Gregory the Great; His Place in History and Thought Volume 2 (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1905 edition. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER VIII Gregory's Missionary Labours The renewal of friendly relations with Gaul afforded Gregory an opportunity, which he had long desired, of undertaking the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons. Amid all his hurdens and anxieties, it seems that the Pope had never forgotten the English slave-boys whom he had once seen in the Eoman Forum. "When Candidus went to Gaul in the autumn of 595 to take charge of the Papal estates, he was directed to lay out part of the rents in the purchase of English slaves, boys of seventeen or eighteen years of age, who were to be sent at once to Eome.1 It was doubtless Gregory's intention that these lads, converted and educated under his own supervision, should one day be sent back to their own country as missionaries, or, at any rate, as interpreters in the service of Eoman priests and monks; and he hoped to utilize their acquaintance with the language, customs, and religion of their country for the furtherance of his own design respecting its conversion. His plan was well conceived,2 but it required time--three or four years at least--for its development, and Gregory had no time to lose. His health was very bad, and he knew that he might die before his scheme was ripe for execution. About 596, too, he was on friendly terms with the rulers of Gaul, and could secure for his missionaries a passage through that country, which a few years later might be closed against them. Further, in Britain itself conditions were favourable to the enterprise. 1 Epp. vi. 10 (to be dated September 595). * Mr. Plummer observes that Bede himself notices how "gentiles ab errore conversi, atque ad veritatem evangelii transformati, melius ipsos gentium errores noverant, et quo certius noverant, eo artificiosius hos cxpuguare atque...