<SPAN name="toc89" id="toc89"></SPAN> <SPAN name="pdf90" id="pdf90"></SPAN>
<SPAN name="Book_II_Chap_IV" id="Book_II_Chap_IV" class="tei tei-anchor"></SPAN>
<h2 style= "text-align: left; margin-bottom: 2.88em; margin-top: 2.88em"> <span style="font-size: 144%">Chap. IV. How Laurentius and his bishops admonished the Scots to observe the unity of the Holy Church, particularly in keeping of Easter; and how Mellitus went to Rome.</span></h2>
<p>Laurentius<SPAN id="noteref_182" name="noteref_182" href="#note_182"><span><span style="font-size: 60%; vertical-align: super">182</span></span></SPAN>
succeeded Augustine in the bishopric, having been ordained thereto
by the latter, in his lifetime, lest, upon his death, the Church,
as yet in so unsettled a state, might begin to falter, if it should
be destitute of a pastor, though but for one hour. Wherein he also
followed the example of the first pastor of the Church, that is, of
the most blessed Peter, chief of the Apostles, who, having founded
the Church of Christ at Rome, is said to have consecrated Clement
to help him in preaching the Gospel, and at the same time to be his
successor. Laurentius, being advanced to the rank of archbishop,
laboured indefatigably, both by frequent words of holy exhortation
and constant example of good works to strengthen the foundations of
the Church, which had been so nobly laid, and to carry it on to the
fitting height of perfection. In short, he not only took charge of
the new Church formed among the English, but endeavoured also to
bestow his pastoral care upon the tribes of the ancient inhabitants
of Britain, as also of the Scots, who inhabit the island of
Ireland,<SPAN id="noteref_183" name="noteref_183" href="#note_183"><span ><span style="font-size: 60%; vertical-align: super">183</span></span></SPAN> which
is next to Britain. For when he understood that the life and
profession of the Scots in their aforesaid country, as well as of
the Britons in Britain, was not truly in accordance with the
practice of the Church in many matters, especially that they did
not celebrate the festival of Easter at the due time, but thought
that the day of the Resurrection of our Lord ought, as has been
said above, to be observed between the 14th and 20th of the moon;
he wrote, jointly with his fellow bishops, a hortatory epistle,
entreating and conjuring them to keep the unity of peace and
Catholic observance with the Church of <span id="page092"></span><SPAN name="Pg092" id="Pg092" class="tei tei-anchor"></SPAN> Christ spread throughout the world. The
beginning of which epistle is as follows:</p>
<p><span class="tei tei-q">“<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">To our most dear brethren, the Lords Bishops
and Abbots throughout all the country of the Scots,</span><SPAN id="noteref_184" name="noteref_184" href="#note_184"><span><span style="font-size: 60%; font-style: italic; vertical-align: super">184</span></span></SPAN>
<span style="font-style: italic">Laurentius, Mellitus, and Justus,
Bishops, servants of the servants of God.</span></span> When the
Apostolic see, according to the universal custom which it has
followed elsewhere, sent us to these western parts to preach to
pagan nations, and it was our lot to come into this island, which
is called Britain, before we knew them, we held both the Britons
and Scots in great esteem for sanctity, believing that they walked
according to the custom of the universal Church; but becoming
acquainted with the Britons, we thought that the Scots had been
better. Now we have learnt from Bishop Dagan,<SPAN id="noteref_185" name="noteref_185" href="#note_185"><span><span style="font-size: 60%; vertical-align: super">185</span></span></SPAN> who
came into this aforesaid island, and the Abbot Columban,<SPAN id="noteref_186" name="noteref_186" href="#note_186"><span><span style="font-size: 60%; vertical-align: super">186</span></span></SPAN> in
Gaul, that the Scots in no way differ from the Britons in their
walk; for when Bishop Dagan came to us, not only did he refuse to
eat at the same table, but even to eat in the same house where we
were entertained.”</span></p>
<p>Also Laurentius
with his fellow bishops wrote a letter to the bishops of the
Britons, suitable to his degree, by which he endeavoured to confirm
them in Catholic unity; but what he gained by so doing the present
times still show.</p>
<p>About this time,
Mellitus, bishop of London, went to Rome, to confer with the
Apostolic Pope Boniface about the necessary affairs of the English
Church. And the same most reverend pope, assembling a synod of the
<span id="page093"></span><SPAN name="Pg093" id="Pg093" class="tei tei-anchor"></SPAN> bishops of
Italy,<SPAN id="noteref_187" name="noteref_187" href="#note_187"><span ><span style="font-size: 60%; vertical-align: super">187</span></span></SPAN> to
