1. *

"Woe be to that priest, yborn,

That will not cleanly weed his corn,
And preach his charge among ;
Woe be to that shepherd, I say,
That will not watch his fold alway,
As to his office doth belong;

Woe be to him that doth not keep

From Romish wolves his erring sheep,

With staff and weapon strong.

2. +

"What is the name of the Porter [of Heaven]?
Who is the Intercessor ?

The great and beneficent Son of Mary.”

At length, in the course of the eighth century, the Irish and Picts were prevailed on, principally by Adamnanus, to conform to the Romish usage in these points; and the Britons, in the course of the ninth. The question, however, was still kept afloat; for in the days of Methodius, Patriarch of

* Gwaér offeiriad byd

Nys engreisstia gwyd

Ac ny phregetha:
Gwae ny chsidw ey gail

Ac nys areilia:

Gwae ny cheidw ey dheuaid
Rac bleidhie, rhufeniaid

Aiffon gawppa.

Chronicle of Wales, p. 254.

+ Pwy eneu y porthawr?

Pwy y periglawr?

Y Fab Mair meuinfawr.

Constantinople, A. D. 842, " Certain clergy, who dwelt in the isles of the Ocean, and the utmost borders of the habitable world, are said to have repaired thither, to enquire some ecclesiastical traditions, and the perfect and exact computation of Easter; as we learn from the Greek writers of Chrysostom's life: they evidently preferring the authority of the Greek Church to the Roman."— Usher's Religion of the Ancient Irish, chap. x. p. 110, 111.

6. The Romanists boast of the great success of Austin in converting the Pagan Sarons to Christianity; for which he was rewarded with the see of Canterbury; but the principal merit of their conversion is due to the zealous labours of Irish Missionaries. In justice to them Primate Usher observes (Ancient Religion of the Irish, p. 112): "St. Aidan and St. Finan deserve to be honoured by the English nation with as venerable a remembrance as Austin the monk and his followers; for by the ministry of Aidan was the kingdom of Northumberland recovered from Paganism (whereunto belonged then, beside the shire of Northumberland, and the lands beyond it unto Edinburgh Frith, Cumberland also, and Westmoreland, Lancashire, Yorkshire, and the bishopric of Durham); and by the means of Finan, not only was the kingdom of the East Saxons (which contained Esser, Middlesex, and half of Hertfordshire) regained, but also the large kingdom of Mercia, which compre

t

hended under it Gloucestershire, Leicestershire, Worcestershire, Rutlandshire, Northamptonshire, Lincolnshire, Huntingdonshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire,

Bedfordshire, Staffordshire,

Derbyshire, Shropshire, Nottinghamshire, and the other half of Hertfordshire.

6

"The Scottish (or Irish) that professed no subjection to the Church of Rome (proceeds Usher), were they that sent preachers for the conversion of those countries, and ordained bishops to govern them; namely, Aidan, Finan, and Colman successively, for the kingdom of Northumberland; for the East Saxons, Cedd (brother to Ceadda, the Bishop of York); for the middle Angles, which inhabited Leicestershire, and the Mercians, Diuma (for" the paucity of priests," saith Bede, "constrained one bishop to be appointed over two people"); and after him Cellach and Trumhere.

"And these, with their followers, notwithstanding their division from the Church of Rome, for their extraordinary sanctity of life and painfulness of preaching the Gospel (wherein they went far beyond those of the other side, Wilfrid and Cuthbert, &c. that afterward thrust them out, and entered upon their labours) were exceedingly reverenced by all that knew them; Aidan especially, who, although he would not keep Easter contrary to the manner of them that sent him (says Bede), yet he was careful diligently to perform the works of faith, godliness, and love, according to the man

ner used by all godly men. Whereupon he was worthily beloved by all, even by them also who thought otherwise of Easter than he did; and was held in reverence, not only by them that were of meaner rank, but also by the bishops themselves, Honorius of Canterbury, and Felix of the East Angles."

This influence of the Irish Missionaries abundantly refutes the boastings of the Romanists, as to the extent of the conversions effected by their Missionaries in England.

II. Hence, the kings of Saron race strenuously maintained their own ecclesiastical supremacy, in opposition to the claims of the see of Rome. When Wilfrid, the papal advocate, who was appointed Bishop of Northumberland in Colman's room, had been deprived of his see for contumacy,' by the authority of Ecfrid the king, and the Archbishop of Canterbury, and threatened to appeal to Rome, in A. D. 679, his appeal was fruitless; for the pope's bull only excited general surprize and indignation; and it ended in his banishment. Whereupon, not daring to return to the north, he repaired to the Isle of Wight, and planted the Gospel among the 'South Saxons.

'How assiduously the union of Church and State was maintained in their laws, enacted in the Wittenagemottes, or "assemblies of their wise men," or national parliaments, will appear from the following instances:

1. Ina, king of the West Saxons, married a second wife, Guala, the daughter of Cadwaladar, the last king of the Britons, as we have seen, p. 112; and in her right he inherited Cambria, thenceforth called by her name Wales, Cornwall, and the British crown. He was the first who was

crowned King of the Anglo-Saxons and Britih conjointly, A. D. 712; and the first measure of this wise prince," by the advice and consent of all the bishops and chiefs, and the wise men and people of the whole kingdom," was to unite the two nations by intermarriages as speedily as possible; which he effected.

The preamble of his code of laws, enacted A. D. 696, marks the close alliance between the Church and State in those early times :

"I, Ina, by the grace of God, King of the West Saxons, with the counsel and learning of the bishops Ceadda and Eakenwold, with all my senators and wise elders of the people, and with numbers of the clergy, counsellors, concerning the salvation of our souls and the establishment of our nation."

The very first statute in this code was for the propagation of Christianity.

66

Every infant shall be baptized within thirty days; and if not baptized, the parents shall be fined thirty marks. If the child shall die without baptism, they shall forfeit all their goods."

This prince, however undesignedly, furnished an opening for Papal encroachments afterwards, A. D.