DA 32 .G93 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS Q0005bb35fil °*. * G* % ♦7Rv\-A <. *?.** .6* V VET** A v V . • . . "fe. £> ^ "fei? :sm^< ***o* ^iSWi r ov* .' .^^ * **. / 4? P^ / ^V'T^>' V^ f, V v^V \Svw*\V* %J^^V* ..\?* Queen Victoria. Frontispiece ECLECTIC SCHOOL READINGS THE STORY OF THE ENGLISH BY / H. A. GUERBER >>@^C Down to the colonial period, if not to the Revolutionary War, English history concerns American children just as much as it does their brothers and sisters who speak the same language on the other side of the broad Atlantic. It is therefore very impor- tant that our boys and girls should as soon as possible become familiar with its salient events. To interest them in their own race, introduce them to their mother country, and make the past as vivid as possible, charac- ters, customs, and places have in this book been depicted princi- pally through anecdotes, many of which have become classical, although not all are admitted into works intended for more ma- ture minds. The gradual evolution of English law, the growth of liberty, and the various changes in religion are as unintelligible as unin- teresting to the average child ; so they have been touched upon very briefly, and in the most simple way. The principal object has been to make pupils so familiar with the prominent characters of English history that these shall henceforth seem like old acquaintances, and, in addition, to use every device to make history so attractive to youthful minds as to rouse their enthusiasm and stimulate them to further study. Although all the main facts have been given, least space has been allotted to modern times. That is not only because many 5 of the events which have occurred within the past two centuries are more difficult of comprehension, but because any intelligent child is sure to have them brought to his or her notice in other books. For that reason, also, the wars in America are merely mentioned, and pupils are referred to United States histories for detailed accounts of them. To enrich young minds and to emphasize the need of patient endeavour, courage, faithfulness, gentleness, truthfulness, and all other desirable qualities, all that is good has been heartily com- mended, and all that is base or dishonourable has been made to appear in an unfavourable light. Nevertheless, it has also been the writer's aim to cultivate a spirit of fairness and charity towards all men. Much reading and research stand back of this little book, and the author is indebted to historians, biographers, novelists, poets, and artists for the material of which it is composed. It is with the hope that the road to literature and history will seem easier and more attractive, after the way has been made somewhat smoother by these little paving stones, that this book is placed before the public. The pronunciation of difficult proper names has been indicated in the text, in order to make easier the reading of the book, and to prevent the formation of incorrect habits of pronunciation. The symbols used for this purpose are self-explanatory in most cases; the diacritical marks are explained on p. 343. Besides this, the pronunciation of all proper names is more fully indicated by diacritical marks in the index. CONTENTS. >>*<< I. Early Times . ii II. The Druids . 13 III. The Britons . 17 IV. Caesar in Britain 21 V. Queen Boadicea 24 VI. The Great Walls 26 VII. The Great Irish Saint 29 VIII. The Anglo-Saxons 3* IX. Brave King Arthur . 34 X. The Laws of the Saxons 36 XI. The Story of St. Augustine 38 XII. Three Great Men . 41 XIII. The Danish Pirates . . 42 XIV. King Alfred and the Cakes . 46 XV. Alfred conquers the Danes . 49 XVI. A King's Narrow Escape . • 53 XVII. XVIII. The King and the Outlaw The Monasteries • 55 • 57 XIX. An Unlucky Couple . • 58 XX. St. Dunstan 61 XXI. King Canute and the Waves ■ 63 XXII. A Saxon Nobleman . • 67 XXIII. Lady Godiva's Ride . 7 • 70 XXIV. The Battle of Hastings XXV. The Conquest XXVI. Lords and Vassals XXVII. Death of William XXVIII. The Brothers' Quarrels XXIX. Arms and Armour XXX. The " White Ship " . XXXI. Matilda's Narrow Escapes XXXII. The Story of Fair Rosamond XXXIII. Thomas a Becket XXXIV. The Murder of Thomas a Becket XXXV. Richard's Adventures . XXXVI. Richard and the Saracens XXXVII. The Faithful Minstrel . XXXVIII. Death of Richard XXXIX. The Murder of Arthur XL. The Great Charter XLI. The Weak Rule of Henry III XLII. A Race XLIII. Persecution of the Jews XLIV. The Conquest of Wales XLV. A Quarrel with France XLVI. The Coronation Stone . XLVII. The Insolent Favourite XLVIII. Bruce and the Spider . XLIX. Death of Edward II. . L. The Murderers punished LI. The Battle of Crecy . LII. The Siege of Calais LIIL The Age of Chivalry . LIV. The Battle of Poitiers . LV. The Peasants' Revolt . LVI. Richard's Presence of Mind LVII. A Tiny Queen . LVIII. Henry's Troubles LIX. Madcap Harry . LX. A Glorious Reign LXI. The Maid of Orleans LXII. The Beginning of the War of the Roses LXIII. The Queen and the Brigand LXIV. The Triumph of the Yorks LXV. The Princes in the Tower . LXVI. Richard's Punishment LXVII. Two Pretenders LXVIII. A Grasping King LXIX. The Field of the Cloth of Gold LXX. The New Opinions LXXI. Death of Wolsey LXXII. Henry's Wives . LXXI1L The King and the Painter LXXIV. A Boy King LXXV. The Story of Lady Jane Grey LXXVI. The Death of Cranmer LXXVII. A Clever Queen LXXVIII. Elizabeth's Lovers . LXXIX. Mary, Queen of Scots LXXX. Captivity of Mary Stuart . LXXXI. Wreck of the Spanish Armada LXXXII. The Elizabethan Age LXXXIII. Death of Elizabeth . LXXX1V. A Scotch King . LXXXV. The Gunpowder Plot LXXXVI. Sir Walter Raleigh . LXXXVII. King and Parliament LXXXVIII. Cavaliers and Roundheads LXXXIX. "Remember" . 