prescribe rules for the life and peace of the monks, Mellitus also
sat among them, in the eighth year of the reign of the Emperor
Phocas, the thirteenth indiction, on the 27th of February,<SPAN id="noteref_188" name="noteref_188" href="#note_188"><span><span style="font-size: 60%; vertical-align: super">188</span></span></SPAN> to
the end that he also might sign and confirm by his authority
whatsoever should be regularly decreed, and on his return into
Britain might carry the decrees to the Churches of the English, to
be committed to them and observed; together with letters which the
same pope sent to the beloved of God, Archbishop Laurentius, and to
all the clergy; as likewise to King Ethelbert and the English
nation. This pope was Boniface, the fourth after the blessed
Gregory, bishop of the city of Rome. He obtained for the Church of
Christ from the Emperor Phocas the gift of the temple at Rome
called by the ancients Pantheon, as representing all the gods;
wherein he, having purified it from all defilement, dedicated a
church to the holy Mother of God, and to all Christ's martyrs, to
the end that, the company of devils being expelled, the blessed
company of the saints might have therein a perpetual
memorial.<SPAN id="noteref_189" name="noteref_189" href="#note_189"><span ><span style="font-size: 60%; vertical-align: super">189</span></span></SPAN></p>
<SPAN name="toc91" id="toc91"></SPAN> <SPAN name="pdf92" id="pdf92"></SPAN>
<SPAN name="Book_II_Chap_V" id="Book_II_Chap_V" class="tei tei-anchor"></SPAN>
<h2 style= "text-align: left; margin-bottom: 2.88em; margin-top: 2.88em"> <span style="font-size: 144%">Chap. V. How, after the death of the kings Ethelbert and Sabert, their successors restored idolatry; for which reason, both Mellitus and Justus departed out of Britain. [616</span> <span class="tei tei-hi" style= "text-align: left"><span style= "font-size: 144%; font-variant: small-caps">a.d.</span></span><span style="font-size: 144%">]</span></h2>
<p>In the year of
our Lord 616, which is the twenty-first year after Augustine and
his company were sent to preach to the English nation, Ethelbert,
king of Kent, having most gloriously governed his temporal kingdom
fifty-six years, entered into the eternal joys of the kingdom
<span id="page094"></span><SPAN name="Pg094" id="Pg094" class="tei tei-anchor"></SPAN> of Heaven. He was
the third of the English kings who ruled over all the southern
provinces that are divided from the northern by the river Humber
and the borders contiguous to it;<SPAN id="noteref_190" name="noteref_190" href="#note_190"><span><span style="font-size: 60%; vertical-align: super">190</span></span></SPAN> but
the first of all that ascended to the heavenly kingdom. The first
who had the like sovereignty was Aelli, king of the South-Saxons;
the second, Caelin, king of the West-Saxons, who, in their own
language, is called Ceaulin; the third, as has been said, was
Ethelbert, king of Kent; the fourth was Redwald, king of the
East-Angles, who, even in the life-time of Ethelbert, had been
acquiring the leadership for his own race. The fifth was Edwin,
king of the Northumbrian nation, that is, of those who live in the
district to the north of the river Humber; his power was greater;
he had the overlordship over all the nations who inhabit Britain,
both English and British, except only the people of Kent; and he
reduced also under the dominion of the English, the Mevanian
Islands<SPAN id="noteref_191" name="noteref_191" href="#note_191"><span ><span style="font-size: 60%; vertical-align: super">191</span></span></SPAN> of
the Britons, lying between Ireland and Britain; the sixth was
Oswald, the most Christian king of the Northumbrians, whose kingdom
was within the same bounds; the seventh, his brother Oswy, ruled
over a kingdom of like extent for a time, and for the most part
subdued and made tributary the nations of the Picts and Scots, who
occupy the northern parts of Britain: but of that hereafter.</p>
<p>King Ethelbert
died on the 24th day of the month of February, twenty-one years
after he had received the faith,<SPAN id="noteref_192" name="noteref_192" href="#note_192"><span><span style="font-size: 60%; vertical-align: super">192</span></span></SPAN> and
was buried in St. Martin's chapel within the church of the blessed
Apostles Peter and Paul, where also lies his queen, Bertha. Among
other benefits which he <span id="page095">[pg
095]</span><SPAN name="Pg095" id="Pg095" class="tei tei-anchor"></SPAN>
conferred upon his nation in his care for them, he established,
with the help of his council of wise men,<SPAN id="noteref_193" name="noteref_193" href="#note_193"><span><span style="font-size: 60%; vertical-align: super">193</span></span></SPAN>
judicial decisions, after the Roman model; which are written in the
language of the English, and are still kept and observed by them.
