hands of the King of Wessex, and by his victory
over Wessex, and under the gentle constraint of Paulinus, resolved that
both he and his nobles should be baptized, and this resolution was
carried into effect at York, in a hastily-built chapel (the precursor of
the Minster), on Easter Eve, 627.

The conversion of Edwin was followed by a great social revolution.
Having convoked the National Assembly, he unfolded the reasons for his
change of faith. Everywhere he was applauded. Crowds of the nobility,
chiefs of petty states, and the great mass of the people followed the
example of their King. The worship of the ancient gods was solemnly
renounced, and even Coifi, the high priest, was the first to give the
signal for destruction by hurling his lance at an idol in the pagan
temple. Paulinus was now one of the most popular figures in Northumbria.
Wherever he preached, crowds gathered to hear him and to be received,
like their Overlord, into the Christian communion. Many spots in
Northumberland are identified with the name of this early and ardent
Apostle of the North. Pallinsburn, overlooking Flodden Field, is, of
course, Paulinus's Burn, where large numbers were baptized. In one of
his missionary journeys we are told (Bede) how he was occupied for six
and thirty consecutive days from early morn until nightfall, in teaching
the people and in "washing them with the water of absolution" in the
river Glen, which flowed by the royal "vill" of Yeavering (anciently
Ad-gebrin) in Glendale. At the Lady's Well near Holystone, in the vale
of the Coquet, about three thousand converts were welcomed into the
Church of Christ. A graceful Runic cross erected on the spot bears the
following inscription:--

+IN THIS PLACE
PAVLINVS THE BISHOP
BAPTIZED
THREE THOUSAND NORTHVMBRIANS.
EASTER, DCXXVII.+

But after six years of incessant labours, the death of Edwin in battle
with Penda, King of the Mercians, and Cadwallon of North Wales, put a
sudden stop to his work. He did not wait for the honour of martyrdom,
but went back with the widowed queen to Kent, where he became Bishop of
Rochester, and she the Abbess of Lyminge. Paulinus died in 644, and was
buried in the chapter-house at Rochester.

PLATE 3

BAMBOROUGH FROM

STAG ROCK

FROM A WATER-COLOUR SKETCH

PAINTED BY

JAMES ORROCK, R.I.

(_See pp. 25, 58, 59_)

[Illustration]

But it is ever the darkest hour that precedes the dawn. It was
impossible tha