serve the similar conduct of Moses: 'And Moses rose up early in the morning, and builded an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel.' (Exod. xxiv. 4.) The manner in which these circular temples were erected, may be fully gathered from other parts of the Pentateuch. (Deut. xxvii. 2, &c.) An altar of more than one stone, probably of three, was erected, and round it other stones were raised, which had never been touched by tools, except such as were absolutely necessary for procuring them. See this further exemplified at Gilgal. (Joshua iv. 3-9, 20.) Here, also, twelve stones were set up, and an altar was built; and it was here that the people assembled to celebrate their great festivals.

"In the same manner, and at the same time, did our ancestors in Britain worship. Deriving their knowledge of divine things, and all their ideas of sacred places from the same source, the great postdiluvian family, they set up pillars of rough stone to mark out the places sacred to solemn worship, and also to point out the resting-place of their departed friends. This practice, having been abused to idolatrous uses, was prohibited to the Jews by divine command. (Lev. xxvi. 1.) As all our information refers to later periods of their history, we know but little of the manner of worship which was customary among the primitive inhabitants of the country; except that it is very evident they offered sacrifices, and accompanied the oblation by solemn prayers.

"These particulars will be sufficient to prove, that the first inhabitants of our island brought with them the religion of Noah and Abraham; they knew and worshipped the one living and true God, as he was revealed to the patriarchs. And this was continued, subject to various alterations and additions, through many ages. It would be very interesting and highly instructive, to follow the history of these additions and corruptions; but our means of information are too scanty for the purpose, and compel us to confine our attention to some of the most prominent particulars."

(Pages 39-45.)

tices; but, nevertheless, they preserved among them many vestiges of the patriarchal faith.

"They recognised the one true God, believed in the immortality of the soul, offered a regular succession of sacrifices, and approached God in worship with prayer and thanksgiving. Again, we see that these doctrines were not concealed or uninfluential: the people were instructed, and their general conduct was affected by their religious principles. Not only was good effected to a certain extent by these means, but strict cognizance was taken of all injustice and improper conduct, and punishment awarded as it appeared to be deserved.

"Yet the beneficial results of these arrangements must have been greatly limited by the degraded condition of a very large portion of the population, who were little, if in any respect, better than slaves, and by the unreasonable amount of power possessed by the nobility. The uncontrolled authority of the Druids must, also, to a certain extent, have operated perniciously, inasmuch as it afforded constant temptations to them to aggrandize their order at the expense of the public interest, and even of truth itself. Yet on this head it is but just to observe, that in all the accounts of this period which have come under our notice, there is no complaint of Druidical tyranny or extortion. On the contrary, there is every evidence that they stood high in the respect and affection of the people. These circumstances, however, must be taken in connexion with the obvious fact, that this religion had already lost a measure of its purity, and was fast tending to corruption. Although no idols had been introduced, trees, hills, and rivers, the sun, moon, and stars, were reverenced as in some manner representing or exhibiting the divine power and glory. Although polytheism had not, perhaps, been received, the manner in which the several divine attributes were personified, and the pictorial representations of persons eminent for discovery or art, show that the bulwarks of the pure primitive faith were fast giving way, and that Britain, although memorable for its long preservation of the patriarchal religion, united in this respect with every other part of the

world in exhibiting the necessity of 'a new and better covenant.'

(Pages 73, 74.)

tory which relates to the subjection of the island to the Romans, and the religion which that people introduced among the inhabitants. That numerous improvements took place in civilization, manufactures, and the arts, is well known; but the variety and character of the Roman deities destroyed all confidence in their wisdom, goodness, and power: the religious rites of the invaders were almost universally impure ; their penances, lustrations, and sacrifices were oppressive and useless; the doctrines concerning the soul were contradictory and absurd; their notions respecting a superintending Providence were unsatisfactory; and everything that pertained to a spirit of devotion was literally destroyed by the licentiousness of their system. We consider this part of the work one of the most valuable of the whole; upon which, together with a luminous description of the priesthood, its order, honours, privileges, and duties, our author has bestowed considerable care and labour. It cannot be too extensively circulated, and too seriously perused. The influence of Heathenism, so plentifully introduced by their conquerors among the Britons, was fearful and destructive.

