CONVERSION OF THE BARBARIANS--CHRISTIANITY IN BRITAIN.
As the old empire of Rome disappears, the modern kingdoms of Europe
begin to come to view; and we may now look at the progress of the Gospel
among the nations of the west.
The barbarians who got possession of France, Spain, South Germany, and
other parts of the empire, were soon converted to a sort of
Christianity; but, unfortunately, it was not the true Catholic faith. I
have told you[44] that Ulfilas, "the Moses of the Goths," led his people
into the errors of Arianism. As it was from the Goths that the
missionaries generally went forth to convert the other northern nations,
these nations, too, for the most part, became Arians; while some of
them, after having been converted by Catholics, afterwards fell into
Arianism. It is curious to observe how opposite the course of conversion
was among these nations to what it had been in earlier times. In the
Roman empire, the Gospel worked its way up from the poor and simple
people who were the first to believe it, until the emperor himself
became at length a convert. But among the nations which now overran the
western empire, the missionaries usually began by making a convert of
the prince; when the prince was converted, his subjects followed him to
the font; and if he changed from Catholicism to Arianism, or from
Arianism to Catholicism, the people did the same. In the course of time,
all the nations which had professed Arianism, were brought over to the
true faith. The last who held out were the Goths in Spain, who gave up
their errors at a great council which was held at Toledo in 589; and the
Lombards, in the north of Italy, who were converted in the early part of
the following century.
[44] Page 93.
Our own island was little troubled by Arianism, and St. Athanasius bears
witness to the firmness of the British bishops in the right faith. But
Pelagius, as we have seen,[45] was himself a Briton; and, although he
did not himself try to spread his errors here, one of his followers,
named Agricola, brought them into Britain, and did a great deal of
mischief (A.D. 429). The Britons had been long under the power of the
Romans; but, as the empire grew weaker, the Romans found that they could
not afford to keep up an army here; and they had given up Britain in
the year 409. But after this, when the Picts and Scots of the north
invaded the southern part of the island (or what we now call England),
the Britons in their alarm used to beg the assistance of the Romans
against them. And it would seem as if the British clergy had come to
depend on the help of others in much the same way; for when they found
what havoc the Pelagian Agricola was making among their people, they
sent over into Gaul, and begged that the bishops of that country would
send them aid against him.
[45] Page 124.
Two bishops, German of Auxerre, and Lupus of Troyes, were sent
accordingly by a council to which the petition of the Britons had been
made. These two could speak a language which was near enough to the
British to be understood by the Britons; it was something like the
Welsh, or the Irish, or like the Gaelic, which is spoken in the
highlands of Scotland (for all these languages are much alike). Their
preaching had a great effect on the people, and their holy lives
preached still better than their sermons; they disputed with the
Pelagian teachers at Verulam, the town where St. Alban was martyred,[46]
and which now takes its name from him; and they succeeded for the time
in putting down the heresy.
[46] Page 37.
It is said that while German and Lupus were in this country, the Picts
and Saxons joined in invading it; and that the Britons, finding their
army unfit to fight the enemy, sent to beg the assistance of the two
Gaulish bishops. So German and Lupus went to the British army, and
joined it just before Easter. A great number of the soldiers were
baptized at Easter, and German put himself at their head. The enemy came
on, expecting an easy victory, but the bishops thrice shouted
_Hallelujah!_ and all the army took up the shout, which was echoed from
the mountains again and again, so that the pagans were struck with
terror, and expected the mountains to fall on them. They threw down
their arms, and ran away, leaving a great quantity of spoil behind them,
and many of them rushed into a river, where they were drowned. The place
where this victory is said to have been gained is still pointed out in
Flintshire, and is known by a Welsh name, which means, "German's Field."
Pelagianism began to revive in Britain some years later, but St. German
came over a second time, and once more put it down.
But soon after this, the Saxons came into Britain. It is supposed that
Hengist and Horsa landed in Kent in the year 449; and other chiefs
followed, with their fierce heathen warriors. There was a struggle
between these and the Britons, which lasted a hundred years, until at
length the invaders got the better, and the land was once more
overspread by heathenism, except where the Britons kept up their
Christianity in the mountainous districts of the west,--Cumberland,
Wales, and Cornwall. You shall hear by-and-by how the Gospel was
introduced among the Saxons.