(DIED, 604)
[Footnote 9: Copyright, 1894, by Selmar Hess.]
[Illustration: St. Augustine. [TN]]
A complete biography of St. Augustine of Canterbury it is impossible to
write: almost all that is known of him is his work as a missionary to
the English, and almost the only source of our knowledge of that
missionary work is the "Ecclesiastical History" of Baeda. But the mission
of St. Augustine was one of the great crises, not only of the history of
the Christian Church, but of the history of human civilization. The
difference between a number of Celtic churches, with bishops largely
subordinate to the abbots of monasteries, included (as it seems) in none
of the great Catholic patriarchates, cut off from all communication with
the great centres of human thought and life--and a Church of England
taking her place, at once independent and subordinate, in the swift
development of human progress, both conservative and creative--this
difference is quite incalculable. And the mission of St. Augustine made
the difference.
The triumph of Christianity depended--apart from its divine
authority--upon the thorough organization of the Christian communities;
and that organization had for its centre the Episcopacy. But as separate
congregations without a bishop could never have escaped disintegration,
so the united congregations, with their presbyters and bishop, would
have been powerless without some further organization, uniting the
bishops, with well-defined regulations, under some recognized hierarchy
of authority. Thus arose metropolitan sees, and the great patriarchates
of the Catholic Church--Jerusalem, Antioch, Rome, Alexandria,
Constantinople. This centralization was rendered necessary by the course
of events; but it had otherwise no divine authority and might be
modified just as validly as it was created. When the Roman Empire was
submerged under the deluge of barbarian races, a yet closer
centralization became necessary, at least in the West; and the ark in
which floated over that terrible deluge not only the Christian religion,
but the remains of ancient civilization, both Greek and Roman, was the
patriarchate of Rome. The man who not only clearly perceived, but was
absolutely compelled to assume, his awful responsibility in the West,
the Saviour at once of the Church and the world, was the splendid
pontiff, Gregory the Great; the great pontiff who sent St. Augustine and
his companions to preach the gospel to the English conquerors of
Britain. If we would clearly understand the work of St. Augustine we
must free our minds from the illusion produced by familiar names. One of
these is the name Britain. In the time of Gregory the Great the island
called by that name was, of course, the same as that on which Julius
Caesar had landed. The barbarians whom Caesar encountered had been subdued
by his successors, and a Roman province had been formed. Roman
civilization had been introduced and, one might almost say, had
flourished. The Christian religion had found its way thither; there had
been Christian congregations and bishops, and even a heresiarch. But
Rome, in the struggle for her own existence, had been compelled to
withdraw her legions from the province of Britain; and to leave the
people not only to their internal dissensions, but to the attacks of the
"Scots" and "Picts," from Ireland and the Highlands of Scotland. Then
followed the conquest of Britain by the English, as the Teutonic
invaders began soon to be called. The Celtic people were largely driven
out, including the Celtic Christians. The English were heathens, and the
Celtic Christians seem to have made no effort whatever for their
conversion. The English, again, were by no means consolidated into an
English nation. It was to one division of these English heathens that
Gregory the Great sent Augustine.
Even the term "the British Church" is somewhat misleading. There is not
the slightest trustworthy evidence, either as to the time when, or the
person by whom, Christianity was introduced into Britain. There, of
course, as everywhere else, the Church was under the rule of bishops;
but, excepting for the purpose of ordaining, the authority of the
British bishops seems to have been entirely overshadowed by the
authority of the abbots of monasteries. There seems, as we have said, no
evidence of anything resembling the patriarchal system among them; nor
of any close or frequent communication between the British churches and
the rest of Christendom. This is proved, among other things, by their
curious reckoning of Easter; which (as Gieseler shows, "Eccle. Hist.,"
ii., 164, English translation) was by no means identical with that of
the Quarto-decimans. It was simply the survival of the use of an old
cycle which had been elsewhere superseded by one more accurate and
convenient.
