History of the Reformation in the Sixteenth Century Volume V Part 3

[46] Bann-cor, the choir on the steep hill. Carlisle. Top. Dict.

Wales.

[47] Ars unicuique dabatur, ut ex opero manuum quotidiano se posset in victu necessario continere. (Preuves de l'hist de Bretagne, ii, 25.) An art was given to each, that by the daily labour of their hands, each might be able to supply himself with the necessities of life.

[48] Istam obedientiam nos multius parati dare et solvere ei et cuique Christiano continuo Wilkins, Conc, M. Brit. i. 26.

[Sidenote: SECOND ROMISH AGGRESSION.]

He was not discouraged by this first check. Proud of the pallium which Rome had sent him, and relying on the swords of the Anglo-Saxons, he convoked in 601 a general a.s.sembly of British and Saxon bishops. The meeting took place in the open air, beneath a venerable oak near Wigornia (Worcester or Hereford), and here occurred the second Romish aggression. Dionoth resisted with firmness the extravagant pretensions of Augustine, who again summoned him to recognize the authority of Rome.[49] Another Briton protested against the presumption of the Romans, who ascribed to their consecration a virtue which they refused to that of Iona or of the Asiatic churches.[50] "The Britons," exclaimed a third, "cannot submit either to the haughtiness of the Romans or the tyranny of the Saxons."[51] To no purpose did the archbishop lavish his arguments, prayers, censures, and miracles even; the Britons were firm. Some of them who had eaten with the Saxons while they were as yet heathens, refused to do so now that they had submitted to the pope.[52] The Scotch were particularly inflexible; for one of their number, by name Dagam, would not only take no food at the same table with the Romans, but not even under the same roof.[53] Thus did Augustine fail a second time, and the independence of Britain appeared secure.

[49] Dionothus de non approbanda apud eos Romanorum auctoritate disputabat. Wilkins, Conc. M. Brit. 24.

[50] Ordinationesque more asiatico eisdem contulisse. Ibid. 24.

[51] In communionem admittere vel Romanorum fastum vel Saxonum tyrannidem. Ibid. i, 26.

[52] According to the apostolic precept, 1 Cor. 5, 9. 1.

[53] Dagamus ad nos veniens, non solum cib.u.m n.o.bisc.u.m, sed nec in eodem hospitio quo vescebamur, sumere, noluit. (Beda, lib. ii, cap.

iv.) Dagam coming to us, not only refused to eat with us, but even to take his food in the same house where we were entertained.

[Sidenote: PRIDE OF ROME.]

And yet the formidable power of the popes, aided by the sword of the conquerors, alarmed the Britons. They imagined they saw a mysterious decree once more yoking the nations of the earth to the triumphal car of Rome, and many left Wigornia uneasy and sad at heart. How is it possible to save a cause, when even its defenders begin to despair? It was not long before they were summoned to a new council. "What is to be done?" they exclaimed with sorrowful forebodings. Popery was not yet thoroughly known: it was hardly formed. The half-enlightened consciences of these believers were a prey to the most violent agitation. They asked themselves whether, in rejecting this new power, they might not be rejecting G.o.d himself. A pious Christian, who led a solitary life, had acquired a great reputation in the surrounding district. Some of the Britons visited him, and inquired whether they should resist Augustine or follow him.[54] "If he is a man of G.o.d, follow him," replied the hermit.--"And how shall we know that?"--"If he is meek and humble of heart, he bears Christ's yoke; but if he is violent and proud, he is not of G.o.d."--"What sign shall we have of his humility?"--"If he rises from his seat when you enter the room." Thus spoke the oracle of Britain: it would have been better to have consulted the Holy Scriptures.

[54] Ad quendam virum sanctum et prudentam qui apud eos anach.o.r.eticam ducere vitam solebat, consulentes an ad praedicationem Augustini suas deserere traditiones deberent. (Beda, Hist. Eccl. lib. ii. cap. ii.) They took counsel of a certain holy and wise man who led among them the life of a hermit, whether at the preaching of Augustine they ought to abandon their own traditions.

But humility is not a virtue that flourishes among Romish pontiffs and legates: they love to remain seated while others court and worship them. The British bishops entered the council-hall, and the archbishop, desirous of indicating his superiority, proudly kept his seat.[55] Astonished at this sight, the Britons would hear no more of the authority of Rome. For the third time they said No--they knew _no other master but Christ_. Augustine, who expected to see these bishops prostrate their churches at his feet, was surprised and indignant. He had reckoned on the immediate submission of Britain, and the pope had now to learn that his missionary had deceived him.... Animated by that insolent spirit which is found too often in the ministers of the Romish church, Augustine exclaimed: "If you will not receive brethren who bring you peace, you shall receive enemies who will bring you war.

