When he was gone the Saxons returned, attacked the forts and massacred the garrisons and the missionaries.

At the commencement of the struggle, a priest of Anglo-Saxon origin, whom St.Willibrod, bishop of Utrecht, had but lately consecrated, St.Liebwin in fact, undertook to go and preach the Christian religion in the very heart of Saxony, on the banks of the Weser, amidst the general assembly of the Saxons.

"What do ye" said he, cross in hand; "the idols ye worship live not, neither do they perceive: they are the work of men's hands; they can do nought either for themselves or for others.

Wherefore the one God, good and just, having compassion on your errors, hath sent me unto you.

If ye put not away your iniquity, I foretell unto you a trouble that ye do not expect, and that the King of Heaven hath ordained aforetime; there shall come a prince, strong and wise and indefatigable, not from afar, but from nigh at hand, to fall upon you like a torrent, in order to soften your hard hearts and bow down your proud heads.