171 174 176 179 183 187 189 193 196 200 202 205 207 211 214 217 220 222 226 230 233 235 238 241 244 246 250 252 254 257 260 263 266 IO xc. The Royal Oak 269 XCI. The Commonwealth . 271 XC1I. The Restoration • 275 XCIII. Plague and Fire . 278 XCIV. The Merry Monarch . 280 xcv. James driven out of England • 283 XCVI. A Terrible Massacre . 286 XCVII. William's Wars . 288 XCVIII. The Duke of Marlborough . 291 XCIX. The Taking of Gibraltar . 294 c. The South Sea Bubble . . 296 CI. Bonny Prince Charlie . 299 CII. The Black Hole of Calcutta • 303 cm. Loss of the Thirteen Colonies • 305 CIV. The Battle of the Nile . • 309 cv. Nelson's Last Signal . 312 CVI. The Battle of Waterloo . • 314 CVII. The First Gentleman in Europe • 319 CVIII. The Childhood of Queen Victoria . 320 CIX. The Queen's Marriage • 323 ex. Some Wars in Victoria's Reign • 327 CXI. The Jubilee .... • 334 Genealogical Table .... • 34o The Sovereigns of England • 342 Index . • 343 MAPS. Great Britain and Irfland France India World, showing British Possessions opposite 1 1 . 114 . 302 • 332, 333 § < ~ H ft IT 1 H ^ W | -«J « W H H -\W THE STORY OF THE ENGLISH. I. EARLY TIMES. IF you look at a map of Europe, you will notice two large islands and many small ones at a short distance west of the mainland. It is the story of the people who have lived upon these islands that you are now going to hear. As you can see, the islands are so small that no matter how far inland you travel, you are never more than one hundred miles away from the water which hems them in on all sides. On the north and west there is the Atlan- tic Ocean, on the south the English Channel, and on the east the North Sea. These islands are now called the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and they form one of the fore- most countries of the world. Great Britain includes Eng- land, Scotland, and Wales, besides the many little islands near by ; and as the language, laws, and customs of Great Britain are mostly English, you will find that you will hear more about England than about the other parts of the realm. Nobody knows just when the history of England really begins, because it commenced long before people learned how to read or write, or keep any kind of record of passing events. Many, many years before Christ, these islands were inhabited by a rude race, who hunted and fished, lived in caves, dressed in the skins of the beasts they had slain, and often made war against one another. We know this because, from time to time, farmers have dug up stone arrowheads and spears, knives and axes made of flint, and have found the bones of these ancient men and women. Among the ashes of their fires there have also been found the bones of the animals whose flesh they ate, or the shells of oysters and clams. As these early inhabitants used stone weapons, their time is generally known as the Stone Age. In the course of time the people grew more civilized, discovered metals, and learned how to make better weapons. Some of these weapons have also been dug up : they belong to the second period, which is called the Bronze Age. Such stone and bronze weapons are carefully kept in museums, where you can see them to-day, although the people who once used them have been dead for thousands of years. The British Isles are far out in the ocean, and since the ships which ancient people used were as clumsy as their knives and spears, the early inhabitants of this country could not leave their homes to visit the mainland. They did not need to do so, for these islands are very fertile, owing principally to the mist which rises from the sea, and which keeps the grass in England green nearly all the year round. On bright, clear days, when there is no mist at all, people standing on the coast of France, at the spot where the English Channel is narrowest, can just see the tall white chalk cliffs on the southern coast of England. These cliffs are so dazzlingly white that the people who lived in France used to call England the White Land. This name was translated into Latin by the Romans, who called the country Al'bi-on, a name which you will still sometimes find in poetry, but rarely in prose. The white cliffs of Great Britain roused the curiosity of the early inhabitants of France, the Gaels (galz), to such a point that some of them at last went out to sea in their little boats, which were fashioned of roughly woven willow, and covered with skins so as to be water-tight. In such rude craft the Gaels, after a time, either pad- dled or drifted to England ; and when they found what a