BRITISH CHURCH INDEPENDENT OF THE ROMISH. 359 from that Church. Hence it is said, that inasmuch as the Church of England has been excommunicated by the Bishop of Rome, the succession has been destroyed." To this objection we reply: 1. That the Church of England did not descend from the Church of Rome, as has been fully shown in the preceding chapters. 2. That each Bishop, having been originally, as we have shown, independent of every other Bishop, no Bishop could have power to depose or excommunicate other Bishops, unless that power had been subsequently granted to him by some sufficient authority. Now there is no authority that could grant this, except a General Council; and no General Council ever has granted the Bishop of Rome this authority over the Bishops of England. On the contrary, it was expressly enacted by the sixth canon of the Council of Nice, A. D. 325, that the ancient customs and rights of the Churches should not be changed; and it is a matter of fact, which no one pretends to question, that the Bishops of England were then subject to the Metropolitan of Caerleon. 3. That whatever authority the Bishop of Rome may have over other Bishops, he has none over those of England, inasmuch as they have ever been legally and canonically independent of him. This will appear more plainly from a consideration of the original and continued independence of the British Churches, which will be given in the succeeding chapter. CHAPTER XXVIII. INDEPENDENCE OF THE BRITISH CHURCHES. IN treating of this subject, we shall first consider the state of things in Britain at the time Augustine arrived there, in 360 BRITISH CHURCH INDEPENDENT OF THE ROMISH. order to gain a distinct idea of the situation of things in the British Church at that time. Augustine was consecrated at Arles, 596. In 598, he wrote to Gregory, Bishop of Rome, for advice touching certain points of inquiry. One of the questions was, In what manner he ought to deal with the Bishops of Gall and Britain? Another, What course he ought to pursue in reference to the Gallic Liturgy, which, though different from the Romish Liturgy, was in use in the British and Gallic Churches? In answer, Gregory tells him, that he has nothing to do with the Bishops of Gall, who were subject to the Bishop of Arles as their Metropolitan; that he ought to have authority over the British Bishops; and that in reference to the Liturgy, he ought to adopt that which would be most acceptable to the Saxon Church.* Here are three facts conclusively established: (1,) that there were canonical and lawful Bishops in Britain before Augustine went there; and consequently, he owed submission to the Metropolitan of Britain, according to the then existing canons of the Church; (2,) that the Liturgy used in Gaul was not the same as the Roman Liturgy; (3,) that this Liturgy was used in Britain; and this Liturgy, as we have already seen, was the Ephesian. That these Bishops owed no subjection to the Bishop of Rome, is clear from the history of those times. Thus in the year 603, Augustine held a conference with the British clergy. At this conference, Bede informs us, there were "seven British Bishops, and many learned men." In order to induce them to acknowledge his authority, Augustine promised them. if they would keep Easter on the same day as the Romish Church, would baptize according to the rites and ceremonies of that Church, and would preach the gospel to the Saxons, they should be allowed to enjoy all their other customs; to which the British Bishops replied, we will neither do these DINOTH'S ANSWER TO AUGUSTINE. 361 things, nor submit to you as Archbishops over us. Very little of what passed at that time has been preserved; but from that little it appears that the subject was strongly debated.* Among the speakers was Dinoth, Abbot of the Monastery of Bangor. His answer has been preserved, and it goes the whole length of sustaining the entire independence of the British clergy, of the Pope of Rome. He said to Augustine : "Be it certainly known unto you, that we all, every one of us, are obedient and subject to the Church of God, to the Pope of Rome, and to every pious Christian, to the loving of every one in his station, with perfect charity, and to the helping of every one of them by word and deed, to become the sons of GOD. And I know not of any other obedience than this, due to him you call Pope, or which may be claimed or demanded by the Father of Fathers. And this obedience we are ready to give; and to pay to him, and to every other Christian continually. Besides, we are under the government of the Bishop of Caerleon upon Wiske, who, under GOD, is to oversee over us, to cause us to walk in the way of life."t * Bede, ii. 2. + This important passage was first published by Sir H. Spelman, (Concilia, I. p. 