3] So much was he
esteemed by his master the archbishop, that he entrusted him with a
mission to Rome, to receive from the hands of the Pope his pall; on his
return he called at Parma, where he had an interview with Charles the
Great; who was so captivated with his eloquence and erudition that he
eagerly entreated him to remain, and to aid in diffusing throughout his
kingdom the spirit of that knowledge which he had so successfully
acquired in the Saxon monasteries. But Alcuin was equally anxious for the
advancement of literature in his own country; and being then on a mission
connected with his church, he could do no more than hold out a promise of
consulting his superiors, to whose decisions he considered himself bound
to submit.

During the dominion of Charles, the ecclesiastical as well as the
political institutions of France, were severely agitated by heresy and
war: the two great questions of the age--the Worship of Images and the
Nature of Christ--divided and perplexed the members of a church which had
hitherto been permitted to slumber in peace and quietude. The most
prominent of the heretics was Felix, Bishop of Urgel, who maintained in
a letter to Elipand, Bishop of Toledo, that Christ was only the Son of
God by adoption. It was about the time of the convocation of the Council
of Frankfort, assembled to consider this point, that Alcuin returned to
France at the earnest solicitation of Charlemagne. When the business of
the council was terminated, and peace was somewhat restored, Alcuin began
to think of returning to his native country; but England at that time was
a land of bloodshed and tribulation, in the midst of which it would be
vain to hope for retirement or the blessings of study; after some
deliberation, therefore, Alcuin resolved to remain in France, where there
was at least a wide field for exertion and usefulness. He communicates
his intention in a letter to Offa, King of Mercia. "I was prepared," says
he, "to come to you with the presents of King Charles, and to return to
my country; but it seemed more advisable to me for the peace of my nation
to remain abroad; not knowing what I could have done among those persons
with whom no man can be secure or able to proceed in any laudable
pursuit. See every holy place laid desolate by pagans, the altars
polluted by perjury, the monasteries dishonored by adultery, the earth
itself stained with the blood of rulers and of princes."[274]

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