If you will not unite with us in showing the Saxons the way of life, you shall receive from them the stroke of death."[56] Having thus spoken, the haughty archbishop withdrew, and occupied his last days in preparing the accomplishment of his ill-omened prophecy.[57] Argument had failed: now for the sword!

[55] Factumque est ut venientibus illis sederet Augustinus in sella.

Ibid.

[56] Si pacem c.u.m fructibus accipere nollent, bellum ab hostibus forent accepturi ... Ibid.

[57] Ipsum Augustinum hujus belli non modo conscium sed et _impulsorem_ exst.i.tisse. Wilkins adds, that the expression found in Bede, concerning the death of Augustine, is a parenthesis foisted in by Romanist writers, and not found in the Saxon ma.n.u.scripts. (Conc.

Brit. p. 26.) Augustine himself was not only accessory to that war, but he was even its instigator.

[Sidenote: Ma.s.sACRE.]

Shortly after the death of Augustine, Edelfrid, one of the Anglo-Saxon kings, and who was still a heathen, collected a numerous army, and advanced towards Bangor, the centre of British Christianity. Alarm spread through those feeble churches. They wept and prayed. The sword of Edelfrid drew nearer. To whom can they apply, or where shall they find help? The magnitude of the danger seemed to recall the Britons to their pristine piety: not to men, but to the Lord himself will they turn their thoughts. Twelve hundred and fifty servants of the living G.o.d, calling to mind what are the arms of Christian warfare, after preparing themselves by fasting, met together in a retired spot to send up their prayers to G.o.d.[58] A British chief, named Brocmail, moved by tender compa.s.sion, stationed himself near them with a few soldiers; but the cruel Edelfrid, observing from a distance this band of kneeling Christians, demanded: "Who are these people, and what are they doing?" On being informed, he added: "They are fighting then against us, although unarmed;" and immediately he ordered his soldiers to fall upon the prostrate crowd. Twelve hundred of them were slain.[59] They prayed and they died. The Saxons forthwith proceeded to Bangor, the chief seat of Christian learning, and razed it to the ground. Romanism was triumphant in England. The news of these ma.s.sacres filled the country _with weeping and great mourning_; but the priests of Romish consecration (and the venerable Bede shared their sentiments) beheld in this cruel slaughter the accomplishment of the prophecy of the _holy pontiff_ Augustine;[60] and a national tradition among the Welsh for many ages pointed to him as the instigator of this cowardly butchery. Thus did Rome loose the savage Pagan against the primitive church of Britain, and fastened it all dripping with blood to her triumphal car. A great mystery of iniquity was accomplishing.

[58] Ad memoratam aciem, peracto jejunio triduano, c.u.m aliis orandi causa convenerant. (Beda, ii, cap. ii.) At the aforesaid engagement, after three days had been spent in fasting, they met together with others for prayer.

[59] Extinctos in ea pugna ferunt de his qui ad orandum venerunt viros circiter mille ducentos. Beda, lib. ii, cap. ii.

[60] Sic completum est presagium sancti pontificis Augustini. Ibid.

But while the Saxon sword appeared to have swept every thing from before the papacy, the ground trembled under its feet, and seemed about to swallow it up. The hierarchical rather than Christian conversions effected by the priests of Rome were so unreal that a vast number of neophytes suddenly returned to the worship of their idols.

Eadbald, king of Kent, was himself among the number of apostates. Such reversions to paganism are not unfrequent in the history of the Romish missions. The bishops fled into Gaul: Mellitus and Justus had already reached the continent in safety, and Lawrence, Augustine's successor, was about to follow them. While lying in the church where he had desired to pa.s.s the night before leaving England, he groaned in spirit as he saw the work founded by Augustine perishing in his hands. He saved it by a miracle. The next morning he presented himself before the king with his clothes all disordered and his body covered with wounds. "Saint Peter," he said, "appeared to me during the night and scourged me severely because I was about to forsake his flock."[61]

The _scourge_ was a means of moral persuasion which Peter had forgotten in his epistles. Did Lawrence cause these blows to be inflicted by others--or did he inflict them himself--or is the whole account an idle dream? We should prefer adopting the latter hypothesis. The superst.i.tious prince, excited at the news of this supernatural intervention, eagerly acknowledged the authority of the pope, the vicar of an apostle who so mercilessly scourged those who had the misfortune to displease him. If the dominion of Rome had then disappeared from England, it is probable that the Britons, regaining their courage, and favoured in other respects by the wants which would have been felt by the Saxons, would have recovered from their defeat, and would have imparted their free Christianity to their conquerors.