Among which, he set down first what satisfaction should be given by
any one who should steal anything belonging to the Church, the
bishop, or the other clergy, for he was resolved to give protection
to those whom he had received along with their doctrine.</p>
<p>This Ethelbert
was the son of Irminric, whose father was Octa, whose father was
Oeric, surnamed Oisc, from whom the kings of Kent are wont to be
called Oiscings.<SPAN id="noteref_194" name="noteref_194" href="#note_194"><span ><span style="font-size: 60%; vertical-align: super">194</span></span></SPAN> His
father was Hengist, who, being invited by Vortigern, first came
into Britain, with his son Oisc, as has been said above.</p>
<p>But after the
death of Ethelbert, the accession of his son Eadbald proved very
harmful to the still tender growth of the new Church; for he not
only refused to accept the faith of Christ, but was also defiled
with such fornication, as the Apostle testifies, as is not so much
as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's
wife.<SPAN id="noteref_195" name="noteref_195" href="#note_195"><span ><span style="font-size: 60%; vertical-align: super">195</span></span></SPAN> By
both which crimes he gave occasion to those to return to their
former uncleanness, who, under his father, had, either for favour
or fear of the king, submitted to the laws of the faith and of a
pure life. Nor did the unbelieving king escape without the scourge
of Divine severity in chastisement and correction; for he was
troubled with frequent fits of madness, and possessed by an unclean
spirit. The storm of this disturbance was increased by the death of
Sabert, king of the East Saxons, who departing to the heavenly
kingdom, left three sons, still pagans, to inherit his temporal
crown. They immediately began openly to give themselves up to
idolatry, which, during their father's lifetime, they had seemed
<span id="page096"></span><SPAN name="Pg096" id="Pg096" class="tei tei-anchor"></SPAN> somewhat to abandon,
and they granted free licence to their subjects to serve idols. And
when they saw the bishop, whilst celebrating Mass in the church,
give the Eucharist to the people, filled, as they were, with folly
and ignorance, they said to him, as is commonly reported,
<span class="tei tei-q">“Why do you not give us also that white
bread, which you used to give to our father Saba (for so they were
wont to call him), and which you still continue to give to the
people in the church?”</span> To whom he answered, <span class="tei tei-q">“If you will be washed in that font of salvation, in
which your father was washed, you may also partake of the holy
Bread of which he partook; but if you despise the laver of life,
you can in no wise receive the Bread of life.”</span> They replied,
<span class="tei tei-q">“We will not enter into that font, because
we know that we do not stand in need of it, and yet we will be
refreshed by that bread.”</span> And being often earnestly
admonished by him, that this could by no means be done, nor would
any one be admitted to partake of the sacred Oblation without the
holy cleansing, at last, they said, filled with rage, <span class="tei tei-q">“If you will not comply with us in so small a matter as
that which we require, you shall not stay in our province.”</span>
And they drove him out and bade him and his company depart from
their kingdom. Being driven thence, he came into Kent, to take
counsel with his fellow bishops, Laurentius and Justus, and learn
what was to be done in that case; and with one consent they
determined that it was better for them all to return to their own
country, where they might serve God in freedom of mind, than to
continue to no purpose among barbarians, who had revolted from the
faith. Mellitus and Justus accordingly went away first, and
withdrew into the parts of Gaul, intending there to await the
event. But the kings, who had driven from them the herald of the
truth, did not continue long unpunished in their worship of devils.
