and even there his success was more apparent than real, and has been magnified by succeeding writers, who considered it a matter of conscience to ignore or disparage any missionary effort that did not draw its inspiration from the Church of Rome. The whole enterprise depended on the enthusiasm of the one man. The companions of Augustine were reluctant in entering upon the work; they had scarcely put their hand to the plough when they wanted to turn back; and they were ready to desert it as soon as he was dead. Then, the great majority of the converts were Christians only in name. The preachers, acting under the advice of the Pope, made every possible concession to idolatry. The idol temples for example were retained; and, when dedicated to Christian worship, the people were encouraged to make feasts beside them, in the same way as they used to do in celebrating the sacrificial rites of heathenism.
The result was that when Augustine died, and the missionary enterprise passed into the hands of less enthusiastic workers, nearly the whole nation relapsed into idolatry.
The British Church—now confined to the western parts of the country—held itself sullenly aloof from the work of evangelization. Augustine rightly regarded this as a dereliction of duty, and made overtures to them, in hopes that they might be brought to recognise their obligation in this respect, and would join with him in the common labour of preaching the Gospel to the Gentiles. He made arrangements for assembling a synod, which was to consist of both parties, at a place still called in the time of Bede, Augustine's Ac, that is of Augustine's Oak. Up to that time both he and his party had held the Britons and Irish in great esteem
