LETTER II.

FIRST INTRODUCTION OF CHRISTIANITY.

SIR,

WE know that Julius Cæsar invaded Great Britain fifty-four years before the birth of Christ; that it was invaded by the Saxons, four hundred and forty-nine years after the christian æra. It is probable, that christianity was disseminated over parts of England during the apostolic age. This was universally believed by our ancestors; some have called it the first of the three conversions of England to christianity. We are informed by the venerable Bede, and by several of our early historians, that, about the one hundred and seventeenth year of the christian æra, pope Eleutherius, on the application of Lucius, a British prince, the third in descent from Caractacus, and particularly favoured by the Romans, commissioned two clergymen Fugatius and Damianus, to preach the gospel to the Britons. This has been called the second of the three conversions of Britain to christianity. Doctor Heylin* asserts, that Lucius procured archiepiscopal sees to be erected at York, Caerleon upon Usk, and London, for the northern, southern, and western parts of England; and suffragan

bishops to be assigned to each. The concurrent testimonies of Tertullian, Eusebius, and Thesodoret, show, that christianity made a considerable progress in the island, particularly in its southern parts. It was favoured by the extirpation of the religion of the Druids, whom the Roman arms had expelled into Wales. The general persecution of christianity, by the emperor Dioclesian, severely visited the christians of Britain. St. Alban, and Julius and Aaron of Caerleon, suffered death for the faith of Christ: the former is styled the protomartyr of Britain; his memory was always singularly venerated by the catholics of England.

That much in the history of the two first conversions of England is questionable, cannot be doubted. But does not equal doubt, at least, attend the early history, whether sacred or profane, of every nation? Those who have read the learned and entertaining discussions of M. Frérêt, and M. Beaufort, on the History of the Five First Centuries of Rome, must admit, that the popular accounts of the two first conversions of England are entitled to as much credit as the accounts given by the historians of Rome of the early period of her history; and that the documents, on which the history of the first conversions of England depend, approach much nearer than those of the antient Romans to historical certitude. It seems difficult to deny that they favour the catholic doctrine of the pope's supremacy, and his right of general

superintendance over the spiritual concerns of the church of Christ *.

This letter was written, after having considered all the authorities collected upon the subject, in the first tome of the "Annales Ecclesiæ Anglicanæ, auctore R. Patre Michaele "Alfordo, alias Griffith, Anglo, Societatis Jesu Theolego;" in four large folio volumes. His extracts from the original authors are so copious as to leave the reader, who wishes for original information, hardly any thing to desire. The writer also had perused with great attention the six first chapters of the first part of father Persons's "Treatise of the "Three Conversions of the Church of England,"-a learned work, now become exceedingly scarce.

IN this letter I shall particularly notice,-I. The conversion of the Anglo-Saxons to christianity :II. The conformity of the religion, the religious ceremonial, and the morality preached to them, to the religion, the religious ceremonial, and the morality now taught by the roman-catholic church: -III. Then consider your crimination of the Anglo-Saxon clergy, for their practices on the ignorance and credulity of the people :-IV. The doctrine taught in their monasteries; the misrepresentation of it by two eminent protestant writers:-V. And the miracles performed in the roman-catholic church.

The Saxons of Ptolemy lay between the Oder and the Elbe; they afterwards extended themselves from the Elbe over the Ems, and reached Francia and Thuringia on the south. Harderick was the first of their kings. whose name is known to us; he reigned ninety years before Christ. To him Hengist, who with his brother Horsia invaded England in 434, was fourteenth in succession. These princes, and their successors, made a complete conquest of England; they extirpated the pagan religion of Rome, established their own superstition throughout the island, and drove the Britons, who professed christianity, into Wales, Ireland and Scotland.

III. 1.

History of the Conversion of the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity.

SACRED history contains nothing more edifying than the account of the conversion of the AngloSaxons. "It has often been remarked as a pecu"liar merit of the christian religion, that it neither "arose from ambition, nor was propagated by the "sword. It appealed unoffendingly to the reason, "the sensibility, the virtue, and the interest of "mankind; and it established itself in every pro"vince of the Roman empire. When the torrent ❝ of barbarians overspread Europe, to the destruction "of all arts and knowledge, christianity fell in the general wreck. Soon however in some districts "she raised her mild and interesting form, and the savages yielded to her benign influence.

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"Among the Anglo-Saxons, her conquest over "the fierce and wild paganism, to which our an"cestors adhered, was not begun, till France, and even Ireland, had submitted to her laws; but it "was accomplished in a manner worthy of her be"nevolence and purity.

"General piety seems to have led the first mis"sionaries to our shores; and the excellence of "the system they diffused, made their labours "successful."

With these expressions, our learned friend, Mr. Sharon Turner, introduces his account of