"
Of course the first name that suggests itself, as the author alluded
to, is that of Caius Julius Solinus. The latest date assigned as the
period when this celebrated writer flourished is A.D. 238 -- that is,
about 135 years before the birth of St. Patrick. To quote him as an
authority on the subject of St. Patrick's Purgatory would therefore
be a more absurd anachronism than any that has been pointed out in
this curious list. This difficulty appeared to me so strong, that
for a while I was led to believe that "Solino" was but a corrupted
Spanish form of "Joceline," or "Joscelino," as it is sometimes given,
whose 'Life of St. Patrick', written in the twelfth century, supplies
all the incidents of St. Patrick's early life recorded by Montalvan
and Calderon. He is also frequently referred to by Messingham. But
further reflection convinces me that the writer alluded to was in
reality the celebrated Latin author of the third century already
mentioned, Caius Julius Solinus.
Solinus has of course no allusion to St. Patrick's Purgatory; but in
his celebrated work, 'Polyhistor', compiled, it is thought, chiefly
from Pliny's Natural History, he has a remarkable chapter on Ireland.
Some of his statements are doubtful, and all are very curious; one of
them at least depriving St. Patrick, by anticipation, of one of his
most famous miracles.
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