Romanised and Christianised Britain, and of the civilisation, luxuries, and mental cultivation which it had, to a certain extent, exhibited to the Saxon eye, had already shaken their attachment to the rude superstitions of their ancestors; or the high priest of their national deities would not have, so feelingly, expatiated on his comparative neglect. This circumstance will contribute to account for the ease with which Christianity was re-established in the island. The next speaker discovered a mind unusually enlarged for a people hitherto so unaccustomed to intellectual investigations. "The present life of man, O king! seems to me, if compared with that after-period which is so uncertain to us, to resemble a scene at one of your wintry feasts. As you are sitting with your ealdormen and thegns about you, the fire blazing in the centre, and the whole hall cheered by its warmth; and while storms of rain and snow are raging without, a little sparrow flies in at one door, roams around our festive meeting, and passes out at some other entrance. While it is among us, it feels not the wintry tempest. It enjoys the short comfort and serenity of its transient stay; but then, plunging into the winter from which it had flown, it disappears from our eyes. Such is here the life of man, It acts and thinks before us; but, as of what preceded its appearance among us we are ignorant, so are we of all that is destined to come afterwards. If, then, on this momentous future, this new doctrine reveals any thing more certain or more reasonable, it is in my opinion entitled to our acquiescence." 21 Bede, lib. iii. c. 13. Alfred's translation of this interesting speech presents it to us as near to its original form as we can now obtain it. "Thyrlic me is gesepen, Cyning! this andpande lif manna on eopthan, to pithmezenýsse thære tide the ur uncuth is, spa gelic, spa thu æt rræfendum sitte mid thinum ealdonmannum thegnum on pinter tide 7 sý rýn onæled, 7 din heall gepynmed. J hit nine raiþe stynine ute. Cume donne an Speanpa 7 hrædlice hur unh rleo cume dunh oppe dunu in; duph ohne ut gepite. pet he on da tid de he inne bib ne biþ hɲined mið þý stopme das pintner. ac p biþ an eagan bɲhýtm СНАР. VII. 625. BOOK III. 625. The other witena and the royal counsellors exhibited similar dispositions. Coifi desired to hear from Paulinus an exposition of the Deity. The bishop obeyed, and the Angle priest exclaimed, "Formerly I understood nothing that I worshipped. The more I contemplated our idolatry, the less truth I found in it. But this new system I adopt without hesitation; for truth shines around it, and presents to us the gifts of eternal life and blessedness. Let us then, O king! immediately anathematise and burn the temples and altars which we have so uselessly venerated." On this bold exhortation, he was asked who would be the first to profane the idols and their altars, and the inclosures with which they were surrounded. The zealous convert answered, "I will: as I have led the way in adoring them through my folly, I will give the example of destroying them in obedience to that wisdom which I have now received from the true God." He requested of the king weapons and a war-horse. It was a maxim of their ancient religion, that no priest should carry arms, or ride on any horse but a mare; an interesting rule to separate the ministers of their religion from the ferocity of war. The priest girded on a sword, and, brandishing a spear, mounted the king's horse, and rode to the idol temple. The people, without, thought him mad. He hurled his spear against the temple to profane it, and then commanded his companions to destroy all the building and its surrounding inclosures. The scene of this event was a little to the east of York, beyond the river Derwent, at a place, in Bede's time, called Godmunddingaham.22 lærte ræt, ac he rona or pintra in pinten eft cỷmeh. Spa donne dis monna fir to medmýclum ræce tæzyneh, hpær dæn ronegauge, oppe hpæt den ærterrylige pe ne cunnon. Foppon gir beor nipe læn opihe cublicne j genireuliche bringe. beo dær pynthe rpe dane ryligean." P. 516. 22 Bede, c. 13. It is still called Godmundham, or the home of the mund, or protection of the gods. The effect of these sudden acts of desecrating the great scenes or objects of idolatrous veneration has been recently witnessed in Owhyhee. Edwin and his nobility were soon afterwards baptized, in the eleventh year of his reign. In 632, he persuaded Eorpwald of East Anglia, the son of Redwald, to imitate his example. Sigebert, the brother and successor of Eorpwald, not only increased the diffusion of Christianity in East Anglia, but applied so closely to the study of it as to be called by the Chronicler," Most Learned." 23 Edwin reached the summit of human prosperity: a considerable part of Wales submitted to his power, and the Menavian islands; and he was the first of the Angles that subdued or defeated all the AngloSaxon kingdoms but Kent. 24 The internal police This island, containing 4000 square miles, is one complete mass of lava, and has the largest volcanic crater we know of, being eight miles round. The goddess of fire, Peli, and her subordinate fire gods, are supposed to preside over it, and when offended, to visit mankind with thunder, earthquake, and streams of liquid fire. Fifty cones, of which above twenty continually emitted pyramids of flame and burning matter, riveted the terrified people to the worship of the supposed fiery deities, till Kapiolani, a female chief, having embraced Christianity, resolved to descend into the flaming crater, and to convince the inhabitants of the nullity of the gods they feared, by braving them in their volcanic homes. "If I do not return safe," said the heroic woman, "then continue to worship Peli: but if I come back unhurt, adore the God who created her." Kapiolani went down the steep and difficult side of the crater, and arriving at the bottom, pushed a stick into the liquid lava and stirred the ashes of the burning lake. The charm of superstition was at that moment broken. It was expected that the goddess, armed with flame and sulphureous smoke, would have burst forth and destroyed the impious intruder. But seeing the fire roll as harmlessly as if no one were present, the people "acknowledged the greatness of the God of Kapiolani, and from that time few have been the offerings and little the reverence offered to the fires of Peli." Lord Byron's Voyage to the Sandwich Islands, 1827, p. 188. The missionaries had made no general impression, nor could the king and chiefs subdue the worship, till the rod of Kapiolani thus dissolved the spell. 