The Church of our Fathers.

II. THE BRITONS AND SAXONS.

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It is the fashion among some people at the present day to pretend that the ancient Britons were good Protestants,' who stood out bravely, both against the usurpation of the Pope in this country, and also against the errors and corruptions of doctrine which St. Augustin and the other "Roman Catholics" that were with him tried to introduce. The Pope of Rome, they say, sent missionaries to England to make the people Papists; the good Britons, however, would have nothing to do with them, but made a noble stand for their own pure and primitive religion, so that it was a long time before "the corruptions of Popery" could gain a footing in this island.

Now we have already told you* *what little has come down to us concerning the religion of the ancient Britons in those early days. We have seen that the more probable account of their conversion traces it directly to Rome; that they were in communion with foreign churches; that they honoured the relics of Saints and Martyrs; and that they had monasteries among them: all which particulars certainly look much more like the Catholic than the Protestant religion. But we will go on with their history, and see what is the origin of this false and foolish idea about their having been Protestants.

We have already said that Britain was conquered by the Romans during the first century after our Lord's birth, and so became a province of that vast empire, which embraced almost the whole of the then known world; but, like the other empires which had gone before it, this too was to

* See No. 5. The Ancient Britons.

pass away in God's appointed time. It had been raised up to prepare the way for the kingdom of Christ, and was dashed in pieces when its work was done. Three or four hundred years only past, during which it struggled violently against the new and heavenly kingdom growing up in the midst of it, and by those struggles weakened itself and hastened its own destruction; its government became weak, its imperial throne perpetually disputed and seized by one usurper after another; and at last fierce nations of barbarians completed its destruction. These, inhabiting for the most part trackless forests in the middle and north of Europe, found, in the course of time, their abode too narrow for them, and, pushed onwards, as is generally believed, by fresh tribes pressing upon them from the East, rushed forth towards the South and West to seek new settlements. The south especially attracted them by the fertility of its soil and the beauty of its climate; and crossing the Alps, they poured down in hordes into Italy, and threatened the capital of the world. When Italy was in this state of danger, the troops which had hitherto been stationed in the distant provinces were of course summoned home to guard the heart of the empire, and the provinces themselves were cut off, and left to their own resources.

Such was the case with Britain, sorely against the will of its people, who felt little able to govern themselves, or, at this moment, to defend themselves against some very troublesome neighbours, the Picts and Scots, who inhabited the northern part of the island, now called Scotland, and who made frequent inroads into Britain for plunder, wasting the country, and then hurrying back to their own land with all the spoil they could lay hands upon. Britain was at this time in a peculiarly defenceless condition, because all the flower of their youth had been enlisted in the Roman legions, in consequence of the war which was raging in all parts of the empire. How a country may be desolated from this cause has been seen almost in our own day, when some parts of Italy were so drained of men by Napoleon's conscriptions, that there were none to gather in the harvest, and English soldiers stationed in those places were allowed by their officers to do this necessary work of charity for the

poor inhabitants that were left behind. Britain too had probably suffered more than the rest of the empire, because it had been itself the scene of some of the recent civil wars, in consequence of usurpers of the imperial crown having more than once arisen there. The mass of the people, educated in the arts of polished life, were become too fond of ease and luxury to be readily roused to exertion. Twice they applied to the Romans for aid, and twice it was granted them, and the enemies put to flight; and the second time, the Roman general, warning them that they must no more expect troops to be sent from Italy on such distant expeditions, assisted them in building, across that part of the island which borders on Scotland, a very strong wall, fortified with towers, some remains of which are still to be seen; and then, admonishing them to defend this with spirit, took leave of them, and departed, never to return.

"The barba

But the poor Britons had at this time no spirit in them; no sooner were the Romans gone, than the Picts poured down upon them again; and they, leaving their towers and their wall, fled like sheep before the wolf. Once more they applied to the Romans, in a letter to one of their chief governors or consuls, which bore this address: "To Aëtius, the Consul, these groans of the Britons." rians," they say, "drive us to the sea; the sea drives us back to the barbarians; so that either we must have our throats cut, or else be drowned." However, the Romans could give them no help, for Italy was at that time the scene of war, Rome itself being threatened by Attila, king of the Huns, one of the fiercest enemies of the empire.

At last despair awakened the slumbering energy of the Britons, and rousing themselves with one accord, they drove back their enemies far into the mountains of Scotland, and that with such loss, that some years passed before they again attacked them. During this interval of peace, the lands were carefully cultivated, and the crops were unusually abundant, which was the more grateful, as there had been dreadful famines in Britain as well as in other parts of the empire. And now Britain might have become once more flourishing, but for the lamentable corruption of morals which had crept in among them. A

writer of their own bitterly laments this state of things, and declares that truth and justice were departed from among them, and that cruelty and wrong every where prevailed; and this not only among secular men, but the very pastors of the flock of Christ gave themselves up to drunkenness, contention, envyings, luxury, and all manner of wickedness, "bowing their necks to this slavery, and casting off the meek yoke of Christ." Five kings he mentions especially who succeeded one another, and who were monsters of wickedness, and the last of these, Vortigern, so disgusted both his nobles and his people, that many of the former fled to France, and the whole state seemed falling to pieces. The Picts and Scots took advantage of this weakness to recommence their incursions, which they pushed farther and farther; and Vortigern, being unable, in consequence of the want of union among his people, to repulse them, bethought him ("blinded," as the old writers say, "by the wrath of God") of calling to his assistance certain pirates who were cruising about in the British seas in three long ships.

These were of the nation of the Saxons, our own forefathers, a tribe inhabiting the northern coasts of Germany, who, though their skill in ship-building, it is said, could produce nothing better than large flat-bottomed boats with sides of wicker-work covered with hides, yet trusted themselves in these rough vessels to the stormy seas of the North, and became the terror of the neighbouring nations, and even of some more distant, by their daring piracies. They were already well acquainted with the shores of Britain, and needed no entreaty to accept Vortigern's invitation. Accordingly they landed in considerable numbers on the coast of Kent, where the king made them a grant of land, on condition that they should fight for the peace of his kingdom. Their leaders were Hengist and Horsa, and their standard a white horse, which they afterwards carved in several places on the chalky downs of the south of England, cutting away the green turf in the shape of a horse, so that it looks at a distance like a huge white horse lying on the hill-side. This first landing of the Saxons in Britain was in the year 450.