the current and the wind were too powerful for them. They then had recourse to prayer, but this did not seem to avail them for some time, which was disconcerting, as a number of spectators from among the common people had gathered together on the other side of the river. As the monks sadly watched the rafts drawn out to sea, until they looked like five little birds floating on the waves, the people began to jeer at them, deeming that those who despised the ways of other mortals, and who had introduced a new rule of life, deserved to suffer such a calamity. For this attitude Cuthberht rebuked them, saying it would be more seemly if they joined their prayers to those of the brethren; but they remained churlish, saying, "Let no one pray for them! May God have no pity on those who have robbed us of our old worship so that no one knows how to observe it now!" Thereupon Cuthberht bent his head to the ground and the wind abated, and the monks were able to turn round and to bring back the rafts again to the beach, with those who steered them, and to lay them alongside the monastery. We are told the rustics were ashamed of their conduct. Bede claims to have heard this story from a most approved monk of his monastery.
It would seem that St. Cuthberht, like St. Chad, accepted the decision of the Council of Whitby as decisive and conformed to the Roman rule, of which, according to Bede, he then became an ardent champion.
VOL. III.—2
