Note 881 — Chapter VI
Reading edition
The Benedictines have written the life of Martin in their Hist. Lit. de la France, vol. i. part ii. pp. 413–417, Paris, 1733, 4to. They say that he erected the first monastery in Gaul: ‘Martin, toujours passionné pour la solitude, érigea un monastère qui fut le premier que l'on eût encore vû dans les Gaules,’ p. 414. At p. 415, they make the unnecessary admission, that the saint ‘n'avoit point étudié les sciences profanes.’ I may add, that the miracles of Martin are related by Fleury, who evidently believes that they were really performed. Fleury, Hist. Ecclésiastique, livre xvi. no. 31, vol. iv. pp. 215–217, Paris, 1758, 12mo. Neander, having the advantage of living a hundred years later than Fleury, is content to say, ‘the veneration of his period denominated him a worker of miracles.’ Hist. of the Church, vol. iv. p. 494. There is a characteristic anecdote of him, from Sulpitius Severus, in Mosheim's Eccles. Hist. vol. i. p. 123.