For marching out to battle against the nation of the Gewissi,<SPAN id="noteref_196" name="noteref_196" href="#note_196"><span><span style="font-size: 60%; vertical-align: super">196</span></span></SPAN> they
were all slain with their army. Nevertheless, the people,
<span id="page097"></span><SPAN name="Pg097" id="Pg097" class="tei tei-anchor"></SPAN> having been once
turned to wickedness, though the authors of it were destroyed,
would not be corrected, nor return to the unity of faith and
charity which is in Christ.</p>
<SPAN name="toc93" id="toc93"></SPAN> <SPAN name="pdf94" id="pdf94"></SPAN>
<SPAN name="Book_II_Chap_VI" id="Book_II_Chap_VI" class="tei tei-anchor"></SPAN>
<h2 style= "text-align: left; margin-bottom: 2.88em; margin-top: 2.88em"> <span style="font-size: 144%">Chap. VI. How Laurentius, being reproved by the Apostle Peter, converted King Eadbald to Christ; and how the king soon recalled Mellitus and Justus to preach the Word. [617-618</span> <span class="tei tei-hi" style= "text-align: left"><span style= "font-size: 144%; font-variant: small-caps">a.d.</span></span><span style="font-size: 144%">]</span></h2>
<p>Laurentius,
being about to follow Mellitus and Justus, and to quit Britain,
ordered his bed to be laid that night in the church of the blessed
Apostles, Peter and Paul, which has been often mentioned before;
wherein having laid himself to rest, after he had with tears poured
forth many prayers to God for the state of the Church, he fell
asleep; in the dead of night, the blessed chief of the Apostles
appeared to him, and scourging him grievously a long time, asked of
him with apostolic severity, why he was forsaking the flock which
he had committed to him? or to what shepherd he was leaving, by his
flight, Christ's sheep that were in the midst of wolves?
<span class="tei tei-q">“Hast thou,”</span> he said, <span class="tei tei-q">“forgotten my example, who, for the sake of those
little ones, whom Christ commended to me in token of His affection,
underwent at the hands of infidels and enemies of Christ, bonds,
stripes, imprisonment, afflictions, and lastly, death itself, even
the death of the cross, that I might at last be crowned with
Him?”</span> Laurentius, the servant of Christ, roused by the
scourging of the blessed Peter and his words of exhortation, went
to the king as soon as morning broke, and laying aside his garment,
showed the scars of the stripes which he had received. The king,
astonished, asked who had presumed to inflict such stripes on so
great a man. And when he heard that for the sake of his salvation
the bishop had suffered these cruel blows at the hands of the
Apostle of Christ, he was greatly afraid; and abjuring the worship
of idols, and renouncing his unlawful marriage, he received the
faith of Christ, <span id="page098">[pg
098]</span><SPAN name="Pg098" id="Pg098" class="tei tei-anchor"></SPAN>
and being baptized, promoted and supported the interests of the
Church to the utmost of his power.</p>
<p>He also sent
over into Gaul, and recalled Mellitus and Justus, and bade them
return to govern their churches in freedom. They came back one year
after their departure, and Justus returned to the city of
Rochester, where he had before presided; but the people of London
would not receive Bishop Mellitus, choosing rather to be under
their idolatrous high priests; for King Eadbald had not so much
authority in the kingdom as his father, and was not able to restore
the bishop to his church against the will and consent of the
pagans. But he and his nation, after his conversion to the Lord,
sought to obey the commandments of God. Lastly, he built the church
of the holy Mother of God,<SPAN id="noteref_197" name="noteref_197"
href="#note_197"><span ><span style="font-size: 60%; vertical-align: super">197</span></span></SPAN> in
the monastery of the most blessed chief of the Apostles, which was
afterwards consecrated by Archbishop Mellitus.</p>
<SPAN name="toc95" id="toc95"></SPAN> <SPAN name="pdf96" id="pdf96"></SPAN>
<SPAN name="Book_II_Chap_VII" id="Book_II_Chap_VII" class="tei tei-anchor"></SPAN>
<h2 style= "text-align: left; margin-bottom: 2.88em; margin-top: 2.88em"> <span style="font-size: 144%">Chap. VII. How Bishop Mellitus by prayer quenched a fire in his city. [619</span> <span class= "tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style= "font-size: 144%; font-variant: small-caps">a.d.</span></span><span style="font-size: 144%">]</span></h2>
