solemn vows, Veni, sponsa Christi, accipe coronam quam tibi Dominus præparavit in æternum-Come, spouse of Christ, receive the crown which the Lord hath prepared for thee for ever. In the Western and Eastern Churches the religious orders are probably as numerous as in any former age. In the latter communion the bishops are invariably elected from them.

But we are already warned that we have dwelt long enough on this sacred ground, though we seem hardly to have done more than enter upon it. Gladly would we remain to trace the history of each blessed order, and its introduction into England: and the sad narrative of the dissolution of the monasteries in the sixteenth century might furnish a theme of the deepest interest. But other subjects demand our attention, though not before I relate a little tale which Bona mentions in the Divina Psalmodia, and which seems to contain a more touching plea for the religious life than many formal discourses. "Joannes Moschus relates, in his book called the Spiritual Meadow, that an old man once came to a brother of one of the orders of Solitaries, and said to him, Tell me, my brother, what have you gained by spending so much time in living alone, and in spiritual exercises? The brother replied, Go away now, and come again in ten days, and I will tell thee. The old man accordingly went away, and returned after ten days, and found that the brother had departed to Christ, leaving a shell on which was written, Forgive me, my father, if, while I was doing the work of God, or was chaunting the psalter at the appointed hours, I never suffered my thoughts

to descend to the earth." With hearts subdued by our late meditations, let us sign our breasts, and proceed.

Lord, if my many sins below

Forbid me here their peace to know,

Grant, when from these my chains set free

For they, I ween, who sleep below
Had more of wisdom than we know;
With alms and prayers and penitence
They sternly conquered things of sense.
And with them in their slumbers deep
Their fastings and their vigils sleep,
And shall awake with them to stand,
When the last judgment is at hand.

Baptistery, pp. 183 and 195.

MAY 26.

S. Augustin, Archbishop.

604.

NOTHING is known of the early life of S. Augustin, till he became abbat of the monastery of S. Andrew in Rome, which had been founded by S. Gregory the Great. His sanctity so recommended him to the holy Bishop, that he admitted him, along with a few others, to his most intimate friendship. We have already seen in the life of S. Gregory how ardently he desired the conversion of England to the Christian Faith, and how he would have undertaken the mission

alone, if the people of Rome had not urged their Bishop to recal him. After his promotion to the chair of S. Peter, he accomplished what he had so long desired, and in July 596 the abbat Augustin and a little band of monks and priests were sent from Rome, to carry the gospel into Britain. S. Gregory furnished them with letters of recommendation to many of the bishops in France near whose churches they were to pass, and to the two sons of Childebert, kings of Burgundy and Lorraine, and to their grandmother Brunehaut. On reaching Aix the courage of the missioners failed them at the prospect of so long a journey through strange and barbarous nations, to a country whose manners and even whose language were wholly unknown to them, and they sent S. Augustin to Rome to entreat S. Gregory to allow them to return. But he saw in their discouragement a fresh reason for hope, as if the devil, foreseeing the success of this invasion of his dominions, had raised an obstacle to deter them. The holy Bishop therefore wrote to them, urging them to go on with the great work they had undertaken. "Go forward in

God's name," he said, "knowing the glory of the everlasting reward, which shall follow this great labour. Almighty God protect you by His grace, and grant me to see the fruit of your labour in His eternal kingdom." He recommended them to take with them priests from France, to act as interpreters on their arrival in England. For the language of the Anglo-Saxons and of the Franks was very similar, both nations being of German origin.

The missioners then with renewed ardour set forward on their journey, and were received with great kindness on their way through France, by those

persons to whom S. Gregory had recommended

them, and to whom he

afterwards sent letters of The little company landed

thanks for their charity.

safely in 597 on the island of Thanet, near the coast of Kent, in number about forty.

The Romans had finally withdrawn their armies from Britain about a century and a half before; and the native Britons, being unable to repel the invasions of the Scots and Picts, had invited the Saxons and the Angli from Germany to assist them in subduing their northern enemies. But they soon found in their new allies a much more dangerous foe. For these warlike nations, discovering the defenceless state of the Britons, turned their arms against them, and in a few years made themselves masters of the whole country, except the wildest parts of Cornwall, Wales, and Cumberland, whither the remnant of Britons had fled to escape total destruction. The conquerors then divided the kingdom into several states, of which, in the end of the sixth century, Kent was the most powerful.

There is very good reason to believe that Christianity was first preached in Britain in Apostolic times. As early as the third century it was honoured with many glorious martyrs. The persecutions of the Roman emperors had failed to extinguish it; and the Saxons on their arrival found the religion of the Cross everywhere prevailing. But "having the odds of power in their hands," says Collier, "they set up their own heathenism, demolished the Christian churches, and suppressed the true worship. The Church lost ground almost every where, was driven, as it were, into a corner, and no where visible to any degree, excepting in those places where the Britons

had still some footing; insomuch that at last heathenism was the prevailing religion1."

Ethelbert, or Adilbert, then reigned in the kingdom of Kent. His queen Bertha, or Adilberga, was a daughter of Cherebert, one of the kings of France, and had been educated in the Christian faith. She had obtained leave from the king to enjoy the free exercise of her religion; and Luidard, bishop of Senlis in France, attended her court, as her spiritual director. He is sometimes called the harbinger of S. Augustin.

As soon as the missioners had landed, they sent the interpreters to inform the king that they were come from Rome to bring him good news,-the certain promise of eternal joy, and of a kingdom without end with the living and true God. He invited them to remain in the island, till he should determine what ought to be done for them; and in the mean time provided them with every necessary. The influence of the queen probably obtained for them this indulgence. He soon after went to the island to give them an audience; but would consent to meet them only in the open air, having a superstitious fear of magical charms. They arrived at the appointed place in solemn procession, bearing a silver cross, and a banner on which was represented the figure of our Saviour, and chaunting litanies to obtain from God their own safety, and the salvation of the people they had come among. The king bade them be seated before him, and they began to announce the Gospel to him. When they had finished, he said that those were good words and promises, but, as

Eccl. Hist. B. I. p. 61.