The ascertainable biography of St. Augustine begins with his mission, by
command of Gregory, to the heathen English; and especially to the
subjects of Ethelbert, King of Kent, who had married a Christian lady.
There is not the slightest reason for discrediting the story related by
Baeda, of the incident which first excited Gregory's interest in the
heathen English. The relations between Britain and Rome having come to
an end, it is not in the least surprising that even a person so
exceptionally well informed should have known nothing about the Teutonic
peoples--Angles, Jutes, Saxons--which had driven out the British. That
he should have played upon words so suggestive as Angli, Deira, and
AElla, is exactly what might be expected from the author of the "Magna
Moralia." The familiar story--he calls it "opinio quae de beato Gregorio
traditione majorum ad nos usque perlata est"--as told by Baeda, is as
follows ("Hist. Eccl.," ii., 1):--
It is reported that some merchants, having just arrived at Rome on a
certain day, exposed many things for sale in the market-place, and
abundance of people resorted thither to buy; Gregory himself went with
the rest, and, among other things, some boys were set to sale, their
bodies white, their countenances beautiful, and their hair very fine.
Having viewed them, he asked, as is said, from what country or nation
they were brought? and was told, from the island of Britain, whose
inhabitants were of such personal appearance. He again inquired whether
those islanders were Christians, or still involved in the errors of
paganism? and was informed that they were pagans. Then, fetching a deep
sigh from the bottom of his heart, "Alas! what pity," said he, "that the
author of darkness is possessed of men of such fair countenances; and
that being remarkable for such graceful aspects, their minds should be
void of inward grace." He therefore again asked, what was the name of
that nation? and was answered that they were called Angles. "Right,"
said he, "for they have an angelic face, and it becomes such to be
co-heirs with the angels in heaven. What is the name," proceeded he, "of
the province from which they are brought?" It was replied, that the
natives of that place were called Deiri. "Truly are they De ira," said
he, "withdrawn from wrath, and called to the mercy of Christ. How is the
king of that province called?" They told him his name was AElla; and he,
alluding to the name, said, "Hallelujah, the praise of God the Creator
must be sung in those parts."
Gregory was eager to go at once on a mission to the home of these
beautiful children, and the then pope gave his consent; but the Roman
people could not bear the loss of one already so useful and
distinguished, and almost before he had started he was recalled. When,
during his own pontificate, Gregory carried out his purpose, it was
probably due to a request of Queen Bertha, speaking, most likely, in
behalf of some of the Kentish people, made to the Frankish bishops for
missionaries. "It has come to our knowledge," writes Gregory, "that,
through the mercy of God, the people of the Angli are eagerly desiring
to be converted to the Christian faith, but that the priests of their
own neighborhood neglect them." When Bertha married Ethelbert it was on
condition that she should retain her own religion; and she was
accompanied to Kent by a French bishop, named Luidhard, who must have
acted chiefly as her private chaplain. Ethelbert nobly kept his word,
and thus the piety of Bertha, and her religion, may easily and deeply
have impressed the Kentish heathen. That the Celtic bishops and
clergy--"sacerdotes e vicinio"--did nothing for the conversion of the
heathen English can scarcely be matter of surprise, though possibly of
regret. For they were not only Christians, but belonged to the conquered
race; whom, apart from their religion, it was the policy of the
conquerors to drive out of the country, and who were compelled to take
refuge in the remotest districts of the land. The Frankish bishops seem
to have done little or nothing in response to Queen Bertha's
solicitations; and Gregory ordered Candidus, administrator of the
Patrimony of St. Peter in Gaul, to bring up English youths, and have
them trained in monasteries, and fitted to be made missionaries to their
own land. At length, in the sixth year of his pontificate, he determined
to undertake the work himself; and sent from his own monastery of St.
Andrew, on the Caelian Hill, in Rome, a company of forty monks, headed by
their prior, Augustine.
