Class of Grand Mysteries; the Mage or the Philosopher, and the Man King | Chapter 12 Part 2
p. 513 At my outset I did not only declare, that the destruction of civil society was the object of their views; I did not confine myself to saying, that should Jacobinism triumph every Religion and every Government would be overthrown; but I added, that to whatever...
Government of the Order | Chapter 13
p. 525 Tenth and Last Part of the Code of the Illuminees.—General Idea of that Government, and of the Share which the Inferior Classes of Illuminism bear in it. It is not enough for the founder of a Sect of Conspirators to have fixed the precise object of his plots,...
Of the Government and Political Instructions for the Epopts | Chapter 14
p. 530 Enlighten nations; that is to say, efface from the minds of the people what we call religious and political prejudices; make yourself master of the public opinion; and, this empire once established, all the constitutions which govern the world will...
Instructions for the Regent or Prince Illuminee, on the Government of the Order | Chapter 15
p. 541 The prominent feature of all the instructions given by the Illuminizing Legislator to his Epopts is the consecration of their degree to the perversion of the public opinion, and to the attainment of the empire of sciences, that he may direct them all to the...
Continuation of the Instructions on the Government of the Illuminees—Laws for the Local Superiors | Chapter 16
p. 549 Great as the authority of the Major Illuminees over the Minerval Academies may appear at first sight, no person of the preparatory class is in fact entrusted with any real authority. Even the Scotch Knight in his intermediate class does not enjoy any. The Order...
Instructions for the Provincial | Chapter 17
p. 558 By far the greater part of the code of laws which has just been laid before the reader as relating to the Regents and Prefects of the Illuminées, was originally written by Weishaupt for the instruction of his Provincials. This is evident from the first digest...
Of the National Directors, of the Areopagites, and of the General of Illuminism | Chapter 18
p. 563 In the general plan of the Government of the Illuminees it is said, that every Brother shall receive particular instructions according to the rank he holds in the Hierarchy of the Order: Yet I have never been able to discover those intended for the use of the...
Title Page 2
BEDE'S ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND A REVISED TRANSLATION WITH INTRODUCTION, LIFE, AND NOTES BY A. M. SELLAR LATE VICE-PRINCIPAL OF LADY MARGARET HALL, OXFORD LONDON GEORGE BELL AND SONS 1907 Next:...
Editor’s Preface
The English version of the "Ecclesiastical History" in the following pages is a revision of the translation of Dr. Giles, which is itself a revision of the earlier rendering of Stevens. In the present edition very considerable alterations have been made, but the work...
Introduction and Overview
There are, it has been estimated, in England and on the Continent, in all about 140 manuscripts of the "Ecclesiastical History." Of these, four date from the eighth century: the Moore MS. (Cambridge), so called, because, after being sold by auction in the reign of...
Life of Bede
Few lives afford less material for the biographer than Bede’s; few seem to possess a more irresistible fascination. Often as the simple story has been told, the desire to tell it afresh appears to be perennial. And yet it is perhaps as wholly devoid of incident as any...
Of the Situation of Britain and Ireland, and of their ancient inhabitants | Book 1 | Chapter 1
Britain, an island in the Atlantic, formerly called Albion, lies to the north-west, facing, though at a considerable distance, the coasts of Germany, France, and Spain, which form the greatest part of Europe. It extends 800 miles in length towards the north, and is...
How Caius Julius Caesar was the first Roman that came into Britain [54 AD] | Book 1 | Chapter 2
Now Britain had never been visited by the Romans, and was entirely unknown to them before the time of Caius Julius Caesar, who, in the year 693 after the foundation of Rome, but the sixtieth year before the Incarnation of our Lord, was consul with Lucius Bibulus....
How Claudius, the second of the Romans who came into Britain, brought the islands Orcades into subjection to the Roman empire; and Vespasian, sent by hint, reduced the Isle of Wight under the dominion of the Romans [44 AD] | Book 1 | Chapter 3
In the year of Rome 798, Claudius, fourth emperor from Augustus, being desirous to approve himself a prince beneficial to the republic, and eagerly bent upon war and conquest on every side, undertook an expedition into Britain, which as it appeared, was roused to...
How Lucius, king of Britain, writing to Pope Eleutherus, desired to be made a Christian | Book 1 | Chapter 4
In the year of our Lord 156, Marcus Antoninus Verus, the fourteenth from Augustus, was made emperor, together with his brother, Aurelius Commodus. [Editor’s note: Marcus Antoninus Verus, commonly called Marcus Aurelius, succeeded in 161 A.D. His colleague in the...
How the Emperor Severus divided from the rest by a rampart that part of Britain which had been recovered | Book 1 | Chapter 5
In the year of our Lord 189, Severus, an African, born at Leptis, in the province of Tripolis, became emperor. He was the seventeenth from Augustus; and reigned seventeen years. Being naturally of a harsh disposition, and engaged in many wars, he governed the state...
Of the reign of Diocletian, and how he persecuted the Christians [286 AD] | Book 1 | Chapter 6
In the year of our Lord 286, Diocletian, the thirty-third from Augustus, and chosen emperor by the army, reigned twenty years, and created Maximian, surnamed Herculius, his colleague in the empire. In their time, one Carausius, of very mean birth, but a man of great...