But now the Roman bishop seemed to remain master of England, and the faith of the Britons to be crushed for ever. But it was not so. A young man, sprung from the energetic race of the conquerors, was about to become the champion of truth and liberty, and almost the whole island to be freed from the Roman yoke.

[61] Apparuit ei beatissimus apostolorum princeps, et multo illum tempore secretae noctis flagellis acrioribus afficiens. Beda, ii. cap.

vi.

[Sidenote: OSWALD.]

[Sidenote: OSWALD'S VICTORY--CORMAN.]

Oswald, an Anglo-Saxon prince, son of the heathen and cruel Edelfrid, had been compelled by family reverses to take refuge in Scotland, when very young, accompanied by his brother Oswy and several other youthful chiefs. He had acquired the language of the country, been instructed in the truths of Holy Writ, converted by the grace of G.o.d, and baptized into the Scottish church.[62] He loved to sit at the feet of the elders of Iona and listen to their words. They showed him Jesus Christ going from place to place doing good, and he desired to do so likewise; they told him that Christ was the only head of the church, and he promised never to acknowledge any other. Being a single-hearted generous man, he was especially animated with tender compa.s.sion towards the poor, and would take off his own cloak to cover the nakedness of one of his brethren. Often, while mingling in the quiet a.s.semblies of the Scottish Christians, he had desired to go as a missionary to the Anglo-Saxons. It was not long before he conceived the bold design of leading the people of Northumberland to the Saviour; but being a prince as well as a Christian, he determined to begin by reconquering the throne of his fathers. There was in this young Englishman the love of a disciple and the courage of a hero. At the head of an army, small indeed, but strong by faith in Christ,[63]

he entered Northumberland, knelt with his troops in prayer on the field of battle, and gained a signal victory over a powerful enemy, 634 A. D. To recover the kingdom of his ancestors was only a part of his task. Oswald desired to give his people the benefits of the true faith.[64] The Christianity taught in 625 to King Edwin and the Northumbrians by Pendin of York had disappeared amidst the ravages of the pagan armies. Oswald requested a missionary from the Scots who had given him an asylum, and they accordingly sent one of the brethren named Corman, a pious but uncultivated and austere man. He soon returned dispirited to Iona: "The people to whom you sent me," he told the elders of that island, "are so obstinate that we must renounce all idea of changing their manners." As Aidan, one of their number, listened to this report, he said to himself: "If thy love had been offered to this people, oh, my Saviour, many hearts would have been touched!... I will go and make Thee known--Thee who breaketh not the bruised reed!" Then, turning to the missionary with a look of mild reproach, he added: "Brother, you have been too severe towards hearers so dull of heart. You should have given them spiritual milk to drink until they were able to receive more solid food." All eyes were fixed on the man who spoke so wisely. "Aidan is worthy of the episcopate,"

exclaimed the brethren of Iona: and, like Timothy, he was consecrated by the laying on of the hands of the company of elders.[65]

[62] c.u.m magna n.o.bilium juventute apud Scotos sive Pictos exulabant, ibique ad doctrinam Scottorum cathechisati et baptismatis gratia sunt recreati. (Beda, iii. cap. i.) They were exiled among the Scots or Picts with many youths of n.o.ble rank, and there they were instructed in the doctrine of the Scots and were converted by the grace of baptism.

[63] Superveniente c.u.m parvo exercitu, sed fide Christi munito. Beda, lib. iii, cap. i.

[64] Desiderans totam cui praeesse cpit gentem fidei Christianae gratia imbui. (Ibid. cap. iii.) Desiring that the whole nation over which he ruled might be imbued with the grace of the Christian faith.

[65] Ayda.n.u.s accepto gradu episcopatus, quo tempore eodem monasterio Segenius abbas et _presbyter_ praefuit. (Beda, lib. iii, cap. v.) Aidan having received the dignity of a bishop at the time when Segenius, abbot and presbyter, presided over that monastery. When Bede tells us that a plain priest was president, he excludes the idea that there were bishops in the a.s.sembly. See 1 Timothy, iv, 14.

