ST.  Patrick's  education.  47

capital,  and  having  married  a  rich  and  noble  lady  he  settled
at  Auxerre,  where  he  was  made  governor  of  the  province.
He  was  passionately  devoted  to  the  chase,  and  used  to  hang
the  spoils  of  his  hunting  expeditions  on  a  stately  pear  tree
that  grew  in  the  centre  of  the  city,  where  they  were  eagerly
scanned  by  an  admiring  crowd.  The  Bishop,  St.  Amator,
not  relishing  this  vain  display,  had  the  tree  cut  down  in  the
absence  of  Germanus,  who,  hearing  of  this  outrage  on  the
chief  magistrate  of  the  city,  sought  out  the  prelate,  breathing
vengeance.  But  the  Bishop  seems  to  have  disarmed  his
resentment,  and  shortly  after,  sensible  of  his  own  approaching
end,  and  finding  G-ermahus  in  the  church,  he  ordered  the
doors  to  be  closed,  and  the  people  crowding  round  the
magistrate  took  off  his  fine  clothes,  while  Amator  tonsured
him  on  the  spot,  cutting  clean  away  all  his  flowing  hair.  The
event  proved  that  it  was  done  by  a  divine  inspiration.
After  the  death  of  Amator,  Germanus  became  Bishop  of
Auxerre,  and  led  a  life  of  extraordinary  virtue  and  a,usterity,
as  we  know  from  his  biography  written  by  an  almost  con-
temporary author,  Constantius.
