And so, to the day of his summons, he used, from his indefatigable desire for heavenly blessings, to tame his aged body with daily fasting ; and he was the salvation of many, not only by his actions, but also by his example. A.D. 700. Brithricus, count of Northumberland, wishing to avenge his lord, king Egfred, invaded the land of the Picts in a hostile manner ; but he fell, like his lord, feeling the effects of the curses of the Irish. And so he was slain by the people of the Picts. About the same time, the Romans overran Syria, and slew twenty thousand Saracens. A.D. 701. A good and learned man flourished, by name Adamannus, a priest, and the abbot of those monks who were in the island of Hii. He being sent as an ambassador to king Mind, when he saw the rites of the ecclesiastical institution, and of the observance of the feast of Easter, was at once drawn over to agree to them. And when he had returned home, he laboured to lead his flock, who were in the island of Hii, into the way of truth ; but he could not succeed, and so he sailed to Ireland, and there he brought over almost all the people to observe the legitimate time of Easter. And this man of God also wrote a book on the place of our Lord's nativity, passion, and ascension, and gave a wonderful description of the character of the Holy Land. A.D. 702. John was elected to the See of Rome, and held it three years, two months, and thirteen days ; and the see was vacant one month and thirteen days. A.D. 703. Saint Benedict, an English abbot, after a praiseworthy life, rested in the Lord by a glorious death. This man of God was born of a noble family of the English nation, and in hie youth he served in the army. Afterwards, though he was a servant of King Oswy, and had received from him DO small estate, being the king's own gift, he despised all the perishable things of the world for the sake of Christ, and went to Rome, that he might there become instructed in ecclesiastical discipline, and apply himself to spiritual warfare, by which he might benefit himself and others, and be found a useful servant in the cultivation of the Lord's vineyard ; and returning from Rome to the island of Saint Honorât, he joined a company of monks, received the tonsure, and having been regularly educated for two years, he then returned a second time to the threshold of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul ; at which time, when Pope Vitalianus had sent Theodore, arch