have lifted up their hearts with hopeful joy when they heard that at last, after so many disappointments with the British Church, the abortive attempt in East Anglia, the failure in London, a way was opened to that very Deira which had been their goal when they first started from their monastery on the Cælian Hill; and their interest and prayers would add to the enthusiasm with which Paulinus set out on his journey.

It is evident, from a collation of various passages which bear upon the subject, that in this rude English society, as in later times, a Queen had a household of her own, and that the Kentish princess went to the court of Northumbria with a number of attendants, men and women. It also appears probable, from several passages, that a royal Christian bride was accompanied by a chaplain of her own countrymen, to be her adviser and the ruler of her household, even when the marriage was between Christians, much more was this desirable in such a case as the present.

Paulinus, one of the men who came into Kent with Mellitus, was chosen to be the princess's chaplain, accompanied probably by James the Deacon; and as the chaplain who came from France with Bertha was a bishop, so to do honour to Ethelburga, and to give her chaplain the greater authority, Justus consecrated Paulinus as a bishop on the 21st July, 625 A.D. The bride, with her attendants and a gallant escort, probably embarked at Richborough, and went northward by sea, disembarking at Bamborough, where they would be met by Edwin and his thanes and knights, and so they were married by Paulinus with great solemnity.

Here again we have an evidence that occasional communication was maintained between Canterbury and Rome, and that the successors of Gregory took an interest in this Roman mission. For Boniface, hearing of this hopeful event, endeavoured to improve it by the prestige of his office, and the power of his persuasion. As Gregory had written to Ethelbert and Bertha, so now Boniface wrote to Edwin and Ethelburga.

The letter is long and verbose, so that it may be better to give only a summary of its contents. It began by saying "that the greatness of God, existing in invisible and unsearchable eternity, cannot be comprehended or expressed by human wit; but He has been pleased to inspire into the minds of men such things concerning Himself as He was willing to make known to them; and he (the Bishop) has thought fit to extend his priestly care to the King, and to make known to him the Christian faith, which our Saviour Christ commanded should be preached to all nations, in order to offer to him the cup of life and salvation.

"Thus the goodness of the Supreme Majesty by the word of His command created all things, the heavens, the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, disposing the order in which they should subsist; and with the counsel of His co-eternal Word and the unity of the Holy Spirit, He formed man out of the slime of the earth, and gave him such supereminent prerogative as to place him above all others; so that, observing the commands given to him, His continuance should be to all eternity. . How great guilt, then, they lie under who adhere to the pernicious superstitions of the worship of idols, appears by the perdition of those

whom they worship; wherefore it is said of them in the Psalms, All the gods of the Gentiles are devils, but the Lord made the heavens.' And again, 'They have eyes and see not,' etc.

"It behoves you, therefore, to take upon you the sign of the Holy Cross, by which the human race is redeemed, and to break in pieces those idols which you have worshipped; for the very destruction of them, which could never receive life or sense from their makers, may plainly demonstrate how worthless they were, since you yourselves who have received life from the Lord are certainly better than they. Draw near, then, to the knowledge of Him who made you, who breathed the breath of life into you, who sent His onlybegotten Son for your redemption, to cleanse you from original sin, that, being delivered from the power of the devil's wickedness, He might bestow on you a heavenly reward.

Hear the words of the preachers, and the gospel of God which they declare to you, to the end that believing in God the Father Almighty, and in Jesus Christ His Son, and in the Holy Spirit, the indivisible Trinity, and being born again by water and the Holy Ghost, you may, through His assistance and goodness, dwell in the brightness of the eternal glory with Him in whom you shall believe."

It is an interesting sketch of a missionary sermon. The Bishop concludes by sending the blessing of St. Peter, and sundry presents-a tunic, a gold ornament, and a garment of Ancyra, which he prays his Highness to accept with the same friendship with which they are sent.

At the same time, the Bishop sent a letter to

Ethelburga, which also we shall take leave to summarise. He says that his mind has been much rejoiced that the Lord has vouchsafed, in her Highness' conversion, to kindle a spark of the orthodox religion, by which the more easily to inflame the mind, not only of her glorious consort, but also of the nation that is subject to them.

For he has been informed by messengers who were sent to him, of the laudable conversion of his illustrious son, King Eadbald, and that she likewise was so wholly taken up with the love of her Redeemer, that she never ceased to lend her assistance for the propagation of the Christian faith. But it had caused him

no small grief to learn that her illustrious husband still served abominable idols, and would not yield obedience or give ear to the preachers. Wherefore he exhorts her, to the utmost of her power, to endeavour to soften the hardness of his heart, and to inflame his coldness, that the Scripture may be fulfilled by her, and "the unbelieving husband be saved by the believing wife"; and assures her that he does not cease, with frequent prayers, to beg that she may be able to perform this.

He concludes by sending her the blessing of St. Peter, and a present consisting of a silver lookingglass and a gilt ivory comb.1

1 Boniface v. died, Oct., 625 A.D., so that these letters were written before that date.

CHAPTER XXIII

PROGRESS OF THE WORK IN NORTHUMBRIA

It will be well to pause here, in order to consider the condition of this new district to which we are introduced. The settlements of the Angles from the Humber, northwards, were among the earliest, but they seem at first to have been only along the coast. The invaders forced their way inland slowly, against tenacious resistance, and with varying fortunes; for they had not only to fight against the Britons and drive them westward, but they had to guard their right flank, which, the further they extended their conquests, was the more and more exposed to attack from the Picts and Scots. Cumbria was still independent, and continued to be ruled by native kings till the early part of the tenth century. It would be difficult to define the boundary between the two countries at this time. Long after the period at which we have arrived, there were two small independent British districts, Loidis and Elmet, in the West Riding of Yorkshire. The town of Leeds takes its name from the former, and the village of Barwick-in-Elmet defines the whereabouts of the latter. The war of conquest, which had ceased a century ago in Kent and the south-east of the island generally, was still of doubtful issue in the north; not many years after the