"So long as the soldiers of Rome carried on a war with the Britons merely as invaders, the influence of their religion would be scarcely felt, it being confined to the fortified camps of the legionaries. But when, through the prudent policy of Agricola, the Romans learned to govern as well as to conquer, it must have been brought into juxta-position with the religion of the Britons. It should be remembered, too, that this took place under circumstances the most favourable for the spread of the polytheistic idolatry of Italy. It was the religion of the conquerors, of those who evidently possessed art, science, refinement, and riches, far beyond anything known at that time among the inhabitants of this island. Here, then, was a religion supported by power, and recommended by every influence likely to give it favour in the estimation of the Britons; and, further, when this occurred, the Druids, who had for ages been the teachers, the priests, the depositaries of the patriarchal British faith, were a proscribed class. The

Romans, aware of the influence which they exercised over the Britons, and knowing their patriotism and their power, directed very special efforts against them, until their sacred places were laid in the dust, and they were themselves either destroyed or driven from the exercise of their office. We need not wonder, therefore, that the religion of Rome should soon afterwards have gradually extended its influence in this country; and especially as we have seen that in the lapse of ages the principles of the Druids had lost much of their pristine purity, and thus prepared the public mind to receive the corruptions imported from Rome.

"There can be no doubt that, as Roman influence, manners, and govern ment extended through the island, the Roman religion would certainly follow. On this subject, indeed, but little infor mation has been preserved; yet, enough remains to prove that this was the case, and to show that these fragments which have come down to our time, exhibit but a very small portion of the power and influence which the religion of Rome exerted on the inhabitants of Britain. We are told that a temple, dedicated to Diana, stood on the site of St. Paul's cathedral in London, and one, sacred to Apollo, at Westminster, where the abbey now stands; that there was a temple consecrated to Victoria or Andate at Maldon, and one to Minerva at Bangor; and that Bellona had one at York, and Janus one at Leicester. Apollo, more over, is said to have had one temple at Bath, and another in Cornwall, in which county a temple to Mercury is also supposed to have stood. All this clearly shows, that the polytheism of Rome bad widely extended in Britain, and that the inhabitants in general, during the last period of the Roman government, had sunk into the idolatry and licentiousness of the imperial city, while they copied her elegancies, and tried to attain to her intellectual grandeur, and to indulge in her abounding luxury."

(Pages 124-126.)

We arrive now at a period of deep interest and importance; namely, when Christianity was first introduced into Britain. "Within little more than one hundred years from our Saviour's passion, Justin Martyr places Christians in every country known to the Romans. Britain is not expressly mentioned; but her partial conversion has been allow

ably inferred. Irenæus corroborates the supposition. He asserts, in one place, that our holy religion was propagated to earth's utmost bounds by the Apostles and their disciples. In another, he mentions the Celts among the nations then enlightened. A Celtic race was then seated in the British isles, and may reasonably be included, especially when Justin's language is recollected, within the enumeration of Irenæus. The testi

Ter

mony of Tertullian is more decisive. He speaks of British districts inaccessible to Roman arms, but subdued by Christ. Had not the faith of Jesus obtained considerable notice in more polished quarters of the island, it would hardly have won a way into its remoter regions. tullian's authority, therefore, establishes abundantly, that when the second century closed, Christianity was far from novel to the tribes of Britain. Great probability is thus given to that statement of Eusebius, which attributes British acquaint. ance with the Gospel to some of the Apostles. Hence, also, we are prepared for assenting to the obscure intimation of Gildas, earliest of our national historical writers, which would lead us to conclude, that the light of Christianity had shone upon his countrymen before their signal defeat under Boadicea." The great antiquity of Britain's conversion being established, her authors have been desirous of connecting it with some of the more illustrious names in religious history. Some have mentioned James the son of Zebedee, and brother of John and Simon Zelotes their claims, however, are not supported by sufficient authority to render them worthy of more than a passing notice. Mr. Smith enters at large into the claims of St. Peter, James, Joseph of Arimathea, St. Paul, and others to his reasoning on the subject, we regret that we can do no more at present than merely refer our readers.

The sincerity of these early professors of Christianity had, ere long, to be tried in the fire of the Diocletian persecution, in which Alban joined the noble host of martyrs; but severe as that trial was, it was

not to be compared with others which speedily followed,-the progress of Arianism on the one hand, and of Pelagianism on the other. With regard to the latter heresy, our author observes :

