The fate of Boniface did not arrest the zeal of his countrymen; and the nations, whom he had converted, listened with docility to the instructions of his followers. But the first, that added a new people to the christian name, was Willehad, a Northumbrian priest, who with the permission of his bishop and of king Alhred, sailed in 772 to the northern coast of Germany. As soon as he had landed, he visited the plain of Dockum, kissed the ground which had been sanctified by the blood of the martyrs, and rose from prayer animated with the spirit of his predecessor. With irresistible eloquence he preached to the barbarians the doctrine of the gospel : the dangers to which he was frequently exposed, were repaid by the success of his labours; and the knowledge of the true God was successively planted on the banks of the Ems, the Weser, and the Elbe. Wigmode, the country lying between the two last rivers, became the principal theatre of his zeal; and during seven years he governed the mission with the authority, but without the ordination, of a bishop. When the Saxons made a last effort to throw of the yoke of the Franks, the

insidious temper, and profoundly ignorant of many necessary truths, and of the real nature of the christian religion. Mosh. sæc. viii. par 1. c. 1. As the German historian does not attempt to fortify his assertions by any reference to ancient writers, they must rest on his own authority: but if the reader think proper to peruse either the letters of the missionary, or his life by St Willibald, he will be enabled to form an accurate notion of the veracity and impartiality of his accuser. The Anglo-Saxons considered Boniface as the glory of the nation. He died in 755, and in the first synod which was held the following year, they enrolled his name in the calendar, and chose him for one of the patrons of their church. Ep. Cuthb. archiep. p. 94.

Christians were the first victims of their fury. The churches erected by Willehad were demolished; five of his associates, with their companions, were massacred; and the missionary himself escaped with difficulty into Friesland. But after two years, the fortune of Charlemagne invited him to return; and he was ordained the first bishop of the Saxons. He chose for his residence a spot on the right bank of the Weser, where he built a cathedral, and laid the foundations of the city of BreHe died in 789 (24).

men.

From Germany the zeal of the Anglo-Saxon missionaries induced them to cross the Baltic; and Sigfrid, a priest of York, about the middle of the tenth century, preached, at the request of Olave Scotkonung, king of Upsal, to the natives of Sweden. The prince, his family and army, received the sacrament of baptism; five episcopal sees were filled with pastors by the exertions of the missionary; and though he lost his three nephews by the cruelty of the idolaters, he at last succeeded in fixing the church of Sweden on a firm and lasting foundation. He died in 1002, and was buried at Wexiow, which had been his principal residence (25). Ulfrid and Eskill, two of his countrymen, were martyred some time after by the inhabitants (26).

In Denmark the seeds of the gospel had been sown at different periods by the successors of St Willehad, the archbishops of Bremen: but their success had been li mited and transitory; and many missions were begun, many generations passed, before the fierce intractable

(24) Annal. Bened. tom. ii. p. 222, 255, 260, 291. (25) Apud Benzel. p. 1. cit. Butler, Feb. 15.

(26) Adam. Bremen. 1. ii. c. 44.

spirit of the natives could be induced to bend to the mild precepts of christianity. A share of the merit of this pious work is due to the Anglo-Saxons; several of whom were transported by Canute the Great, to Denmark, that by their virtue and preaching they might disseminate the christian faith among his subjects. Bernard presided with episcopal authority in Schonen; Gerbrand in Zealand, and Reinher in Finland: but all three acknowledged the superior jurisdiction of Unuan, archbishop of Bremen (27).

The first of the Norwegian kings, who received the sacrament of baptism, was Haco surnamed the good. With the zeal of a proselyte he endeavoured to propagate the christian religion; and at his request bishops and priests were sent from England to his assistance. In a public assembly he exhorted the deputies of the nation to embrace the new worship: but they despised his elo. quence and authority, and compelled him to revert to the worship of his fathers (28). Paganism retained the superiority in Norway till the accession of St Olave. In one of those piratical expeditions, which were the darling employment of the northern chieftains, he was converted to the faith by a hermit on one of the Scilly islands. When he had obtained the crown by the death of Haco the bad, he made it his principal ambition to convert his subjects; the severity of his laws abolished or repressed the practices of ancient superstition; the priests of Woden were put to death without mercy; and Norway was filled with real or pretended christians. His assistants

(27) Chron. Holsatiæ c. 10—13. Adam. Brem. l. ii. c. 38. (28) Snorre, p. 138.

and advisers were Anglo-Saxons; Grimkele bishop of Drontheim, Sigefrid, Rodolf, and Bernard, whose labours were not confined to the continent, but extended to all the islands, which owned the dominion of the king of the Northmen (29).

(29) Ibid. 223, 258. Adam. Bremen. 1. ii. c. 40, 43. Anno

1027.

NOTES.

(A)—p. 88.

TOWARDS the close of his reign, Ethelwulf made a valuable donation to the church. It is, however, difficult to ascertain the true import of this donation. Some writers have described it as the establishment of tithes, (Selden, hist. of tithes, c. 8), and in defence of their opinion, appeal to the testimony of Ingulf, (Tunc primo cum decimis omnium terrarum ac bonorum aliorum five catallorum univerfam dotaverat ecclefiam. Ing. f. 494). I have, however, fhewn (p. 87) that tithes were introduced fome centuries before : nor can I conceive how "the tenth part of the land" can mean no more than the donation of the tenth part of the produce of the land. The ancient hiftorians may in general, be divided into two claffes. The first appear to limit the grant, whatever may have been its ultimate object, to the tenth part of the royal demefne lands. (Teopan væl hir londer. Chron. Sax. p. 76. Totam terram fuam pro Christo decimavit, Ailred, inter x. fcript. p. 351. Totam terram fuam decumavit. Hunt. 1. v. p. 200. Decimam partem terræ meæ. Chart. apud Wilk. p. 184. Totam terram de dominico fuo decimavit. Annal. Winton. apud Dudg. Monaft. tom. i. p. 32. Decimam partem omnium terrarum in manibus fuis existentium ecclefiæ donavit Anglicanæ. Rudborne, p. 200.) The others, and in general the more ancient, extend it to all his dominions. (Decimam totius regni fui partem ab omni regali fervitio et tributo liberavit, et in fempiterno graphio in cruce Christi uni et trino Deo immolavit. Affer. p. 2. Hoved. p. 232. Decu