[Sidenote: DEATH OF OSWALD.]

Oswald received Aidan as an angel from heaven, and as the missionary was ignorant of the Saxon language, the king accompanied him every where, standing by his side, and interpreting his gentle discourses.[66] The people crowded joyfully around Oswald, Aidan, and other missionaries from Scotland and Ireland, listening eagerly to the _Word of G.o.d_.[67] The king preached by his works still more than by his words. One day during Easter, as he was about to take his seat at table, he was informed that a crowd of his subjects, driven by hunger, had collected before his palace gates. Instantly he ordered the food prepared for himself to be carried out and distributed among them; and taking the silver vessels which stood before him, he broke them in pieces and commanded his servants to divide them among the poor. He also introduced the knowledge of the Saviour to the people of Wess.e.x, whither he had gone to marry the king's daughter; and after a reign of nine years, he died at the head of his army while repelling an invasion of the idolatrous Mercians, headed by the cruel Penda (5th August, 642 A. D.) As he fell he exclaimed: "Lord, have mercy on the souls of my people!" This youthful prince has left a name dear to the churches of Great Britain.

[66] Evangelisante antist.i.te, ipse Rex suis ducibus ac ministris interpres verbi existeret clestis. (Beda, lib. iii, cap. iii.) When the bishop was preaching, the king himself interpreted the heavenly message to his officers and servants.

[67] Confluebant _ad audiendum verb.u.m Dei_ populi gaudentes. (Beda, lib. iii, cap. iii.) The people eagerly flocked together to hear the word of G.o.d.

His death did not interrupt the labours of the missionaries. Their meekness and the recollection of Oswald endeared them to all. As soon as the villagers caught sight of one on the high-road, they would throng round him, begging him to teach them the _Word of life_.[68]

The faith which the terrible Edelfrid thought he had washed away in the blood of the worshippers of G.o.d, was re-appearing in every direction; and Rome, which once already in the days of Honorius had been forced to leave Britain, might be perhaps a second time compelled to flee to its ships from before the face of a people who a.s.serted their liberty.

[68] Mox congregati in unum vicani, _verb.u.m vitae_ ab illo expetere curabant. (Beda, lib. iii, cap. xxvi.) Presently the villagers flocked together earnestly desiring to hear from him the word of life.

CHAPTER III.

Character of Oswy--Death of Aidan--Wilfrid at Rome--At Oswald's Court--Finan and Colman--Independence of the Church attacked--Oswy's Conquests and Troubles--_Synodus Pharensis_--Cedda--Degeneration--The Disputation--Peter, the Gatekeeper--Triumph of Rome--Grief of the Britons--Popedom organized in England--Papal Exultation--Archbishop Theodore--Cedda re-ordained--Discord in the Church--Disgrace and Treachery of Wilfrid--His end--Scotland attacked--Ad.a.m.nan--Iona resists--A King converted by Architects--The Monk Egbert at Iona--His History--Monkish Visions--Fall of Iona.

[Sidenote: CHARACTER OF OSWY.]

Then up rose the papacy. If victory remained with the Britons, their church, becoming entirely free, might even in these early times head a strong opposition against the papal monarchy. If, on the contrary, the last champions of liberty are defeated, centuries of slavery awaited the Christian church. We shall have to witness the struggle that took place erelong in the very palace of the Northumbrian kings.

Oswald was succeeded by his brother Oswy, a prince instructed in the free doctrine of the Britons, but whose religion was all external. His heart overflowed with ambition, and he shrank from no crime that might increase his power. The throne of Deira was filled by his relative Oswin, an amiable king, much beloved by his people. Oswy, conceiving a deadly jealousy towards him, marched against him at the head of an army, and Oswin, desirous of avoiding bloodshed, took shelter with a chief whom he had loaded with favours. But the latter offered to lead Oswy's soldiers to his hiding-place; and at dead of night the fugitive king was basely a.s.sa.s.sinated, one only of his servants fighting in his defence. The gentle Aidan died of sorrow at his cruel fate.[69] Such was the first exploit of that monarch who surrendered England to the papacy. Various circ.u.mstances tended to draw Oswy nearer Rome. He looked upon the Christian religion as a means of combining the Christian princes against the heathen Penda, and such a religion, in which expediency predominated, was not very unlike popery. And further, Oswy's wife, the proud Eanfeld, was of the Romish communion.