Their progress at first was rapid. Starting in the summer of A.D. 596,
they soon arrived in the neighborhood of Aix, in Provence. But the
nearer they came to what should have been their journey's end, the less
inclined they were for the work to which they had been appointed. The
heathen English were represented as barbarians of unusual ferocity; and
the companions of Augustine were as frightened as the companions of
Caleb and Joshua. They induced their prior to return to Gregory and seek
a release from their perilous task. But Gregory was not a man to be
frightened himself, or to have much sympathy with cowards. He wrote,
however, with great gentleness: "For as much as it had been better not
to begin a good work than to think of desisting from that which has been
begun, it behoves you, my beloved sons, to fulfil the good work which,
by the help of the Lord, you have undertaken. Let not, therefore, the
toil of the journey, nor the tongues of evil-speaking men, deter you:
but with all possible earnestness and zeal, perform that which by God's
direction you have undertaken." He furnished them with letters to the
bishops of Tours, Marseilles, Vienne, and Autun, and also to the
metropolitan of Arles. After the lapse of a year they slowly continued
their journey, and landed at last at Ebbe's Fleet, in the Isle of
Thanet.
As soon as they had landed Augustine sent the interpreters, whom he had
obtained from "the nation of the Franks," to tell Ethelbert of his
arrival. Ethelbert seems to have been a really noble-hearted man, and
had doubtless been attracted by the piety of his wife Bertha. The
missionaries told him that they had come from Rome, the great capital of
the West, and "had brought a joyful message which most undoubtedly
assured to all that took advantage of it, everlasting joys in heaven,
and a kingdom that would never end, with the living and true God." The
king ordered them to remain in the island where they had landed, and
promised that they should be furnished with all necessaries till he
should consider what he would do with them. Soon after he came to the
island, and conferred with Augustine and his companions in the open air;
fearing the possibility of magic enchantments if he met them under any
roof. He was much impressed by their ceremonial, their bearing, and
their teaching. "Your words and promises," he said, "are very fair, but
as they are new to us, and of uncertain import, I cannot approve of them
so far as to forsake that which I have so long followed with the whole
English nation ["cum omni Anglorum gente:" this by no means implies, it
is scarcely necessary to say, an English nation in the modern sense of
those words]. But because you are come from far into my kingdom, and, as
I conceive, are desirous to impart to us those things which you believe
to be true and most beneficial, we will not molest you, but give you
favorable entertainment, and take care to supply you with your necessary
sustenance; nor do we forbid you to preach, and gain as many as you can
to your religion."
By the king's invitation they crossed from Thanet and took their abode
in the then rude town of Canterbury, and before long were allowed to
worship in St. Martin's Church, with the queen. Their influence
gradually increased, and a considerable number of the English were
converted. At last Ethelbert himself received baptism (Whitsunday, A.D.
597); and following his example, it is said that on December 25th
following--mid-winter!--upward of ten thousand were baptized in the
waters of the Swale. Of course, it cannot be supposed that in these
mediaeval "conversions" of whole tribes or "nations," there was any
rational acceptance of the complete theology of the Church. The
conversion was rather the acceptance of a discipline, a mode of life;
founded indeed on Christian doctrine and in all kinds of subtle ways
symbolizing it; but primarily an imitation of a sweeter and purer life,
and a more spiritual and suggestive worship. The words of Baeda (i., 26)
are worthy of note as indicating the temper both of Gregory and
Augustine: "Their conversion the king so far encouraged, as that he
compelled none to embrace Christianity, but only showed more affection
to the believers, as to his fellow-citizens in the heavenly kingdom. For
he had learnt from his instructors and leaders to salvation, that the
service of Christ ought to be voluntary, not by compulsion."
[Illustration: Conversion of Ethelbert by Augustine.]
Having so far succeeded in his mission, Augustine went to Arles and was
consecrated archbishop of the English by the Metropolitan Virgilius.
