him and his clergy, had they not fled from the danger. These pirates were headed by a king—Eric of Jutland and Frisia. For some time the work was nearly at a stand. Another disappointment—the loss of a monastery, which Anscar had held with the archbishopric, and from which the chief support of the mission was derived—paralysed his exertions. A misfortune no less serious was the expulsion of Gansbert from Sweden. This event is wrapt in some obscurity. It could not be entirely caused by religious persecution; for the king was still tolerant. Perhaps Nithard, the companion of Gansbert, and the nephew of Anscar, abused the popular deities and their worshippers. There was a great commotion; the mission-house was plundered and destroyed; Nithard was killed; the bishop with his clergy forced to leave the kingdom. All this, however, was “non-jussu regis,” which the Swedish historians convert into “Berone nesciente.” Yet Anscar did not despair. Though poor, he contrived still to instruct some of the Danish children, whom he designed as missionaries for both kingdoms. Being afterwards sent ambassador to Eric—the very prince who had burned his cathedral, and who by Harda-Canute’s death had become king of all Denmark—he so far softened that monarch as to obtain permission to preach without hinderance. At Sleswic he was allowed to build a new church; the number of converts increased; and their ardour was increased by the extension of their commerce with the Christian empire. Such converts, indeed, could do little credit to religion; still toleration was an advantage which in time might, he hoped, effect all that could be desired. [Sidenote: 852.]