<p>In this king's
reign, the blessed Archbishop Laurentius was taken up to the
heavenly kingdom: he was buried in the church and monastery of the
holy Apostle Peter, close by his predecessor Augustine, on the 2nd
day of the month of February.<SPAN id="noteref_198" name="noteref_198"
href="#note_198"><span ><span style="font-size: 60%; vertical-align: super">198</span></span></SPAN>
Mellitus, who was bishop of London, succeeded to the see of
Canterbury, being the third archbishop from Augustine; Justus, who
was still living, governed the church of Rochester. These ruled the
Church of the English with much care and industry, and received
letters of exhortation from Boniface,<SPAN id="noteref_199" name="noteref_199" href="#note_199"><span><span style="font-size: 60%; vertical-align: super">199</span></span></SPAN>
bishop of the Roman Apostolic see, who presided over the Church
after Deusdedit, in the year of our Lord 619. Mellitus laboured
under the bodily infirmity of gout, but his mind was sound and
active, cheerfully passing over all earthly things, and always
aspiring to love, seek, and attain to <span id="page099"></span><SPAN name="Pg099" id="Pg099" class="tei tei-anchor"></SPAN> those which are celestial. He was noble by
birth, but still nobler by the elevation of his mind.</p>
<p>In short, that I
may give one instance of his power, from which the rest may be
inferred, it happened once that the city of Canterbury, being set
on fire through carelessness, was in danger of being consumed by
the spreading conflagration; water was thrown on the fire in vain;
a considerable part of the city was already destroyed, and the
fierce flames were advancing towards the bishop's abode, when he,
trusting in God, where human help failed, ordered himself to be
carried towards the raging masses of fire which were spreading on
every side. The church of the four crowned Martyrs<SPAN id="noteref_200" name="noteref_200" href="#note_200"><span><span style="font-size: 60%; vertical-align: super">200</span></span></SPAN> was
in the place where the fire raged most fiercely. The bishop, being
carried thither by his servants, weak as he was, set about averting
by prayer the danger which the strong hands of active men had not
been able to overcome with all their exertions. Immediately the
wind, which blowing from the south had spread the conflagration
throughout the city, veered to the north, and thus prevented the
destruction of those places that had been exposed to its full
violence, then it ceased entirely and there was a calm, while the
flames likewise sank and were extinguished. And because the man of
God burned with the fire of divine love, and was wont to drive away
the storms of the powers of the air, by his frequent prayers and at
his bidding, from doing harm to himself, or his people, it was meet
that he should be allowed to prevail over the winds and flames of
this world, and to obtain that they should not injure him or
his.</p>
<p>This archbishop
also, having ruled the church five years, departed to heaven in the
reign of King Eadbald, and was buried with his fathers in the
monastery and church, which we have so often mentioned, of the most
<span id="page100"></span><SPAN name="Pg100" id="Pg100" class="tei tei-anchor"></SPAN> blessed chief of the
Apostles, in the year of our Lord 624, on the 24th day of
April.</p>
<SPAN name="toc97" id="toc97"></SPAN> <SPAN name="pdf98" id="pdf98"></SPAN>
<SPAN name="Book_II_Chap_VIII" id="Book_II_Chap_VIII" class="tei tei-anchor"></SPAN>
<h2 style= "text-align: left; margin-bottom: 2.88em; margin-top: 2.88em"> <span style="font-size: 144%">Chap. VIII. How Pope Boniface sent the Pall and a letter to Justus, successor to Mellitus. [624</span> <span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style= "font-size: 144%; font-variant: small-caps">a.d.</span></span><span style="font-size: 144%">]</span></h2>
<p>Justus, bishop
of the church of Rochester, immediately succeeded Mellitus in the
archbishopric. He consecrated Romanus bishop of that see in his own
stead, having obtained authority to ordain bishops from Pope
Boniface, whom we mentioned above as successor to Deusdedit: of
which licence this is the form:</p>
<p><span class="tei tei-q">“<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Boniface, to his most beloved brother