beautiful country it was, and saw that game was plentiful, they settled down there. These Gaels, however, were only one tribe of a very large nation which is known as the Celtic race. They talked a language of their own, of which there are many traces in the Gaelic, a tongue which is still spoken in some parts of Ireland and Scotland, but which is very unlike our English. y^«XC IV. CESAR IN BRITAIN. IN exchange for the tin from the mines of Wales and Corn'wall, the Phoenicians brought the Britons many useful things, and taught them how to make better weap- ons. But as few people besides the Phoenicians ever came to Britain, the inhabitants progressed very slowly, and were still savages when Jul/ius Cae'sar, the most famous of Roman generals, conquered Gaul, the country which is now called France. Hearing from some merchants that the Britons had sent help to the Gauls, Caesar made up his mind to cross the Channel and punish them. Vessels were prepared to carry the Roman legions (or regiments) across the water; and one night, when a favourable wind was blowing, Caesar and his men embarked. Early the next morning they drew near the tall white cliffs at Do'ver; and, seeing no good landing place there, Caesar bade his men sail east- ward along the coast until they came to a shelving beach. Warned by the merchants that Caesar was coming over to conquer them, the fierce Britons had assembled there. They watched the coming of the Romans, who gazed with surprise at them; for their bodies were painted blue, and they uttered blood-curdling cries as they brandished their spears and shook their war rattles. 22 Although surprised, the Roman soldiers under Caesar were too hardened warriors to be frightened ; and as soon as the water was shallow enough, the standard bearer sprang out and waded ashore, closely followed by his com- panions. Then the Britons and the Romans had a fierce battle ; but in spite of their great bravery, the Britons were defeated and forced to make a treaty with Caesar. As some of the tribes in Gaul had taken advantage of his absence to revolt, Caesar did not remain in Britain to con- tinue his conquests, but hastily recrossed the Channel. When he had put down this rebellion, he found that the Britons did not keep their promises, so he crossed the Channel once more, with a larger army, to force the Brit- ons to obey him. They resisted fiercely, but vainly, under the able leadership of a brave chief named Cas-si-vel- lau'nus. These two expeditions into Britain were made in the years 55 and 54 B.C., and it was thus that the Romans became masters of the country where the tin mines were situated. Caesar himself wrote an account of both cam- paigns in his " Commentaries," a Latin work which is still read in our schools. In that book the country is called Bri-tan'ni-a — a name still used in poetry to-day. The Britons, thus brought into contact with the Romans for a short time, made some progress ; but, instead of keeping the treaty they had made, they proved for a while very rebellious subjects. During the next one hun- dred years the Romans were too busy elsewhere to pay much attention to them ; so it was not till the time of the emperor Clau'di-us that legions were again sent out to their island. 23 This time the Britons were led by Ca-rac'ta-cus, who fought for nine years before he was conquered. The Roman general then took this Briton chief to Rome, where the captive was forced to march in chains in the victor's triumph. As the barbarian slowly passed along the streets, of the Eternal City, amid the deafening shouts Caractacus led in Triumph through Rome. of the people, he gazed in awe at the beautiful buildings, and bitterly cried : " Alas ! how is it possible that a people possessed of such magnificence at home could envy me my humble cottage in Britain? " This remark was repeated to the emperor Claudius, and, although he was not noted for his kind-heartedness, he was so touched by the Briton chief's bravery and homesickness that he set him free, as well as the other captives of his race. 24 V. QUEEN BOADICEA. IN defeating Caractacus, the Romans had become mas- ters of the southern part of the island only. Many Britons were not subdued, and, helped by the Celts and Gaels, they often revolted. The Roman generals stationed in Britain put down one revolt after another; but finally Sue-to 'ni- us, one of them, declared that he was sure the Druids advised the Britons to fight. He therefore made up his mind to go and attack the priests in their island of Anglesey, and set out with his legions. As Suetonius drew near the Druid stronghold, he saw that the priests had been warned of his coming, for they rushed forward to meet him, uttering strange cries and curses. They were armed, and fought fiercely, while the women, too, attacked the enemy with lighted torches, uttering shrill screams, and wildly tossing their long hair. In spite of the brave defence of the Druids, Suetonius landed on the island, killed the priests and bards, overthrew the altars and temples, and cut down the sacred oak trees beneath whose shade they had been wont to gather. But while he was doing