[Baeda says (i., 27): "Archiepiscopus genti Anglorum ordinatus est," the
actual see probably being then undetermined.] On his return he
despatched Lawrence and Peter to Rome to tell Gregory that the Angli had
been converted to the faith, and that he himself (Augustine) had been
made a bishop. They were also to bring back the Pope's answers to sundry
questions respecting the conduct of the mission which Augustine proposed
to him. Both the questions and the answers are highly suggestive. The
first question was as to the division of the offerings of the faithful.
The second as to differences of "Use" in the celebration of Mass and
other divine offices. The answer of Gregory is almost classical, and may
well be repeated here: "You know, my brother," he says, "the custom of
the Roman Church.... But it pleases me that if you have found anything,
whether in the Roman Church, or the church of the Gauls
["Galliarum"], or any church whatever, which may be more pleasing to
Almighty God, you carefully make choice of the same and diligently teach
the church of the English, which as yet is new in the faith ... whatever
you have been able to collect from many churches. For things are not to
be loved for the sake of places, but places for the sake of good
things." The fourth and fifth questions of Augustine refer to prohibited
degrees of marriage, and Gregory replies, as to the marriage of
first-cousins, among other objections, "we have learned by experience
that no offspring can come of such marriage." To Augustine's inquiry as
to his relations with the bishops of Gaul and Britain ["Galliarum
Brittaniarumque,"] Gregory replies that Augustine has no authority
whatever within the jurisdiction of the metropolitan of Arles; but he
adds: "As for all the bishops of Britain ["Brittaniarum"], we commit
them to your care, that the unlearned may be taught, the weak
strengthened by persuasion, and the perverse corrected by authority."
Considering the context--Augustine had been asking whether, under the
circumstances, he could consecrate bishops without the presence of any
other bishops; and, moreover, he had not as yet come into any kind of
contact with the Celtic bishops--it seems probable that "the bishops of
Britain" here placed under Augustine's jurisdiction were the bishops to
be afterward consecrated by himself, with or without the presence and
witness of Gallic or other bishops. Gregory's advice to Augustine,
conveyed through the Abbot Mellitus, may well be pondered by the
managers of modern missions. He says: "The temples of the idols in that
nation [the English] ought not to be destroyed; but let the idols that
are in them be destroyed; let holy water be made and sprinkled in the
said temples, let altars be erected, and relics placed. For if those
temples are well built it is requisite that they be converted from the
worship of devils to the service of the true God; that the nation ...
adoring the true God, may the more familiarly resort to the places to
which they have been accustomed." He even suggests that their
sacrifices--which were largely festivals, as much social as
religious--should be discontinued, indeed, as sacrifices, but changed
into banquets and associated with the day of the dedication of a church,
or the "nativity" of a holy martyr. And all this on the perfectly sound
principle, too often forgotten, that "he who strives to reach the
highest place raises himself by steps and degrees, and not by leaps
[gradibus vel passibus non autem saltibus elevatus]."
At last Augustine was brought into contact with the Celtic bishops. It
was clear that their assistance would be very valuable in the endeavor
to convert the English, and also that their peculiar usages would convey
the impression of far greater diversity of doctrine than actually
existed. Augustine was willing to make much concession. There were three
conditions of union which seemed to him indispensable: agreement as to
the time of keeping Easter; agreement as to the mode of administering
baptism; and hearty co-operation in mission work among the heathen. We
may leave out of consideration alleged miracles; also the curious, or
even the ludicrous, test of a divine mission suggested by "the aged
hermit" of the story. The Celtic bishops refused any sort of
co-operation, and Augustine left them, not without a solemn warning:
"If they would not have peace with their brethren, they would have to
accept war from their enemies; if they would not preach the way of life
to the nation of the Angli, they would have to suffer at their hands the
vengeance of death." It is scarcely credible--though in religious
controversy almost anything is credible--that a warning so obviously
wise, and even charitable, should have been interpreted as a mere
threat, and as evidence that Augustine himself was the author of the
calamities that afterward befell the Celtic Church.
