Although  St.  Patrick  did  not  in  the  ordinary  sense  of  the
word  establish  schools  such  as  are  frequently  mentioned  in
the  next  century,  he  not  only  trained   candidates  for  the
sacred  ministry  during  the  earliest  years  of  his  mission   but
also  seems  to  have  established  in  his  own  city  of  Armao-h  a
school  for  carrying  on  that  work  in  a  more   regular^and
efficient  manner.     Having  the  care  of  all  the  Churches  of
Ireland  on  his  own  shoulders,  he  could  not  govern  this  school
in  person.     But  we  are  told  that  he  placed  over  it  his  best
beloved  disciple  Benignus,  who  was,  so  far  as  we  can  judo-e
eminently  qualified  to  discharge  that  high  office.     Before'
however,  we  proceed  to  give  an  account  of  this  celebrated
school  of  Armagh,  it  will  be  necessary  to  give  a  short  account
of  the  writings  of  St.  Patrick  himself  and  of  those  attributed
to  the  more  eminent  amongst  his  disciples  and  contempor-
aries.
CHAPTER     IT.
THE  WRITINGS  OF  ST.  PATRICK  AND  OF
HIS   DISCIPLES.
"  A  ad  this  is  my  confession  before  I  die."

-^Confession  of  St.  Patrick.
The  writings  of  St.  Patrick  and  his  disciples  are  highly
interesting,  both  in  themselves,  and  in  the  eflects  which  they
produced  on  the  Irish  Church.  Fortunately  several  of  these
monuments  of  our  early  ecclesiastical  history  have  come  down
to  our  own  times,  and  no  rational  doubt  can  be  raised  about
their  authenticity  by  well-informed  scholars.