23 Doctissimus. Flor. Wig. 233, 234. Analogous to Edwin's conduct in this overthrow of the Saxon superstitions, was that of Riho Riho, king of the Sandwich Islands, in May, 1819, which may be here noticed as illustrating the Northumbrian revolution, and confirming its historical probability, and thereby our Bede's veracity. After several conferences with his nobles on the absurdities of their religion, which the visits of Captain Cook and others, and some American missionaries, had led his father's mind and his own to perceive, he declared his resolution, if the chiefs consented, to desecrate their sacred morais, and to destroy their idols. His mother inquired, "What harm their gods had done?" Nay," answered the nobles, "what good? Are not the offerings we are required to make, burdensome ? Are not the human sacrifices demanded by the priests, cruel and useless? Do not the foreigners laugh at our supposing these ill-shaped logs of wood can protect us?" The maternal queen replied, "Do as you will;" and on the same day their consecrated places and images were destroyed, and Christianity was soon after introduced into these interesting islands. See Ellis's Narrative, and Lord Byron's Voyage, for the fuller details. 66 Bede, ii. c. 9. and 16. The Menavian 24 Flor. Wig. 233. Sax. Chron. 27. CHAP. VII. 628. III. 628. BOOK which prevailed through his dominions was so vigilant, that it became an aphorism to say, that a woman, with her new-born infant, might walk from sea to sea without fear of insult. As in those days travelling was difficult and tedious, and no places existed for the entertainment of guests, it was an important and kind convenience to his people, that he caused stakes to be fixed in the highways where he had seen a clear spring, with brazen dishes chained to them, to refresh the weary sojourner, whose fatigues Edwin had himself experienced. In another reign these would have been placed only to have been taken away; but such was the dread of his inquiring justice, or such the general affection for his virtues, that no man misused them. It is remarked by Bede, as an instance of his dignity and power, that his banner was borne before him whenever he rode out, either in peace or war. When he walked abroad, the tufa preceded him.25 His prosperity and For seventeen years he reigned, victorious over his its change. enemies, and making his subjects happy. But Edwin, with all his merit, was an imperfect character. He had admitted Christianity to his belief, but he was forty-three years old before he had adopted it. His mind and temper had therefore been formed into other habits before he allowed the new faith to affect him. He was still the Saxon warrior, and partook of the fate which so many experienced from their martial character. Five years had not elapsed after his conversion before his reign was ended violently; and Bede, c. 9., states that islands were Eubonia and Mona, or Man and Anglesey. 25 We know, from a passage of Vegetius, corrected by Lipsius, that the tufa was one of the Roman ensigns; and we are informed by Isidorus, that Augustus introduced a globe upon a spear among his signa, to denote a subjected world. Lipsius is of opinion that this was the tufa alluded to by Bede. - De Militia Romana, lib. iv. c. 5. p. 169. ed. Antwerp, 1598. CHAP. VII. 628. His con Cadwallon and Wales. the disaster resulted from his ambition. The tender years of his life had been cherished by the father of Cadwallon, the sovereign of North Wales; but when Edwin had obtained the sceptre of Ethelfrith, he duct to waged furious war with the son of his host. We know neither what had caused him, when young, to leave his asylum in Wales, nor what occasioned now the hostility between him and Cadwallon. But as the Welsh king invaded Edwin, we may presume him to have been the aggressor. Edwin defeated Cadwallon, who had penetrated to Widdrington, about eight miles north of Morpeth.26 It is with regret we read that he was not satisfied with defensive war, and did not forbear to use the rights of victory against his early friend and protector. He obeyed his resentment or his ambition in preference to his gratitude. He pursued Cadwallon into Wales, and chased him into Ireland.27 So severely did he exercise his advantages, that the British Triads characterise him as one of the three plagues which befell the Isle of Anglesey.28 633. Cadwallon For a few years his authority continued over Gwynedd. But this apparent triumph only flattered and Penda him into ruin. Cadwallon besought the aid of Penda, unite. the Mercian king, who armed in his cause with all the activity of youth. The confederated kings met Edwin in Hatfield Chase in Yorkshire, on the 12th of October. As Mercia until that time had been ob 26 Jeffry's account of the quarrel is, that Edwin wished to wear his crown independently of the Welsh prince, who was advised to insist on his subjection, and threatened to cut off his head if he dared to crown it. Lib. xii. c. 2, 3. 27 The 34th Triad states, that Cadwallon and his family lived seven years in Ireland, p. 7. —Jeffry annexes a pretty nurse tale to Cadwallon's exile. Sailing to Armorica, he was driven by a tempest on the island of Garnereia; the loss of his companions affected him to sickness; for three days he refused food, on the fourth he asked for venison; a day's search discovered none. To save his king, Brian cut an ample piece out of his own thigh, roasted it on a spit, and presented it to the king as genuine venison. It was greedily devoured. The wind changed, they got safe to Armorica, and Brian afterwards killed the second-sighted magician of Edwin. Lib. xii. c. 4. and 7. 28 Matt. West. 224., in his De combustis Urbibus et Coloniis destructis, explains the direful scourge. |