s end
the king gave way. On the day of Pentecost he was baptized. Christ had
succeeded Odin and Thor on the throne of the English heart, for the
story of the king's conversion carried his kingdom with it. The men of
Kent, hearing that their king had adopted the new faith, crowded the
banks of the Swale, eager for baptism. The under-kings of Essex and
East-Anglia became Christians. On the succeeding Christmas-day ten
thousand of the people followed the example of their king. The new faith
spread with wonderful rapidity throughout the kingdom of Kent.

When word of this great event reached Pope Gregory at Rome his heart was
filled with joy. He exultingly wrote to a friend that his missionaries
had spread the religion of Christ "in the most remote parts of the
world," and at once appointed Augustine archbishop of Canterbury and
primate of all England, that he might complete the work he had so
promisingly begun. Such is the story of the Christianizing of England as
told in the ancient chronicle of the venerable Bede, the earliest of
English writers.

As yet only Kent had been converted. North of it lay the kingdom of
Northumbria, still a pagan realm. The story of its conversion, as told
by Bede, is of no less interest than that just related. Edwin was its
king, a man of great ability for that early day. His prowess is shown in
a proverb: "A woman with her babe might walk scathless from sea to sea
in Edwin's day." The highways, long made dangerous by outlaw and
ruthless warrior, were now safe avenues of travel; the springs by the
road-side were marked by stakes, while brass cups beside them awaited
the traveller's hand. Edwin ruled over all northern England, as
Ethelbert did over the south. Edinburgh was within his dominions, and
from him it had its name,--Edwin's burgh, the city of Edwin.

Christianity came to this monarch's heart in some such manner as it had
reached that of Ethelbert, through the appealing influence of his wife.
A daughter of King Ethelbert had come to share his throne. She, like
Bertha her mother, was a Christian. With her came the monk Paulinus,
from the church at Canterbury. He was a man of striking aspect,--of tall
and stooping form, slender, aquiline nose, and thin, worn face, round
which fell long black hair. The ardent missionary, aided doubtless by
the secret appeals of the queen, soon produced an influence upon the
intelligent mind of Edwin. The monarch called a council of his wise men,
to tal