, wisdom, mystery.

There lie the fragments of her noblest fame

There lie the ashes of her ancient name;

Quench'd in that fell volcano's smothering shower,

There lies her wealth-there lies her pride-her power.

The last lines of the poetic effusion are of a denunciatory and prophetic character:

Oh! dire fanatic! if thy impious hand

Hurl'd, amidst these sacred fanes, the accursed brand;

If from thy lips the reckless mandate came

That wrapt these temples in a sea of flame;

If from some wild desire the faith to drown

Of HIM whose hand must strike the crescent down,

Thou wrought'st this hideous deed, then well repaid
The sacrilegious scheme thy malice laid.

Behold the Moslem, sunk and trampled now,
The wreath of conquest torn from off his brow;
His fame, his wealth, his influence waning fast,
And all but baffled pride for ever past;

Whilst his high Sultan, famed Byzantium's lord,
Quails 'neath the frown of some barbarian horde!
And thou, too, Omar, mark thy destiny!

Yon stern avenger will not let thee die ;

But stamps on Time's broad page thine odious name,
And bids thee live embalm'd in lasting shame!*

We must now hasten to a close. We have given this very short sketch of the Literature of the early Christian Hermits of the East for two reasons. First, the subject is new, in this country at least. There have been scattered notices on the matter in a few foreign publications, but no regular dissertations that have come under our observation. Secondly, we are convinced that historians and ecclesiastical writers will find many valuable and curious materials in this hitherto partially worked quarry of ancient thought and contemplation. We have ourselves only ventured a little within the threshold of this sanctuary; but we have seen enough to assure us that much is hidden which would well repay the labour and toil of exhumation.

* "Los Pedros del Dcsièrto,” vol ii., Art. Pelagius. Madrid.

NOTES OF AN ANTIQUARY ON THE SYMBOLICAL REPRESENTATION OF FISH,

ANTIQUARIES make the fish the symbol of Jesus Christ. A fish is sculptured on a number of Christian monuments, and more particularly on the ancient sarcophagi. It is either single, or attended by other attributes, and is placed beneath funeral inscriptions. It is seen likewise upon medals bearing the effigy of our Saviour, and upon engraved stones and intaglios. The fish is also to be remarked upon the amulets worn suspended from the necks of children, and upon ancient glasses and sepulchral lamps. Montfauçon mentions a mosaic in the cathedral of Ravenna, in which the fish is introduced as symbolic of Christians. M. le Marquis Fortia d'Urban is in possession of a white chalcedon, on the base of the cone of which there is a figure of our Saviour, with the name XPICTOY, and the image of a fish. This belongs to the period of Alexander Severus.* There are likewise eight Christian monuments mentioned by M. de Belloc, on which fish are depicted; two cornelians, two engraved stones used as seals, one gold ring, an amethyst, and a sardonyx. Besides these he has given us a sepulchral lamp, representing fishes, dolphins, and a man fishing with a line.†

* Rochette, "Types de Christianisme," p. 21.

"La Vierge au Poisson de Raphael." Lyon, 1833.