Justus.</span></span> We have learnt not only from the contents of
your letter addressed to us, but from the fulfilment granted to
your work, how faithfully and vigilantly you have laboured, my
brother, for the Gospel of Christ; for Almighty God has not
forsaken either the mystery of His Name, or the fruit of your
labours, having Himself faithfully promised to the preachers of the
Gospel, <span class="tei tei-q">‘Lo! I am with you alway, even unto
the end of the world’</span>;<SPAN id="noteref_201" name="noteref_201"
href="#note_201"><span ><span style="font-size: 60%; vertical-align: super">201</span></span></SPAN> which
promise His mercy has particularly manifested in this ministry
imposed upon you, opening the hearts of the nations to receive the
wondrous mystery of your preaching. For He has blessed with a rich
reward your Eminence's acceptable course, by the support of His
loving kindness; granting a plentiful increase to your labours in
the faithful management of the talents committed to you, and
bestowing it on that which you might confirm to many
generations.<SPAN id="noteref_202" name="noteref_202" href="#note_202"><span ><span style="font-size: 60%; vertical-align: super">202</span></span></SPAN> This
is conferred on you by that recompense whereby, constantly
persevering in the ministry imposed upon you, you have awaited with
praiseworthy patience the redemption of that nation, and that they
might profit by your merits, salvation has been bestowed
<span id="page101"></span><SPAN name="Pg101" id="Pg101" class="tei tei-anchor"></SPAN> on them. For our
Lord Himself says, <span class="tei tei-q">‘He that endureth to the
end shall be saved.’</span><SPAN id="noteref_203" name="noteref_203"
href="#note_203"><span ><span style="font-size: 60%; vertical-align: super">203</span></span></SPAN> You
are, therefore, saved by the hope of patience, and the virtue of
endurance, to the end that the hearts of unbelievers, being
cleansed from their natural disease of superstition, might obtain
the mercy of their Saviour: for having received letters from our
son Adulwald,<SPAN id="noteref_204" name="noteref_204" href="#note_204"><span ><span style="font-size: 60%; vertical-align: super">204</span></span></SPAN> we
perceive with how much knowledge of the Sacred Word you, my
brother, have brought his mind to the belief in true conversion and
the certainty of the faith. Therefore, firmly confiding in the
long-suffering of the Divine clemency, we believe that, through the
ministry of your preaching, there will ensue most full salvation
not only of the nations subject to him, but also of their
neighbours; to the end, that as it is written, the recompense of a
perfect work may be conferred on you by the Lord, the Rewarder of
all the just; and that the universal confession of all nations,
having received the mystery of the Christian faith, may declare,
that in truth <span class="tei tei-q">‘Their sound is gone out into
all the earth, and their words unto the end of the
world.’</span><SPAN id="noteref_205" name="noteref_205" href="#note_205"><span ><span style="font-size: 60%; vertical-align: super">205</span></span></SPAN></span></p>
<p><span class="tei tei-q">“We have also, my brother, moved by the warmth of our
goodwill, sent you by the bearer of these presents, the pall,
giving you authority to use it only in the celebration of the
Sacred Mysteries; granting to you likewise to ordain bishops when
there shall be occasion, through the Lord's mercy; that so the
Gospel of Christ, by the preaching of many, may be spread abroad in
all the nations that are not yet converted. You must, therefore,
endeavour, my brother, to preserve with unblemished sincerity of
mind that which you have received through the kindness of the
Apostolic see, bearing in mind what it is that is represented by
the honourable vestment which you have obtained to be borne on your
shoulders. And imploring the Divine mercy, study to show yourself
such that you may present before the tribunal of the Supreme Judge
that is to come, the rewards of the favour granted to you, not with
guiltiness, but with the benefit of souls.</span></p>
<p><span class="tei tei-q">“God preserve you in safety, most dear
brother!”</span></p>
<br/><span id="page102"></span><SPAN name="Pg102" id="Pg102" class="tei tei-anchor"></SPAN>
<SPAN name="toc99" id="toc99"></SPAN> <SPAN name="pdf100" id="pdf100"></SPAN>
