CHAPTER II.

Extenfive jurifdiction of St Augustine—Archbishops of Canterbury -York-Lichfield-number of bishoprics-election of bifhops -epifcopal monafteries-inflitution of parishes-difcipline of the clergy-celibacy.

EPISCOPAL authority is coeval with christianity. The plenitude of the priesthood, which its divine founder had communicated to the apostles, was by them transmitted to the more learned and fervent of their disciples. Under the appropriate title of bishops, these ministers presided in the assembly of the faithful, delegated to the inferior clergy a discretionary portion of their authority, and watched with jealous solicitude over the interests of religion (1). Wherever christianity penetrated, it was accompanied with the episcopal institution: and the anomalous existence of a church without a bishop was a phenomenon reserved for the admiration of later ages. Faithful to the practice of his predecessors in the conversion of nations, Augustine was careful to receive, within the first year of his mission, the episcopal consecration from the hands of the Gallican prelates. At the same time he consulted his patron respecting the future economy of the rising church. Gregory, whose zeal already predicted the entire conversion

(1) Hir nama, fays Elfric, ir gecpeden Episcopus. p ir openrceapigend. he oferrceapige rymle hip upderpeoddan. Ep. Elf. apud Wilk. leg. Sax. p. 167.

of the octarchy (2), commanded it to be equally divided into two ecclesiastical provinces, in each of which twelve suffragan bishops should obey the superior jurisdiction of their metropolitan. London and York, which under the Romans had possessed a high pre-eminence over the other cities of the island, were selected for the archiepiscopal sees; and the precedency of their prelates was ordered to be regulated by the priority of their consecration. But a flattering distinction was granted to the superior merit of Augustine. The general government of the mission was still intrusted to his hands; and the northern metropolitan with his suffragans was directed to listen to his instructions, and to obey his orders (3).

From the Saxons the pontiff extended his pastoral solicitude to the Britons. The long and unsuccessful wars which they had waged against their fierce invaders, had relaxed the sinews of ecclesiastical discipline; and the profligate manners of their clergy were become, if we may credit the vehement assertions of Gildes, an insult to the sanctity of their profession. More anxious to enjoy the emoluments, than to discharge the duties of their station, they purchased the dignities of the church with presents, or seized them by force; and the fortunate candidate was more frequently indebted for his success to the arms of his kindred, than to the justice of his

(2) At this time the Saxon conquests were divided between eight chieftains or kings: but as Bernicia and Deira were soon united to form the kingdom of Northumbria, there appears no reason why the word heptarchy should be rejected, as applied to a later period.

(3) Bede l. i. c. 29.

pretensions. Indolence had induced a passion for ebriety and excess; the patrimony of the poor was sacrificed to the acquisition of sensual gratifications; the most solemn oaths were sworn and violated with equal facility; and the son, from the example of his father, readily imbibed a contempt for clerical chastity (4). So general and unfavourable a character may, possibly, excite the scepticism of the reader; but the picture is drawn by the pencil of a countryman and contemporary; and, though the colouring may occasionally betray the exaggeration of zeal, there is no reason to doubt that the outline is faithful and correct. Gregory lamented, and sought to remedy these disorders; and treading in the footsteps of his predecessor Celestine, who two centuries before had appointed the monk Palladius to the government of the Scottish church (5), invested Augustine with an extensive jurisdiction over all the bishops of the

(4) Ep. Gild. edit. Gale, p. 23, 24, 38.

(5) Ad Scotos in Christum credentes ordinatur a Papa Celestino Palladius et primus episcopus mittitur. Prosp. in Chron. an. 431. What is the meaning of primus episcopus? Was Palladius the first, who appeared among the Scottish christians with the episcopal character, as Fordun supposes after Higden, (hist. 1. iii. c. 8, p. 113, edit. Flaminio) or was he the first in authority among the Scottish prelates, as seems to have been the opinion of the continuator of Fordun, and of the ancient bishops of St Andrews; who, though they exercised the authority, assumed not the title of metropolitans, but stiled themselves primi episcopi Scotorum? (See Keith's catalogue of Scottish bishops, pref. p. iii Goodall ad hist. Scot. introduc. p. 65.) In either sense Celestine appears to have conceived himself authorised to invest his missionary with authority over a foreign church.

Britons (6). To these degenerate ecclesiastics the superintendance of a foreign prelate, distinguished by the severe regularity of his conduct, offered no very pleasing prospect: and when they reflected, that to acknowledge his authority was to subject their church to the controul of the Saxon hierarchy, their pride was alarmed, and they determined to refuse all connexion with him (7).

(6) Bed. l. i. c. 27. This has been considered as a wanton invasion of the rights of the British churches. That it was warranted by precedent is clear from the last note; nor would it be a difficult task to prove that the Britons were always subject to the jurisdiction of the Roman see. While they formed a part of the western empire, they must have been on the same footing with the other provinces; and from the language of Gildas we may infer, that after their separation, they still continued to acknowledge the superior authority of the pontiff. He informs us that the British ecclesiastics, who had not sufficient interest at home to obtain the richest benefices, crossed the seas and traversed distant provinces with costly presents, in order to obtain the object of their ambition; and then returned in triumph to their native country. Præmissis ante nsolicite untiis, transnavigare maria terrasque spatiosas transmeare non tam piget quam delectat, ut talis species comparetur. Deinde cum magno apparatu repedantes sese patriæ ingerunt, violenter manus sacrosanctis Christi sacrificiis extensuri (Ep. Gild. p. 24.) As the power of the emperors was then exstinct, this passage must mean that the British clergymen carried their disputes before the tribunal of some foreign prelate; who, undoubtedly, was the bishop of Rome. For who else possessed either the right or the power to controul competitors, who either declined the jurisdiction, or appealed from the decision of their own metropolitan? To this argument Stillingfleet has opposed an angry but evasive answer. (Orig. Brit. p. 363.)

(7) See the verses of a Saxon poet transcribed by Whelock (p. 114:) but see them in the original; for the latin version has been enriched with the prejudices of the translator.

The difficulty of the attempt did not, however, damp the ardour of Augustine. He acted with a vigour proportionate to the confidence which Gregory had reposed in his zeal; and, by the influence of Ethelbert, prevailed on some of the British prelates to meet him near the confines of their country. From the morning till night he laboured to effect an accommodation; his exhortations, entreaties, and menaces were ineffectual; but a miracle is said to have subdued their obstinacy, and a promise was extorted that they would renew the conference on a future day. The promise was observed; but not till they had consulted a neighbouring hermit famed for sanctity and wisdom. His answer betrays their secret apprehensions, and shews that the independence of their church was the chief object of their solicitude. He advised them to watch with jealousy the conduct of the missionary: if he rose to meet them, they might consider him as a man of a meek and unassuming temper, and securely listen to his demands: but if he kept his seat, they should condemn him of pride, and return the insult with equal pride (8). On the appointed day seven bishops, accompanied by Dinoth abbot of Bangor, repaired to the conference (9). Augustine had

(8) Bed. I. ii. c. 2, p. 80.

(9) Whether Dinoth possessed the gift of tongues may with reason be doubted: that he could not mistake the title of the British metropolitan is evident. His supposed answer to Augustine, which Spelman and Wilkins have honoured with a place in their editions of the English councils, is said to betray its origin by the modernism of its language, and the anachronism respecting the see of Caerleon. The forgery was detected by Turberville (Manual p. 460,) and defended by Stillingfleet and Bingham (Stil. orig. Brit. p. 360. Bing. vol. i. p. 348.)