its inscription; and if it were adverse, the matter was deferred. Their usual battle-omen was a duel between a captive of the opposing nation and a Saxon, by which victory or defeat was supposed to be foretold.

The temples of the Danes and Saxons were originally only sacred groves and circles of rude stone; but when they began to erect 'edifices in imitation of other countries, there was a chapel or holy place belonging to each, containing the idol, set upon a kind of altar, before which stood another plated with iron for the holy fire, which burned continually; and near it was a vase for receiving the blood of the victims, with a brush for sprinkling it upon the people.

In connecting this view of British Paganism with the introduction of Christianity, it should be remarked, that when the Saxons came into Britain, it was struggling between departing Druidism and the Faith of Christ which was slowly advancing; and, as yet, had not begun to improve the characters either of the nation or its Priests. It was this weakness which caused the Northmen still to retain their wild idolatry, notwithstanding the many edicts issued against it by Emperors and Councils in the 6th, 7th, and 8th centuries; in the latter of which, Gregory exhorted the Saxons to abandon their idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, &c. This revival of Paganism in England was not wholly exterminated even in the 11th century; since Canute in one of his Laws says, "We strictly discharge and forbid all our subjects to worship the Gods of the Gentiles; that is to say, the Sun, Moon, Fires, Rivers, Fountains, Hills, or Trees, and Woods of any kind.

In concluding this subject, it remains only to refer the reader for additional particulars to Dr Henry's History of Great Britain, Book II. Chap. ii. Sect. 1.; Bishop Percy's translation of M. Mallet's Northern Antiquities, already cited; and Mr Sharon Turner's History of the Anglo-Saxons, Vol. I. Appendix to Book II. Chap. iii.

CHAPTER II.

INTRODUCTION AND ESTABLISHMENT OF CHRISTIANITY IN BRITAIN.

THE precise period when the light of Christianityfirst dawned upon Britain, and the ministers by whom it was first preached, are alike points of imperfect and disputed information. As they constitute, however, the leading features of the present chapter, it will be probably the best way of communicating what is known on these subjects, to treat of them in the same order.

1. Time of the Introduction of Christianity.Of this Island whilst it was under the Roman sway, Gildas declares that he could find no national record which treated of its Civil and Ecclesiastical affairs; and therefore concludes, that they must either have been destroyed by the enemies of Britain, or were carried into foreign countries by some of its exiled inhabitants. None of the ancient authors, however, which have since been discovered, attempt to fix the time when the Gospel was brought hither, though, from the concurrent testimony of others, it is believed to have been before the end, and perhaps even the middle of the first century, between a. D. 43, and A. D. 61. Tertullian, in his book against the Jews which was written A. D. 209, declares that those parts

of Britain into which the Roman arms had never penetrated, had become subject to Christ; whereby it is conjectured, that Christianity had then been for some time known in the Roman provinces in the south. Eusebius, a Bishop of Cæsarea, who flourished in the beginning of the fourth century, in asserting the truth of the Gospel, from the success of some of its Apostolical preachers in remote and distant countries, names the British Islands in the number and Theodoret, a Father of the Church who flourished in the fifth century, states that fishermen, tent-makers, and publicans, had persuaded many nations to embrace the faith of Christ, in the catalogue of which he mentions the Britons. Gildas, himself, also, when speaking of the revolt and defence of the Britons under Boadicea, A. D. 61, appears to fix the introduction of revealed religion to about the same period. Another argument in favour of this time is, that a Roman Province having been established in the southeast parts of Britain in A. D. 43, Pomponia Græcina, the wife of Aulus Plautius, the first Governor, was accused of having embraced a strange and foreign superstition; for which she was tried, and having been acquitted of any thing immoral, ever after led a gloomy and melancholy life. She is supposed to have been a Christian, and one of the first who brought the faith to Britain. It has also been thought that Claudia, mentioned with Pudens in 2. Timothy, iv. 21. (A. D. 66.) was the same British lady celebrated by Martial for her beauty and virtue. See Epig. book. iv. 13, xi. 54.

2. First Preachers of Christianity in Britain. -St James, St Simon Zelotes, St Peter, St Paul.

Aristobulus, and Joseph of Arimathea, have all been named as the means of converting the Britons, and perhaps all with equal improbability. The first of these has many partisans, who assert that he preached the Gospel in Spain, Britain, and other countries of the West; but it is almost impossible that this can be true, since St Luke, in Acts xii. 1, 2, relates that he was slain by Herod, in A. D. 44. The second is also stated to have preached in the West, and particularly in Britain, where he was martyred and buried; but the labours of this Apostle are usually believed to have been the East Indies. The principal advocate for St Peter is Simon Metaphrastes, who died A. D. 976, and is therefore not worthy of any very considerable credit; but he asserts, that this Apostle passed 23 years in Britain, where, having converted many nations, established several Churches, and ordained Bishops, Priests, and Deacons, he returned to Rome in A. D. 65. As it is known, however, that he was particularly sent to those of the circumcision (Galatians, ii. 7, 8), it is supposed, that he rather confined himself to the countries of the Jews. In favour of St Paul's claim, are the testimony of ancient authors, his zeal for the Gospel, and the great probability that he passed the latter years of his life-the employment of which is unrecorded-in the western provinces of Rome, of which Britain was one. This, therefore, renders it probable, that it was he who brought the Gospel to England, if, indeed, it were any of the Apostles. The wild and legendary case made out for Aristobulus, states, that he was the same with Zebedee, the father of Saints John and James, brother to Barnabas, and father-in-law to Andrew