108,) from an old MSS. purporting to have been copied from one still more ancient, and is re-printed in Wilkin's, (Concil., and Smith's Bede, App. x. p. 716, and Fuller's Ch. Hist. in anno 601.) The genuineness of this answer has been assailed by the Romish writers, (Tuber. Man. p. 406. Ling. Hist. A. S. Church, p. 42,) but on insufficient grounds. It was defended by Stillingfleet (Orig. Brit. c. v. p. 224) and Bingham, (Antq. Ecc. ii. 9.) The first objection, that "the language is modern," is without foundation. The second, that the Metropolitan See was not then in Caer leon, is also without foundation. The conference between Augustine and Dinoth, took place about A. D. 603, (Bede, ii. 2,) whereas the Archbishops of London and York had gone into Wales as early as 597, (Fur. Libro. Epis. Brit. in Ussh. Prim. 67. Wm. Malms, De Gest. Reg. L. i. c. 6. Mat. West. An. 586,) and had fixed their seat at "Kaerllion ar Wyc," "Caer-leon upon Wiske," (O'Brien's Focal. Gaoigh. Intd. xvii., xix.) These facts prove, beyond all cavil, that before Augustine came to England, there was a Church established there, duly organized, upon Apostolical principles, having the same officers or ministers as other Churches, with a Liturgy different from that of Rome, and with Bishops, owning and acknowledging no subjection to the Pope. The number of Bishops in England at that time we do not know. Bede says there were seven present at the conference with Augustine.* A very ancient author† reckons the number at twenty-five Bishops, and three Archbishops. And this is rendered probable by the fact, that the subscriptions of three Bishops are found in the ancient councils, as to that of Arles, 314. We shall now go back and give a few brief historical notices of the British Church, anterior to the time of Augustine, showing that there had been a Church in England from the very time of the Apostles. The earliest history of the British Church has been involved in much obscurity, by the destruction of the records of that Church; and much doubt and uncertainty has been thrown over it, by the manner in which it has been treated by the later Monkish historians, to whom we are indebted for very much of the history of those times. A. D. 58. From those valuable historical documents, the Welsh Triads, it appears that Caradoc was betrayed and delivered up by Aregwedd Foedig, about A. D. 51 or 52, who, with Bran, (Brennus,) his father, Cyllin, (Linus,) his son, and Eigan, his daughter, were carried prisoners to Rome, and remained in bondage seven years. While here, Bran, probably Caradoc, certainly his son and daughter, became converts to Christianity. At the end of seven years, when Bran was set * Hist. ii. 2. + Galfridus Monememuthensis, Hist. Brit. ii. c. 1. Ed. Aserr. iv. c. 19. Ed. Heidleburg. See also Hen. Hunt. i. 170. Smith's Bd. App. iii., Ussh. Prim. 59. Taylor's Cal. in loco. PRIMITIVE CHRISTIANITY IN BRITAIN. 363 at liberty, he returned to Britain, taking with him three other converts to Christianity. Of these, one was Ilid, a converted Jew, another Cyndav, and the third Arwystli Hen, who appears to have been the person called Aristobulus,* whose household" was saluted by Paul in his Epistle to the Romans, at the end of the same year, (A. D. 58,) or the beginning of the succeeding. This conclusion is strengthened by the fact, that Nicephorus, a Greek historian, and another Greek author, who goes under the name of Dorotheus, both record that Aristobulus went into Britain, and was one of the first Bishops of that Church; that he made many converts, ordained Bishops, Priests, and Deacons, and died there. This account of the introduction of Christianity into Britain, from the Triads, is supported by Gildas, a British historian, who wrote about 560, who affirms, out of ancient records, that Christianity was introduced into Britain about the time of the revolt and overthrow of Boadice, A. D. 60 or 61.† So Tertullian, A. D. 190, says: "there are places in Britain inaccessible to the Roman arms, which were subdued to Christ."‡ And Origen, A. D. 230, says: "the power of God our Saviour is ever with them in Britain, who are divided from our world."§ 63. About four years after this, A. D. 63, St. Paul appears to have visited Britain. That he had time, has been abundantly shown by Bishop Stillingfleet and others, and that he had great inducements to do it, there can be no doubt, for there were many persons at Rome who would desire it. Thus Linus, who was a particular friend of St. Paul, mentioned by him in his second Epistle to Timothy, (iv. 21,) and was ordained by Paul, first Bishop of Rome,¶ appears to have been * Taylor's Cal. in Aristob. Adv. Jud. c. 7. † Ep. c. 1. § Luke c. 1. Hom. 6. Orig. Brit. Clem. Rom. Ep. Cor. c. 5, and n. in S. S. Pat. |