this, some other Roman soldiers cruelly illtreated Bo-ad-i-ce'a, the queen of one of the Briton tribes, and insulted her two daughters. Escaping from their hands with her unhappy daughters, Boadicea drove in her chariot all through the land, calling the people together, and telling them how shamefully the Romans had treated her and her poor children. As she spoke, the men's eyes gleamed with anger; and at her appeal, they all took up their arms and swore to avenge 25 her. Led by this woman, the Britons went forth to fight the Romans, took their principal city, killed the seventy thousand strangers who dwelt there, and set fire to the beautiful buildings which the Romans had put up. But their triumph did not last long, for they soon met Sueto- nius coming back from Anglesey. He attacked them, and although the Britons fought more fiercely than ever before, they were soon completely beaten. We are told that eighty thousand Britons died on that field of battle, and that Boadicea killed herself and her children, rather than fall into the enemy's hands and be taken to Rome to figure in the victor's triumph. This victory left the Romans masters of the greater part of the island. All the Britons who were not willing to obey them fled to the mountains, to join the Picts and Scots, who were also Celtic tribes. Here the Romans did not dare venture, for fear they should lose their way and fall into an ambush. From time to time, parties of war- riors would make sudden raids down into the country, kill- ing, burning, and robbing wherever they went. Then, be- fore the Roman soldiers could overtake them, they would carry their spoil back to the mountains, to hide until it was time for a new expedition. To prevent these inroads into the country, which was rapidly becoming fertile and civilized, the Romans built large fortified camps at Ex'e-ter, Chester, and York, which last they made their capital. In these camps, or cities, they built beautiful houses, temples, and public baths, such as they had in Rome. There are still some traces of these fine buildings, and the well-made Roman roads, which connected the different camps, are still good to-day. 26 Little by little, the Britons learned many of the Roman arts; and in the first century of our era, some of them heard Christian soldiers tell the story of Christ, and be- came Christians. For many years Roman soldiers did all the fighting in Britain, while the young Britons who joined the army were sent to fight in other lands, under Roman generals. VI. THE GREAT WALLS. TO protect the northern part of Britain from the raids of the Picts and Scots, the Romans built three walls all across the island at its narrowest point. These walls, which are more than seventy miles long, are known by the names of the emperors by whose order they were built, and are hence called the walls of Ha'dri-an, of An-to-ni'- nus, and of Se-ve'rus. As the Romans were noted for their solid masonry, their walls stood firm for many long years, and even now, nearly seventeen centuries after the last wall was finished, there are some parts of it still standing. Along the walls, at certain intervals, were towers where the Roman soldiers stood on guard night and day, so that the Picts and Scots could not force their way into the cultivated lands. Nearly five hundred years after the Romans first set foot in Britain, and when the country was quite used to their rule, Rome was threatened by a terrible invasion of barbarians. The legions were all needed to protect the frontier nearer home, so an order was sent to Britain re- calling all the troops. 2-j The Britons were in despair, for those who were now left on the island did not know how to fight, and all the people were afraid of the Scots and Picts. But the Roman legions could not stay ; so they gave the Britons William Bell Scott, Art Building a Roman Wall. weapons, taught them how to fight, and bade them keep watch on the walls and drive back their enemies whenever they came down from Cal-e-do'ni-a, as Scotland was then called. As soon as the Romans had left the country, the Picts and Scots marched southward. When they came near the great walls, they were surprised to see men on guard there, and hesitated for a little while ; but they soon took cour- age, and, rushing forward, they climbed over the walls and drove away the Britons, who dared not resist. There was nothing now to stop these marauders, who overran the whole country, destroying all that they could not carry away, and killing the inhabitants, or leading them off to sell them as slaves. Encouraged by success, the Picts and Scots came into Britain again and again. Each time they went a little farther south, and the inhabitants fled at their approach. The Britons could not protect themselves against the inroads of these barbarians, who were not much more civilized than the Britons had been at the time of Caesar's invasion ; so they wrote a pitiful letter to the Roman general in Gaul, begging him to come over and help them. This letter was entitled " The Groans of the Britons," and ran thus: "The barbarians drive us into the sea ; the sea throws us back upon the swords of the barbarians : and we have only the hard choice of per- ishing by the sword or by the waves." This letter reached the Roman general safely, but he could not help the Britons, because he had to defend Gaul against At'ti-la, the " Scourge of God," the terrible king of the Huns, who was sweeping all over Europe with his hordes of barbarians. As Rome itself was threatened, the Romans could not spare any troops to help the Brit- ons, who, as you will soon see, were thus driven to seek help elsewhere. 