St, the apostle and the second bishop of Ireland, is supposed to have been born on the 5th of April 373, of a good family, at Kirkpatrick, near Dumbarton in Scotland. During some inroad of certain exiles from Ireland he was taken prisoner, and carried into that kingdom. After serving there for six years, and making himself master of the Irish language, he effected his escape, and returned home. It was about two years afterwards that he formed the design of converting the Irish. Repairing to the Continent to qualify himself for this undertaking, he studied under his mother's uncle, St Martin, Bishop of Tours, who ordained him deacon, and under St German, Bishop of Auxerre, who ordained him priest. Pope Celestine then consecrated him bishop, changed his name into Patricius or Patrick, and gave him a commission to evangelize the Irish. The new apostle reached his destination in 432, and landing, as some suppose, at Wicklow, proceeded to convert and baptize the natives. After labouring seven years indefatigably in this great work, he returned to Britain, which he delivered from the heresies of Pelagius and Arius. He then visited the Isle of Man, which he converted in 440. His return to Ireland took place in 448; and in thirteen years more the conversion of the whole island was completed. The remainder of his career was spent in superintending the monasteries of Armagh and Saul, which he had founded. After having established schools and an academy, he closed his life, in the 120th year of his age, in 493, and was buried at Down (now Downpatrick), in the same grave with St Brigid and St Columba. The genuine Works of St Patrick were collected and printed by Sir James Ware, 1656. There are no fewer than seven lives of the Irish apostle published in Colgan's Acta Triadis Thaumaturgos. (See also Annals of the Kingdoms of Ireland, by the Four Masters, edited by O'Donovan, Dublin, 1851.)

St, Order of, an institution of knighthood, founded in Ireland by Geo. III. On February 3, 1783, "The most illustrious Order of St Patrick" consists of the sovereign, a grand master (viz., the lord-lieutenant for the time being), and twenty-two knights.

Simon, a learned English bishop, and author of a number of useful works in practical divinity, was born at Gainsborough in Lincolnshire in 1626. He entered Queen's College, Cambridge, in 1644; and after taking orders, he became successively chaplain to Sir Walter St John, and vicar of the church at Battersea in Surrey. He Patroclus was afterwards preferred to the rectory of St Paul's, Covent Garden, London, where he continued during the plague of 1665 amongst his parishioners. In 1668 he published his *Friendly Debate between a Conformist and a Nonconformist*. This was answered by the dissenters, whom he had much exasperated; but by his moderation and candour towards them afterwards, they were greatly reconciled to him; and he is said to have gained over many of them to the communion of the Established Church. He was made dean of Peterborough in 1678, bishop of Chester in 1689, and bishop of Ely in 1691. In 1689 he was employed, with others of the new bishops, to settle the affairs of the church in Ireland. He died in 1707.

Bishop Patrick's sermons and devotional writings are very numerous. In this species of composition he was considered one of the happiest authors of his time; and his writings are still esteemed by pious Christians. His *Commentary on the Historical and Poetical Books of the Old Testament*, 14 vols., 4to and 8vo, London, 1695, &c., is the result of extensive reading, and, without being highly critical, continues to be one of the best in the language for practical purposes. He proceeded no farther than the Song of Solomon; and the commentaries of Lowth, Arnauld, Whitby, and Lowman are generally added to complete the work. (See a new edition, with the text printed at large, in 4 vols. imp. 8vo, 1853.) His works have never been published in a collected form; but a complete list of them will be found in Darling's *Cyclopaedia Bibliographica*, London, 1854. An autobiography of the bishop appeared at Oxford in 18mo, 1839.