"About the beginning of the fifth century the church was assailed by a new heresy, the author of which was a native of Britain, named Morgan, in his own tongue, but called by the Latins Pelagius. The principal doctrines which he taught were the following:-That Adam's sin affected only himself, not his posterity; that children at their birth are as pure and innocent as Adam was at his creation; and that the grace of God is not necessary to enable men to do their duty, to overcome temptation, or even to attain perfection; but they may do all this by the freedom of their own wills, and the exertion of their natural powers. These opinions, so flattering to the vanity of human nature, appear to have been received with avidity by great numbers of both Clergy and laity; and the pernicious consequences may be easily imagined which resulted from their reception, obviously implying, as it did, the denial of the great truths of the Gospel. They tended to foster the pride of human nature, to call off the attention of the church from that dependence upon divine grace which constitutes the real strength of the Christian, and thus to strike at the root of all genuine piety. And as every effort to give undue exaltation to human nature is sure to derogate from the character and sacrifice of the Saviour, so we are told that some of the Pelagians taught that Christ was a mere man, and that men might lead sinless lives because Christ did so.' It must be acknowledged that, in giving this summary of Pelagian doctrines, we depend entirely on the information furnished by those who strenuously opposed them: they may, therefore, in some particulars, be exhibited in deeper colours than those in which their author clothed them. There can, however, be but little doubt that Pelagius did entertain and teach great errors of this kind.

"The author of this heresy was a exalted reputation. He was born NoBritish Monk, of some rank, and very vember 13th, 354, on the same day as his great antagonist, St. Augustine, and was educated at the celebrated monastery of Bangor, near Chester. His fame had reached St. Jerome and Augustine, and they had formed a high estimate of his talents before they discovered his depart

ure from Gospel verity. It is, indeed, asserted that Pelagius had left Britain, and had been some time in Italy, before his orthodoxy was questioned. At Rome he met with Celestius, an Hibernian Scot, who, being a person of ability, and fully entering into his peculiar views, soon became his principal coadjutor.

"After disseminating those doctrines at Rome, on the approach of the Goths to that city, A.D. 410, these two friends passed over into Africa, where they made numerous converts to their opinions. Here Pelagius left Celestius, and proceeded into Palestine, where he met with Christians from various countries, and, amongst the rest, some from Britain, which circumstance afforded him an opportunity of giving extensive currency to his opinions. It does not appear that Pelagius ever returned to Britain, and it is therefore very doubtful whether he ever personally promulgated his peculiar views in this island. They were, how ever, diligently taught, and most extensively received; for, while Pelagius was in the east, Agricola, a Bishop who had received his dogmas, came over into Britain, and preached them with great success. It has been thought, and with some show of reason, that the Pelagian errors were received with greater avidity in Gaul and Britain on account of their accordance with some of the doctrines taught by the Druids. However this may be, there can be no doubt that those pernicious tenets did great injury to the British church. We are not informed that many of the Clergy were led away by those errors; but it is evident that they were unable to offer any effectual resistance to the arguments by which they were advocated.

"Pelagianism having been condemned in several Councils, and its influence still extending among the churches of this island, it was determined to solicit assistance from the Continent. Hence Bede informs us that the Britons, being unable to confute the subtilty of the Pelagian teachers by force of argument, resolved to crave the aid of the Gallican Bishops. In consequence of this application, a Synod was held in Gaul, and inquiry was made, who were the most proper persons to undertake a mission into Britain; when, by unanimous consent, Germanus, Bishop of Auxerre, and Lupus, Bishop of Troyes, were requested to go over to establish the Britons in the true faith. These holy men, having been appointed by the church, and set apart for this service by their prayers, crossed the seas, and arrived in Britain

A.D. 429. On their arrival, they omitted no opportunity of instructing and recovering the Britons, preaching, not only in the churches, but sometimes in the fields and highways; and thus the orthodox were confirmed, and those who had been misled acknowledged their error.

"As for these two eminent Prelates, their sanctity and learning gave them the lustre and authority of Apostles. The promoters of the heresy kept out of the way at first; and, like evil and envious spirits, lamented the loss of their proselytes. But at last they recollected themselves, and resolved to make a stand, and give Germanus and Lupus a meeting. They came to the conference richly habited, and, being attended by a great train of their party, made a pompous appearance; choosing rather to enter the lists, and run the risk of a public dis pute, than to lose the authority which they had gained over the minds of the people, who would conclude them either cowardly, or conscious of the badness of their cause, if they declined the contest.