29 VII. THE GREAT IRISH SAINT. SHORTLY after the Roman legions had left Britain, and during one of their first raids over the wall of Severus, the Picts carried off into captivity a boy named Patrick, who was then about sixteen years of age. He was the son of a deacon, and was busy ploughing when the marauders fell upon him. The Picts, after taking young Patrick back to their mountain homes, conveyed him over the Irish Sea to Ire- land, where they sold him into slavery. For six years Patrick was obliged to watch his master's sheep on the hillside, and during that time he often prayed that he might escape. Finally his prayers were answered, and after hiding for some time among the reeds by the shore, Patrick boarded one of the vessels which came to trade along the coast. From there he probably went to France, then to a mon- astery near the Mediterranean, and then to Rome. He studied hard to become a priest ; and when he was ordained, he went back to Britain, where his kinsmen were glad to see him. While there, Patrick was troubled by dreams and visions. It seemed to him as if the people in Ireland, or Hi-ber'ni-a, as it was called in the days of the Romans, were stretching out their hands to him, and beg- ging him to come over to them. At times he fancied that he heard the Irish saying, " We pray thee, holy youth, to come and henceforth walk among us." The result was that Patrick, either by the pope's orders, or of his own free will, finally made his 30 way back to the country whence he had escaped as a slave. With a few followers, he landed on the Irish coast. Thence he made his way on foot to Meath, where a pagan Irish king was holding a great festival. It was the custom, at that time, that no fire should be lighted until the king had given the signal by kindling his. But Patrick, not knowing this, and stopping to keep Easter on the. hill of Slane, made a bright fire there. When its light was seen, the Irish king sent a messen- ger to Patrick, bidding him come and explain how he dared to light his fire before the king. An old writer tells us that Patrick immediately set out with the messenger, but that, as he went along, many prodigies took place. First, darkness fell upon the earth; then the ground shook be- neath their feet ; and when some of the Irish magicians would fain have stopped Patrick, they were seized by invisible hands and tossed up in the air. When Patrick appeared before the angry king, he began to preach to him ; and such was this missionary's eloquence that he converted not only the ruler, but the whole clan. Journeying about from place to place, Patrick is said to have converted all Ireland, to have baptized more than twenty thousand converts with his own hand, and to have founded more than three hundred churches. As Patrick lived so long ago, and as no record was kept of his life, many things are told about him which most people do not now believe to be true. Stories are told of his driving all the snakes out of Ireland into the sea, and of his working many other miracles. The only thing we are sure of is that he converted the 31 Irish and founded churches and monasteries in the island. In the monasteries he established schools, which were visited by students from all parts of the world. These men became missionaries, preached in Scotland, England, France, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy, and were so enthusiastic and so earnest that they did a great deal of good. Thus the schools founded by Patrick, the first Bishop of Ireland, were the foremost in Europe for about three cen- turies. The man who founded them is now called Saint Patrick, and he is considered the patron saint of the island where he was, in turn, slave, priest, and saint. His birth- day, celebrated on the 17th of March, is one of the great- est festivals in Ireland. VIII. THE ANGLO-SAXONS. YOU have seen how the poor Britons had vainly ap- pealed to the Roman general in Gaul to come and deliver them from the Picts and Scots, who were ravaging the whole country and driving them into the sea. When the Britons found out that the Romans could not help them, they began to look around them for other aid. In the days of the Romans, light willow barks, covered with skins, had sometimes visited the shores of the island. These boats carried hardy warriors, who came from the shores of the Baltic Sea. They belonged to the Teu-ton'ic, or German, race — a race never subdued by the Romans, who were then masters of nearly all the known world. These men were so brave that Vor'ti-gern, the British 32 chief, begged some of them to come over to Britain and help him drive back the