[11] Cujus porcorum, pastor erat. Usser. Brit. Eccl. Antiq. p. 431.
[12] Et ibi Dominus aperuit sensum incredulitatis meæ, ut vel sero remorarem delicta mea, et ut converterer torto corde ad Dominum Deum meum. Patr. Confess. Usser. 431.
Such words as these from the lips of a swineherd in the green pastures of Ireland set clearly before us the Christianity which in the fourth and fifth centuries converted many souls in the British isles. In after-years, Rome established the dominion of the priest and salvation by forms, independently of the dispositions of the heart; but the primitive religion of these celebrated islands was that living Christianity whose substance is the grace of Jesus Christ, and whose power is the grace of the Holy Ghost. The herdsman from the banks of the Clyde was then undergoing those experiences which so many evangelical Christians in those countries have subsequently undergone. "The love of God increased more and more in me," said he, "with faith and the fear of His name. The Spirit urged me to such a degree that I poured forth as many as a hundred prayers in one day. And even during the night, in the forests and on the mountains where I kept my flock, the rain, and snow, and frost, and sufferings which I endured, excited me to seek after God. At that time, I felt not the indifference which now I feel: the Spirit fermented in my heart."[13] Evangelical faith even then existed in the British islands in the person of this slave, and of some few Christians born again, like him, from on high.
[13] Ut etiam in sylvis et monte manebam, et ante lucem excitabar ad orationem per nivem, per gelu, per pluviam...... quia tunc Spiritus in me fervebat. Patr. Confess. Usser, 432.
Twice a captive, and twice rescued, Succat, after returning to his family, felt an irresistible appeal in his heart. It was his duty to carry the Gospel to those Irish pagans among whom he had found Jesus Christ. His parents and his friends endeavoured in vain to detain him; the same ardent desire pursued him in his dreams. During the silent watches of the night he fancied he heard voices calling to him from the dark forests of Erin: "Come, holy child, and walk once more among us." He awoke in tears, his breast filled with the keenest emotion.[14] He tore himself from the arms of his parents, and rushed forth--not as heretofore with his playfellows, when he would climb the summit of some lofty hill--but with a heart full of charity in Christ. He departed: "It was not done of my own strength," said he; "it was God who overcame all."