How, when the persecution ceased, the Church in Britain enjoyed peace till the time of the Arian heresy [325 AD] | Book 1 | Chapter 7
When the storm of persecution ceased, the faithful Christians, who, during the time of danger, had hidden themselves in woods and deserts and secret caves, came forth and rebuilt the churches which had been levelled to the ground; founded, erected, and finished the...
How during the reign of Gratian, Maximus, being created Emperor in Britain, returned into Gaul with a mighty army [377 AD] | Book 1 | Chapter 8
In the year of our Lord 377, Gratian, the fortieth from Augustus, held the empire for six years after the death of Valens; though he had long before reigned with his uncle Valens, and his brother Valentinian. Finding the condition of the commonwealth much impaired,...
How, in the reign of Arcadius, Pelagius, a Briton, insolently impugned the Grace of God [395 AD] | Book 1 | Chapter 9
In the year of our Lord 394, Arcadius, the son of Theodosius, the forty-third from Augustus, succeeding to the empire, with his brother Honorius, held it thirteen years. In his time, Pelagius, [Pelagius, the founder of the heresy known as Pelagianism, was probably...
How during the reign of Honorius, Gratian and Constantine were created tyrants in Britain; and soon after the former was slain in Britain, and the latter in Gaul [407 A.D.] | Book 1 | Chapter 10
IN the year of our Lord 407, Honorius, the younger son of Theodosius, and the forty-fourth from Augustus, being emperor, two years before the invasion of Rome by Alaric, king of the Goths, when the nations of the Alani, Suevi, Vandals, and many others with them,...
How the Britons, being ravaged by the Scots and Picts
FROM that time, the British part of Britain, destitute of armed soldiers, of all military stores, and of the whole flower of its active youth, who had been led away by the rashness of the tyrants never to return, was wholly exposed to rapine, the people being...
How in the reign of Theodosius the younger, in whose time Palladius was sent to the Scots that believed in Christ, the Britons begging assistance of Aetius, the consul, could not obtain it [446 A.D.] | Book 1 | Chapter 12
In the year of our Lord 423, Theodosius, the younger, the forty-fifth from Augustus, succeeded Honorius and governed the Roman empire twenty-six years. In the eighth year of his reign, Palladius was sent by Celestinus, the Roman pontiff, to the Scots that believed in...
How the Britons, compelled by the great famine, drove the barbarians out of the their territories, and soon after there ensued, along with abundance of corn, decay of morals, pestilence, and the downfall of the nation | Book 1 | Chapter 13
IN the meantime, the aforesaid famine distressing the Britons more and more, and leaving to posterity a lasting memory of its mischievous effects, obliged many of them to submit themselves to the depredators; though others still held out, putting their trust in God,...
How the Angles, being invited into Britain, at first drove off the enemy; but not long after, making a league with them, turned their weapons against their allies | Book 1 | Chapter 14
In the year of our Lord 449, Marcian, the forty-sixth from Augustus, being made emperor with Valentinian, ruled the empire seven years. Then the nation of the Angles, or Saxons, being invited by the aforesaid king, arrived in Britain with three ships of war and had a...
How the Britons obtained their first victory over the Angles, under the command of Ambrosius, a Roman [456 A.D.] | Book 1 | Chapter 15
When the army of the enemy, having destroyed and dispersed the natives, had returned home to their own settlements, the Britons began by degrees to take heart, and gather strength, sallying out of the lurking places where they had concealed themselves, and with one...
How Germanus the Bishop, sailing into Britain with Lupus, first quelled the tempest of the sea, and afterwards that of the Pelagians, by Divine power [429 A.D.] | Book 1 | Chapter 16
Some few years before their arrival, the Pelagian heresy, brought over by Agricola, the son of Severianus, a Pelagian bishop, had corrupted with its foul taint the faith of the Britons. But whereas they absolutely refused to embrace that perverse doctrine, and...
How the same holy man gave sight to the blind daughter of a tribune, and then coming to St. Alban, there received of his relics, and left other relics of the blessed Apostles and other martyrs [429 A.D.] | Book 1 | Chapter 17
After this, a certain man, who held the office of tribune, came forward with his wife, and brought his blind daughter, a child of ten years of age, to be healed of the bishops. They ordered her to be brought to their adversaries, who, being rebuked by their own...
How the same holy man, being detained there by sickness, by his prayers quenched a fire that had broken out among the houses, and was himself cured of his infirmity by a vision [429 A.D.] | Book 1 | Chapter 18
AS they were returning thence, the treacherous enemy, having, as it chanced, prepared a snare, caused Germanus to bruise his foot by a fall, not knowing that, as it was with the blessed Job, his merits would be but increased by bodily affliction. Whilst he was thus...
How the same Bishops brought help from Heaven to the Britons in a battle, and then returned home [430 A.D.] | Book 1 | Chapter 19
IN the meantime, the Saxons and Picts, with their united forces, made war upon the Britons, who in these straits were compelled to take up arms. In their terror thinking themselves unequal to their enemies, they implored the assistance of the holy bishops; who,...