<SPAN name="Book_II_Chap_IX" id="Book_II_Chap_IX" class="tei tei-anchor"></SPAN>
<h2 style= "text-align: left; margin-bottom: 2.88em; margin-top: 2.88em"> <span style="font-size: 144%">Chap. IX. Of the reign of King Edwin, and how Paulinus, coming to preach the Gospel, first converted his daughter and others to the mysteries of the faith of Christ. [625-626</span> <span class="tei tei-hi" style= "text-align: left"><span style= "font-size: 144%; font-variant: small-caps">a.d.</span></span><span style="font-size: 144%">]</span></h2>
<p>At this time the
nation of the Northumbrians, that is, the English tribe dwelling on
the north side of the river Humber, with their king, Edwin,<SPAN id="noteref_206" name="noteref_206" href="#note_206"><span><span style="font-size: 60%; vertical-align: super">206</span></span></SPAN>
received the Word of faith through the preaching of Paulinus,<SPAN id="noteref_207" name="noteref_207" href="#note_207"><span><span style="font-size: 60%; vertical-align: super">207</span></span></SPAN> of
whom we have before spoken. This king, as an earnest of his
reception of the faith, and his share in the heavenly kingdom,
received an increase also of his temporal realm, for he reduced
under his dominion all the parts of Britain<SPAN id="noteref_208" name="noteref_208" href="#note_208"><span><span style="font-size: 60%; vertical-align: super">208</span></span></SPAN> that
were provinces either of the English, or of the Britons, a thing
which no English king had ever done before; and he even subjected
to the English the Mevanian islands, as has been said above.<SPAN id="noteref_209" name="noteref_209" href="#note_209"><span><span style="font-size: 60%; vertical-align: super">209</span></span></SPAN> The
more important of these, which is to the southward, is the larger
in extent, and more fruitful, containing nine hundred and sixty
families, according to the English computation; the other contains
above three hundred.</p>
<p>The occasion of
this nation's reception of the faith was the alliance by marriage
of their aforesaid king with the kings of Kent, for he had taken to
wife Ethelberg, otherwise called Tata,<SPAN id="noteref_210" name="noteref_210" href="#note_210"><span><span style="font-size: 60%; vertical-align: super">210</span></span></SPAN>
daughter to King Ethelbert. When he first sent ambassadors to ask
her in marriage of her brother Eadbald, who then reigned in Kent,
he received the answer, <span class="tei tei-q">“That it was not
lawful to give a Christian maiden in marriage to a pagan husband,
lest the faith and the mysteries of the heavenly King should be
profaned by her union with a king that was altogether a stranger to
the worship of the true God.”</span> This answer being brought to
Edwin by his messengers, he promised that he would in no manner act
in opposition to the Christian faith, which the maiden professed;
but would give leave to her, and all that went with her, men and
<span id="page103"></span><SPAN name="Pg103" id="Pg103" class="tei tei-anchor"></SPAN> women, bishops and
clergy, to follow their faith and worship after the custom of the
Christians. Nor did he refuse to accept that religion himself, if,
being examined by wise men, it should be found more holy and more
worthy of God.</p>
<p>So the maiden
was promised, and sent to Edwin, and in accordance with the
agreement, Paulinus, a man beloved of God, was ordained bishop, to
go with her, and by daily exhortations, and celebrating the
heavenly Mysteries, to confirm her and her company, lest they
should be corrupted by intercourse with the pagans. Paulinus was
ordained bishop by the Archbishop Justus, on the 21st day of July,
in the year of our Lord 625, and so came to King Edwin with the
aforesaid maiden as an attendant on their union in the flesh. But
his mind was wholly bent upon calling the nation to which he was
sent to the knowledge of truth; according to the words of the
Apostle, <span class="tei tei-q">“To espouse her to the one true
Husband, that he might present her as a chaste virgin to
Christ.”</span><SPAN id="noteref_211" name="noteref_211" href="#note_211"><span ><span style="font-size: 60%; vertical-align: super">211</span></span></SPAN> Being
come into that province, he laboured much, not only to retain those
that went with him, by the help of God, that they should not