Picts and Scots. One of the Teutonic tribes, the Jutes, consented; and about the year 449 a whole fleet of little ships came dancing over the sea, which the Teutons called the " Swan Road," because when winter drew near they often watched the birds flying or swimming southward over the waters. The leaders of the Jutes, it is said, were two brothers, Hen'gist and Hor'sa, the descendants of Wo'den, who was the principal god of the Teutonic nations. The Jutes were used to fighting, and helped the Britons drive back the Picts and Scots. The marauders were forced to retreat to the other side of the walls, which were repaired and pro- vided with defenders. In reward for their services, Vortigern gave the Jutes the island of Than'et ; and while some of them settled down there contentedly, others went back to their native coun- try to tell what they had seen. But, as Britain was much more fertile than the land where they dwelt, they soon came back, with their families, to settle in it. The Jutes were followed, before long, by another Teu- tonic tribe, the Sax'ons. As there was not room enough for them all in the island of Thanet, the Saxons settled on the mainland, where they were joined by other Saxons; and their numbers multiplied so fast that they soon cov- ered much territory. The Britons were forced to retreat before the new- comers ; and as they were afraid of the Picts and Scots, and dared not go north, they withdrew to the west, where they took possession of Cornwall and Wales. Now that it was too late, Vortigern saw what a mistake he had made 33 in inviting the Jutes to come over and help him. He could not quarrel with them, however, because he had married Ro-we'na, Hengist's beautiful young daughter. It seems that he had fallen in love with this maiden at first sight, when she came to offer him a drink, as was the custom in her country whenever a stranger came into the house. The Jutes and Saxons spread farther and farther over the southern part of Britain, until they took entire pos- session of Vortigern's kingdom, driving him far into the west, where he died of grief. After the Jutes and Saxons came a third Teutonic tribe, the An'gles, who, in their turn, settled in the eastern part of Britain. They killed all the natives who would not peaceably make way for them, sparing only the women and children, whom they made their slaves. But the Angles were not nearly so civilized as the Britons, who had learned much from their Roman conquerors, and they destroyed many of the Roman buildings, which they were too ignorant to admire. When they first came over to Britain, the Anglo-Sax- ons — as the Angles and Saxons are often called for short — knew nothing at all about Christianity, and brought with them their own language, laws, and religion. This old Anglo-Saxon religion soon gave way before Christianity, as you will see ; but the names of the heathen gods of the Anglo-Saxons are still found in our names of the days of the week. Thus, Sunday was the day of the sun god; Monday, of the moon deity ; Tuesday was named after Tiu, god of war; Wednesday, after Woden, their principal divinity, and the ancestor of their kings ; Thursday took its name from Thor, god of thunder; Friday, from Frea, STO. OF ENG.— 3 34 goddess of beauty ; and Saturday, from Sat'urn, a Roman divinity. But, although there are now very few traces left of the old Teutonic religion, the Anglo-Saxon laws and language form the basis of the present English laws and language, so they are of great interest to the one hundred and fifty million English-speaking people of this century. D^C IX. BRAVE KING ARTHUR. THE Angles, in the course of time, formed three king- doms in Britain, which bore the names of An'gli-a, Me'r'cia, and Nor-thum'bri-a. But, in speaking of the territory they occupied, they so often said that it was the Angles' land, that little by little the name was contracted into " England," and after the tenth century the whole country was known by this name. The Saxons also formed three kingdoms, called Es'sex, Wes'sex, and Sus'sex, or the lands of the East, West, and South Saxons; and the Jutes took possession of that part of England which goes by the name of Kent. You see, the Britons had very little space left, and for some time they could not resist their powerful foes. But not very long after Vortigern's death, they were ruled by Arthur, a British chief whose name has become very famous, be- cause many poets have written about him and about his great deeds. It is so long since Arthur lived that we really know little about him ; but we are told that he fought against 35 the Saxons and defeated them in twelve great battles. Brave as Arthur was in war, he was no less gentle and courteous in peace, and the Britons were so proud of him that they were never tired of singing his praises. After a time they began to fancy that he was more than a man ; and when he finally fell in battle, and was buried in Glastonbury (glahs'en-ber-y), they would not believe that he was dead. They said that Arthur could not die, and that when he fell, sorely wounded, the fairies carried him away to their island home at