Such is the simple story of the mission and the life--for we read
nothing about his life but his mission--of Augustine, the first
archbishop of Canterbury. He was not able to carry out the whole scheme
of Gregory. He was not the first to introduce Christianity into Britain.
But, apart from Queen Bertha's private chaplain, he was the first to
introduce Christianity to the English--those Teutonic tribes which were
the ancestors of the English of to-day. Who first brought the gospel to
the Roman province of Britain no one knows; nor is it of the slightest
importance that anyone should know. But that there should have been two
Christian religions in England when the nation was being consolidated,
would have been fatal both to nation and church. We conclude this brief
notice by a passage from two historians, neither of whom could possibly
be suspected of any undue subservience to the modern Church of Rome. The
first is from Mr. Green's "The Making of England" (pp. 314, 315); he is
speaking of the results of the Synod of Whitby (A.D. 664).
"It is possible that lesser political motives may have partly swayed
Oswin in his decision, for the revival of Mercia had left him but the
alliance of Kent in the south, and this victory of the Kentish Church
would draw tighter the bonds which linked together the two powers. But
we may fairly credit him with a larger statesmanship. Trivial in fact as
were the actual points of difference which parted the Roman Church from
the Irish, the question to which communion Northumbria should belong
was, as we have seen, of immense moment to the after-fortunes of
England. It was not merely that, as Wilfrid said, to fight against Rome
was to fight against the world. Had England, indeed, clung to the Irish
Church, it must have remained spiritually isolated from the bulk of
Western Christendom. Fallen as Rome might be from its older greatness,
it preserved the traditions of civilization, of letters, and art and
law. Its faith still served as a bond which held together the nations
that sprang from the wreck of the Empire. To repulse Rome was to condemn
England to isolation. But grave as such considerations were, they were
of little weight beside the influence which Oswin's decision had on the
very unity of the English race. The issue of the Synod not only gave
England a share in the religious unity of Western Christendom; it gave
her a religious unity at home. However dimly such thoughts may have
presented themselves to Oswin's mind, it was the instinct of a statesman
that led him to set aside the love and gratitude of his youth, and to
secure the religious oneness of England in the Synod of Whitby."
The other is from Milman's "History of Latin Christianity" (ii., 198,
199, Amer. Edition): "The effect of Christianity on Anglo-Saxon England
was at once to re-establish a connection both between the remoter parts
of the island with each other, and of England with the rest of the
Christian world. They ceased to dwell apart, a race of warlike,
unapproachable barbarians, in constant warfare with the bordering
tribes, or occupied in their own petty feuds or inroads, rarely, as in
the case of Ethelbert, connected by intermarriage with some neighboring
Teutonic state. Though the Britons were still secluded in the mountains,
or at extremities of the land, by animosities which even Christianity
could not allay, yet the Picts and Scots, and the parts of Ireland which
were occupied by Christian monasteries, were now brought into peaceful
communication, first with the kingdom of Northumbria, and through
Northumbria with the rest of England. The intercourse with Europe was of
far higher importance, and tended much more rapidly to introduce the
arts and habits of civilization into the land. There was a constant flow
of missionaries across the British Channel, who possessed all the
knowledge which still remained in Europe. All the earlier metropolitans
of Canterbury and the bishops of most of the southern sees, were
foreigners; they were commissioned at Rome, if not consecrated there;
they travelled backward and forward in person, or were in constant
communication with that great city, in which were found all the culture,
the letters, the arts, and sciences which had survived the general
wreck."
Nobody need disparage the Celtic Church; but it is not too much to say
that the Celtic Church could never have preserved Christianity in
Britain against the victorious Saxon or English heathen. But from the
very beginning the Church of England has retained the traces of her
early origin, when Gregory the Great was Pope, when the claim to be
universal bishop was deemed untenable, when even the ritual of the Mass
was still in unessential details flexible.
[Signature of the author.]