abandon the faith, but, if haply he might, to convert some of the
pagans to the grace of the faith by his preaching. But, as the
Apostle says, though he laboured long in the Word, <span class="tei tei-q">“The god of this world blinded the minds of them that
believed not, lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ
should shine unto them.”</span><SPAN id="noteref_212" name="noteref_212" href="#note_212"><span><span style="font-size: 60%; vertical-align: super">212</span></span></SPAN></p>
<p>The next year
there came into the province one called Eumer, sent by the king of
the West-Saxons, whose name was Cuichelm,<SPAN id="noteref_213" name="noteref_213" href="#note_213"><span><span style="font-size: 60%; vertical-align: super">213</span></span></SPAN> to
lie in wait for King Edwin, in hopes at once to deprive him of his
kingdom and his life. He had a two-edged dagger, dipped in poison,
to the end that, if the wound inflicted by the weapon did not avail
to kill the king, it might be aided by the deadly venom. He came to
the king on the first day of the Easter <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page104"></span><SPAN name="Pg104" id="Pg104" class="tei tei-anchor"></SPAN> festival,<SPAN id="noteref_214" name="noteref_214" href="#note_214"><span><span style="font-size: 60%; vertical-align: super">214</span></span></SPAN> at
the river Derwent, where there was then a royal township,<SPAN id="noteref_215" name="noteref_215" href="#note_215"><span><span style="font-size: 60%; vertical-align: super">215</span></span></SPAN> and
being admitted as if to deliver a message from his master, whilst
unfolding in cunning words his pretended embassy, he started up on
a sudden, and unsheathing the dagger under his garment, assaulted
the king. When Lilla, the king's most devoted servant, saw this,
having no buckler at hand to protect the king from death, he at
once interposed his own body to receive the blow; but the enemy
struck home with such force, that he wounded the king through the
body of the slaughtered thegn. Being then attacked on all sides
with swords, in the confusion he also slew impiously with his
dagger another of the thegns, whose name was Forthhere.</p>
<p>On that same
holy Easter night, the queen had brought forth to the king a
daughter, called Eanfled. The king, in the presence of Bishop
Paulinus, gave thanks to his gods for the birth of his daughter;
and the bishop, on his part, began to give thanks to Christ, and to
tell the king, that by his prayers to Him he had obtained that the
queen should bring forth the child in safety, and without grievous
pain. The king, delighted with his words, promised, that if God
would grant him life and victory over the king by whom the murderer
who had wounded him had been sent, he would renounce his idols, and
serve Christ; and as a pledge that he would perform his promise, he
delivered up that same daughter to Bishop Paulinus, to be
consecrated to Christ. She was the first to be baptized of the
nation of the Northumbrians, and she received Baptism on the holy
day of Pentecost, along with eleven others of her house.<SPAN id="noteref_216" name="noteref_216" href="#note_216"><span><span style="font-size: 60%; vertical-align: super">216</span></span></SPAN> At
that time, the king, being recovered of the wound which he had
received, raised an army and marched against <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page105"></span><SPAN name="Pg105" id="Pg105" class="tei tei-anchor"></SPAN> the nation of the West-Saxons; and
engaging in war, either slew or received in surrender all those of
whom he learned that they had conspired to murder him. So he
returned victorious into his own country, but he would not
immediately and unadvisedly embrace the mysteries of the Christian
faith, though he no longer worshipped idols, ever since he made the
promise that he would serve Christ; but first took heed earnestly
to be instructed at leisure by the venerable Paulinus, in the
knowledge of faith, and to confer with such as he knew to be the
wisest of his chief men, inquiring what they thought was fittest to
be done in that case. And being a man of great natural sagacity, he
often sat alone by himself a long time in silence, deliberating in
the depths of his heart how he should proceed, and to which
religion he should adhere.</p>
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