The fame of this conference drew abun dance of people together, who came both to hear and pass sentence. The contending parties were very different in their temper, figure, and furniture: one side relied upon divine aid, the other presumed on their own abilities; piety appeared in one, pride in the other, party; Christ was for the first, and Pelagius for the other. The holy Bishops Germanus and Lupus gave their adversaries leave to argue first; who spent the time, and amused the audience, with abundance of words, without anything that was really solid or convincing at the bottom. When they had done, the holy Prelates entered upon the confutation with a wonderful force of rhetoric, reason, and Scripture proof. They argued from every topic of the question, and made reading and human learning subservient to revelation. In short, the pride of the Pelagians was mortified, and their sophistry exposed: and being driven to silence by every objection, they owned their being baffled by not answering. As for the people, they gave sentence in their acclamations, shouted for Germanus and Lupus, and could scarce command their temper so far as to forbear beating the Pelagians.'

"This conference was held at Verulam, (St. Alban's,) then one of the most important cities of Britain. After the victory which was there achieved, Germanus and Lupus are reported to have remained some time in the island, and by their powerful preaching, godly coun

sel, and holy living, to have rendered very valuable aid to the British church. Much more than this is related of them by Bede and other early writers, who ascribe many miracles to those pious men while engaged in the prosecution of their labours. Since, however, at this distance of time, it is almost impossible to discriminate between historical fact and superstitious embellishment, we have not recorded these wonders. It is not, indeed, unlikely that at such a time God might very signally bless the labours of his servants, and that their career should exhibit some very manifest interpositions of Divine Providence. Nor need we be surprised, if the writers of the following century should, by giving undue colour. ing to those circumstances, cause them to look like real miracles.

"We refer to one particular, both on account of its intrinsic interest and importance, and because it has occasioned some controversy among eminent writers. We are told, that during the time that those pious French Ministers were journeying through the island, visiting and strengthening the churches, the Saxons and Picts, with their united forces, made war upon the Britons, who, being thus by fear and necessity compelled to take up arms, and thinking themselves unequal to their enemies, implored the assistance of the holy Bishops. The latter, hastening to them as they had promised, inspired so much courage into these fearful people, that one would have thought they had been joined by a mighty army. Thus, by these apostolic men, Christ himself commanded in their camp. The holy days of Lent were also at hand, and were rendered more religious by the presence of the Priests; insomuch that the people, being instructed by daily sermons, resorted in crowds to be baptized; for most of the army desired admission to the saving water. A church was prepared with boughs for the feast of the resurrection of our Lord, and so fitted up in that martial camp as if it were in a city. The army advanced, still wet with the baptismal water; the faith of the people was strengthened; and, whereas human power had before been despaired of, the divine assistance was now relied upon.

"The enemy received advice of the state of the army, and, not questioning their success against an unarmed multiude, hastened forwards; but, their approach was, by the scouts, made known to the Britons; the greater part of whose forces being just come from the font, after the celebration of Easter, and pre

paring to arm and carry on the war, Germanus declared he would be their leader. He picked out the most active, viewed the country round about, and observed, in the way by which the enemy was expected, a valley encompassed with hills. In that place he drew up his inexperienced troops, himself acting as their General. A multitude of fierce enemies appeared, whom as soon as those that lay in ambush saw approaching, Germanus, bearing in his hands the standard, instructed his men all in a loud voice to repeat his words. The enemy advancing securely, as thinking to take them by surprise, the Priests three times cried Hallelujah! a universal shout of the same word followed, and the hills resounding the echo on all sides, the enemy was struck with dread, fearing, that not only the neighbouring rocks, but even the very skies, were falling upon them; and such was their terror, that their feet were not swift enough to deliver them from it. They fled in disorder, casting away their arms, and well satisfied if, with their naked bodies, they could escape the danger: many of them, in their precipitate and hasty flight, were swallowed up by the river which they were passing. The Britons, without the loss of a man, beheld their vengeance complete, and became inactive spectators of their victory. The scattered spoils were gathered up, and the pious soldiers rejoiced in the success which Heaven had granted them. The Prelates thus triumphed over the enemy without bloodshed, and gained a victory by faith, without the aid of human force; and having settled the affairs of the island, and restored tranquillity by the defeat as well of the invisible as of the carnal enemies, prepared to return home.'

It

"The scene of these transactions lay near Mold, a town about ten miles from Chester, where is a spot that still bears the name of Maes Garmon, in reference, it is said, to this remarkable event. bore that name in the age of Archbishop Usher, as he informs us; and the learned Prelate was much struck with the coincidence. A gentleman who owned that place and estate in the last century, set up an elegant obelisk in view of " [near ?] "the town, to commemorate what is called 'the Hallelujah Victory."" (Pages 182-188.)

No period of British history is confessedly so barren of authentic records as that of the fifth century, during which this island was abandoned by Rome, and became subject