When his adversaries had hardly granted that, a blind man of English kin was led forth:  he was first led to the bishops of the Britons, and he received no health nor comfort through their ministry.  Then at last Augustine was constrained by righteous need, arose and bowed his knees, [and] prayed God the Almighty Father that he would give sight to the blind man, that he through one man’s bodily enlightening might kindle the gift of ghostly light in the hearts of many faithful Then soon, without delay, the blind man was enlightened, and received sight; and the true preacher of the heavenly light, Augustine, was proclaimed and praised by all.  Then the Britons also acknowledged with shame that they understood that it was the way of truth which Augustine preached; they said, however, that they could not, without consent and leave of their people, shun and forsake their old customs.  They begged that again another synod should be [assembled], and they then would attend it with more counsellors.

When that accordingly was set, seven bishops of the Britons came, and all the most learned men, who were chiefly from the city Bangor:  at that time the abbot of that monastery was named Dinoth.  When they then were going to the meeting, they first came to a [certain] hermit, who was with them holy and wise.  They interrogated and asked him whether they should for Augustine’s lore forsake their own institutions and customs.  Then answered he them, “If he be a man of God, follow him.”  Quoth they to him, “How may we know whether he be so?” Quoth he:  “[Our] Lord himself hath said in his gospel, Take ye my yoke upon you, and learn from me that I am mild and of lowly heart.  And now if Augustine is mild and of lowly heart, then it is [to be] believed that he bears Christ’s yoke and teaches you to bear it.  If he then is unmild and haughty, then it is known that he is not from God, nor [should] ye mind his words.”  Quoth they again, “How may we know that distinctly?” Quoth he, “See ye that he come first to the synod with his fellows, and sit; and, if he rises toward you when ye come, then wit ye that he is Christ’s servant, and ye shall humbly hear his words and his lore.  But if he despise you, and will not rise toward you since there are more of you, be he then despised by you.”  Well, they did so as he said.

When they had come to the synod-place, the archbishop Augustine was sitting on his seat.  When they saw that he rose not for them, they quickly became angry, and upbraided him [as being] haughty, and gainsaid and withstood all his words.  The archbishop said to them:  “In many things ye are contrary to our customs and so to [those] of all God’s churches; and yet if ye will be obedient to me in these three things—­that first ye celebrate Easter at the right tide; that ye fulfil the ministry of baptism, through which we are born as God’s children, after the manner of the holy Roman and apostolic Church; and that, thirdly, ye preach the word of the Lord