THE HEPTARCHY.

and glory of war, valued themselves chiefly on chapendowing monasteries, of -which they assumed the l.government Ii7 . The several kings too, beingextremely impoverished by continual benefactionsto the church, to which the states of their king-doms had weakly assented, could bestow norewards on valour or military services, and re-tained not even sufficient influence to support theirgovernment IJ8 .

Anoiher inconvenience, which attended thiscorrupt species of Christianity , was the supersti-tious attachment to Rome, and the gradual sub-jection of the kingdom to a foreign jurisdiction.

The Britons, having never acknowledged anysubordination to the Roman pontiff, had con-ducted all ecclesiastical government by their do-mestic synods and councils: IJ ': But the Saxons,receiving their religion from Roman monks, werdtaught at the fame time a profound reverence forthat fee , and were naturally led to regard it asthe capital of their religion. Pilgrimages to Romewere represented as the most meritorious acts ofdevotion. Not only noblemen and ladies of rankundertook this tedious journey 140 ; but king;sthemselves, abdicating their crowns, sought fora secure passport to heaVen at the feet of the Ro-man pontiff. New reliques, perpetually sent from

us ^ ec ^ e ’ 5* ca P- 2Z. Episiola Bedæ ad Egbert.

Bedæ Epist, ad Egbert.

Append, to Bede, numb. 10. ex edit. 1722. Spelhsl.

Cone. p. io8, 109.

140 Bede, lib. 5. cap.-7,v 01.. I,

G