of God, and called to the mild-heartedness (mercy) of Christ. "He inquired further, what is the name of the king of that shire? And he was answered, that the king was named Ella: therefore Gregory alluded to his words in reference to that name, and quoth, it is fit that hallelujah should be sung in that land, to praise the Almighty Creator." Gregory then went to the Pope (Pelagius the IId,) and begged permission to go and convert England: the Pope at first consented; and Gregory departed on his mission; but the people, with whom he was a great favourite, tumultuously assailed the Pope with Petrum offendisti, Roman destruxisti, quià Gregorium dimisisti. "Thou hast offended Peter, thou hast destroyed Rome; for thou hast sent Gregory away." The Pope was, therefore, obliged to recall him, though he had proceeded three days on his journey; and Augustin was sent in his stead. a Augustin, and about forty Benedictine monks, passing through France, where they were supplied with interpreters, arrived at the Isle of Thanet, and landed at Retesbourgh, in the year 597. Augustin informed King Ethelbert of this, who allowed them to reside at Canterbury; and his queen, Bertha, who was already a Christian, provided them with convenient lodgings, and procured them the liberty of preaching to as many people as might wish to hear them. Ethelbert himself was baptized about a year afterwards, and multitudes of his subjects followed his example. After this, Augustin went over to the Bishop of Arles, in France, and being by him ordained bishop, he returned into England. A a See Elstob's Saxon Homily, p. 17. and the writers there referred to. little without the city of Canterbury, on the east side, had been an idol temple, formerly used by King Ethelbert, before his conversion; this Augustin changed into a church, and dedicated in the name of St. Pancrace, the martyr. Afterwards, in the year 605, Augustin obtained this church, and the adjacent ground of King Ethelbert, upon which place a new church was built, and dedicated to the honour of St. Peter and St. Paul. He also, in his zeal, founded the cathedral church of St. Paul's, London, about the year 610; and Mellitus, with his assistance, founded a church and monastery at Thorney, near London, which was dedicated to St. Peter, in the year 614; and laying in the west, it was afterwards called Westminster. b a Some authors would fondly persuade us, in opposition to all the testimonies already produced, that the whole nation was heathen till converted by Augustin and his monks. This is the excess of absurdity. That there might be some districts where heathenism prevailed in his time, particularly among the Saxons, who had subjugated several of the northern parts of Britain, is quite possible; that the Deïri, the people who dwelt between the Humber and the Tees, were such, may be granted; and that Augustin was the means of converting those heathens, and others who were tinctured with idolatry, may be granted also: but, that he first introduced the gospel into Britain, is insupportable; because, contrary to the faith of history, regularly deduced through the lapse of several hundred years. That Augustin prevailed on the British churches to receive several of the forms and dogmas of the Romish church, there can be but a Bede, lib. ii. cap. 3. Malmsb. p. 235. little doubt; and that a new species of idolatry, the worship of angels, saints, images, and relics, arose out of this, there is too much reason to believe: but that he was the Apostle of Britain, we most positively deny. a The Scotch monks of St. Columba, had at least as great a share in the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons, as Augustin and his companions. After Augustin and his monks had begun to make converts, many of the new Christians being sunk again into idolatry, the monks of Columba were the persons that set them right, or rather converted them anew. This was the case in the kingdoms of Essex, Northumberland, and East-Anglia. As for the conversion of the Mercians, the Italian missionaries had no hand in it at all. The people of Northumberland were converted to the Christian faith in the reign of Oswald, by Aidan and other pious monks of Iona, in consequence of which there was much intercourse between them for a long time after; and many of the churches and monasteries throughout England, were favoured with divines from this seminary. Augustin preached to the Saxons of Kent, Mellitus to the East Saxons, particularly at London, Paulinus to the Northumbrians, Birinus to the West Saxons, and the northern monks to the Mercians. But all these, and, of course, many others, did not preach with the same success : however, in the space of about 60 years after the coming of Augustin, all England was converted to the Christian faith. b The Christian churches in Britain, prior to the Saxon invasion, and the arrival of Augustin, had preserved a See the Rev. Dr. Adam Clarke's introductory Missionary Speech, delivered at a public meeting, held at the New Chapel, City-road, December 1, 1814, of which the Author has largely availed himself. b Rapin's History of England, vol. i. p. 158. oct. edit. H themselves pure from Popish innovations. The sufferings of the Cambrian clergy, on that occasion, are well known. The Scots clergy preserved their religion pure from Popish corruption much longer; they retired to the hills, and were known by the name of Culdees, from cûl, thin, du, black, from their abstemious lives and grave habits, gwr-cúl-du. a Bede, in what he meant as a censure, commends them highly, when he says, "They preached only such works of charity and piety as they could learn from the prophetical, evangelical, and apostolic writings." They firmly opposed the errors and superstitions of the Church of Rome, till, in the 12th and 13th centuries, the Romish monks pouring into the kingdom, supplanted the Culdees, and by degrees got possession of their monasteries: this new rank of monks were as inferior to them in learning and piety, as they surpassed them in wealth and ceremonies. The Culdees existed no longer in colleges, but, for a long time after, they continued to teach true Christianity apart; so that the reign of error in these lands was very short, and the darkness of the night was intermixed with the light of many stars. The introduction of the Christian religion into Britain, was an event of the highest importance; for from it results our distinguished pre-eminence, as to the national advantages we enjoy, whether relating to civil, social, or religious life. The transition from heathenism to Christianity, is marked with the return of right reason to her proper seat, the gradual opening of the mind to the a Cambrian Register, vol. iii. p. 99. b Ledwick's Antiq. of Ireland. knowledge of God, and the hallowed subjection of the moral powers to his authority and control. This will fully appear from a correct view of the nature and design of the Christian system, as stated in the Sacred Writings. The Christian revelation, contained in the Holy Scriptures, gives instruction in the knowledge of the one living and true God. That He is an eternal, all-powerful, allsufficient Being-that He is the maker of heaven and earth, and of their innumerable inhabitants-that by Him all creatures, material and immaterial, visible and invisible, animate and inanimate, rational and irrational, mortal and immortal, were made-that he formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathing into him the breath of life, caused him to become a living soul, a rational or intellectual being, a free agent, capable of a law of rewards and punishments. It teaches us, that God, having made the world at first, still governs it by his providence, insomuch that the most fortuitous event does not happen without it; a sparrow does not fall to the ground, nor a hair from our heads, without his permission or direction—that in the exercise of this his providence, every thing is subject to his will; no strength can resist his power, no swiftness can escape from his presence, no secrecy can conceal from his knowledge, no art can evade his justice, and every creature participates of his goodness. It acquaints us also with the origin of sin, and penal evil; that our first parents, at the instigation of Satan, by transgressing the law, became guilty before God, and so forfeited their lives, or brought death on themselves and their posterity:-teaches us a Trinity of persons in the Godhead, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, all equal in nature, perfection, and glory; and that God had so 160650 |