Av'a-lon, to make him well. They had such faith in Arthur that they thought he would come back, some day, to reign over all Britain and make his people happy. The bards, who loved to sing about Arthur, fostered this belief; and we are told that some of the descendants of the old Britons, the Welsh, as they are now called, still believe that Arthur will come back to his loving people. After Arthur's death, the Britons were driven still far- ther away from their former homes, and some of them, crossing the sea, went to settle in France, in a province called Brit'tan-y. Here, and in Wales, the old Briton language is still spoken by many of the common people, and wonderful stories about King Arthur are still told by the fireside. Many years later, when a new race had settled in Eng- land, stories of Arthur were told in every castle. As the warriors then wore armour, held tournaments, and went about to deliver the oppressed, they imagined that Arthur and his followers used to do the same. So they made up long tales about the adventures of Arthur's principal com- 36 panions, who, they said, assembled in his palace at Caer- leon (car-le'on), and held feasts there, sitting at a round table. Because they did this, they were called the Knights of the Round Table, and poets have long loved to write about them. One of the last great poets who has retold their story is Tennyson, whose " Idylls of the King" you will read with great delight. :>>©<< X. THE LAWS OF THE SAXONS. THE Anglo-Saxons, having terrified the Picts, Scots, and Britons, so that they no longer dared come into the main part of the island, settled down quietly in the kingdoms they had founded. As there were generally seven of these kingdoms, they are known as the Hep'- tarch-y, or the Seven Kingdoms. You must not imagine, however, that the Anglo-Saxons entirely gave up fighting, for they often quarrelled and waged war against one another. But whenever any great danger threatened them, the Seven Kingdoms united under the command of the bravest of their kings, who was given the title of brct'wal-da, or head of the army. Besides the king, there were the earls, noblemen who were the gov- ernors and judges of certain provinces ; the thanes, who served the king; the churls, who were the farmers; and, the lowest and largest class of all, the slaves, or serfs. The people believed that the Anglo-Saxon kings all belonged to the race of Woden, but the crown did not always pass from a father to his eldest son, as it does now. 37 Whenever a king died, the principal men of the tribe as- sembled in a council which was called the Wit'e-na-ge- mot, or assembly of wise men. Here they talked the matter over and elected a new king, who could reign only by consent of the people. The Witenagemot also met two or three times a year, to decide what had best be done, and what new laws should be made, or to judge any case which could not be settled by the earls. Most of the Anglo-Saxon punishments were by fines, a larger sum being asked for the murder of an earl than for that of a churl, and the killing of a horse or a cow being rated higher than that of a slave. Each earl had a sort of court over which he presided, and when a man was ac- cused of a crime, he could prove his innocence either by getting ten men of his own class to swear he had not done wrong, or by submitting to an ordeal. Now, as you probably do not know what an ordeal was, I must explain to you that it was a test of some kind. For instance, there was the ordeal by water, in which the accused was forced to plunge his hand into boiling water. If, at the end of a certain number of days, his burns were healed, he was said to be guiltless ; but if they were not well, he was condemned as guilty. Sometimes the ac- cused had to pick up a bar of iron heated red-hot, or had to walk blindfolded over nine heated ploughshares, or to plunge his hand or foot into boiling oil or pitch. Of course, we know that it was impossible by this plan to find out whether a man was innocent or guilty ; but the Anglo- Saxons fancied that God would plainly show them who was right and who was wrong. In these trials by ordeal, if the accused was a friend of 38 the executioner, or if he had given him a present, the iron, water, or oil was not heated so hot as when the accused was an enemy, or even a stranger. So while some of the old Anglo-Saxon laws have proved worthy of being pre- served, no one can regret that the trial by ordeal has been long ago given up. XI. THE STORY OF ST. AUGUSTINE. THE Anglo-Saxons had been masters of England for many years, when Eth'el-bert, the third bretwalda, married a French princess, Bertha, who was a Christian. In the wars between the various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, many captives were taken, and these were often sold as slaves. Besides this, many poor men were compelled by their hunger to sell themselves and their wives and chil- dren into slavery. We are told that some English boys were brought to Rome by the slave merchants, and exposed there for sale on the market place. A monk named Greg'o-ry, who was passing by, stopped to look at them. Struck by the blue eyes, golden hair, and fair complexion of these children, he asked the merchant who they were. The man answered that they were Angles and heathens. " Oh," cried the monk, " they would be indeed not Angli (Angles), but angeli (angels), if they were only Christians! " This monk was so pleased, either by his own pun or by the good looks of the young slaves, that he wanted to go to Britain without delay ; but his friends would not let him. 39 He did not forget the Angles, however ; and when he be- came pope, soon after, he sent Au'gus-tine and forty other monks to preach the gospel to the Angles, or English. Augustine travelled through Gaul, where he got some men who could act as interpreters, and then landed on the island of Thanet, on the coast of England. From here, he sent a message to Ethelbert, begging for an interview, and asking permission to preach to the people. As Bertha was a Christian, she coaxed her husband to receive Augus- tine ; but the pagan king was so afraid the monk would try to influence him by magic, that he would not receive him indoors, and sat under an oak, fancying that so holy a tree would protect him from all evil spells. Augustine now advanced with his forty monks, and showed Ethelbert a picture of Christ. Then he preached to the king to such good purpose that he consented to be baptized. Of course all his court followed his example, and we are told that on Pentecost day ten thousand Anglo- Saxons were converted, and that the Christian religion soon took the place of the worship of Woden all through England. Churches were built in different parts of the country, the greatest being the Cathedral of Can'ter-bur-y, of which Augustine was the first bishop. There is nothing left of this old building, but the famous Cathedral of. Canterbury (p. 40) stands on the very spot that it once occupied. Churches were also built, at this time, in Lon- don, on the sites of West'min-ster Abbey and St. Paul's Cathedral ; and when we enter these buildings, we like to think that Christians have worshipped on these spots nearly thirteen hundred years. 40 In a very short time, the monks Gregory had sent visited all the different parts of England, and founded churches and monasteries, where many students came to learn all that the monks could teach them. Most of the Canterbury Cathedral. monks' books were written in Latin, so all the students learned to read and write in that language, rather than in their own. As it had not seemed best to the priests that prayers should be translated into English, the church ser- vices were also held in Latin, a language which the com- mon people did not understand. 41 XII. THREE GREAT MEN. YOU have heard how Augustine came over to England to convert the Anglo-Saxons. After his death he was made a saint, and he is the missionary of England, just as St. Patrick is the missionary of Ireland. There were many good men in the monasteries which were founded in England, and a few of them are still famous. There was, for instance, a monk named Gil'das, who wrote a Latin history, in which he tells us a great deal about olden times in England. Copies of this book have been preserved, and it has been translated into English. In the nunneries of the seventh century, the nuns and their servants used to spend the long winter evenings around the fire, telling tales and singing songs. In one nunnery there was a poor servant named Caedmon (ked'- mon), who was greatly embarrassed when his turn came. He had nothing to say, and felt so ashamed that he went out into the stable and wept. While he was there one even- ing, he heard a voice which bade him sing. First he an- swered that he could not ; but when the command was repeated, he inquired, "What shall I sing?" "Sing the beginning of created things," answered the voice. So Caedmon, who had often heard the nuns tell about the creation, began to sing, and, to his surprise, he found that he was reciting a wonderful poem. We are told that Hilda, the abbess of the nunnery, encouraged Caedmon to compose more verse, and that his poem, the first in English, gave Milton, one of our greatest geniuses, the idea of writing " Paradise Lost." 42 The first English prose was written, nearly one hundred years after Caedmon's poem, by the Venerable Bede. He translated one of the Gospels into English. He was very old, and when his great work was nearly finished, feeling that he was about to die, he bade his disciple hurry and write down the end of the translation. " There is still one chapter wanting, Master," said the scribe ; " it is hard for thee to think and to speak." " It must be done," said Bede. "Write quickly!" The work went on, but the master grew weaker and weaker; and when night was coming on, the scribe said: "There is yet one sentence to write, dear Master." Once more the master roused himself to dictate the last words, and a few moments later the scribe exclaimed : " It is finished!" " Thou sayest truth," replied the weary old man ; " it is finished ; all is finished ! " And, sinking back upon his pillow, he died, leaving us the first English trans- lation of one of the books of the Bible. 5>®